Where to find QUALITY marine ply in South-East?

hge19

Hi Guys,
Taking on a simple instant boat building project. I've spoken to a few carpenters and they tell me Irish ply is pure sh#te!! Anybody have any ideas where I can locate some decent 6mm (1/4 inch) stuff that is properly laminated and not warped!?
Cheers!

AckwelFoley

Carepnters that say that are talking out of their arse. Simply because they are renound for using the wrong ply in the wrong situationm-actually i stand to be corrected, but most of the ply thats sold in this country comes from Brazil, OSB is made here, but im not aware of any ply manufactured here, any of the stuff ive ever used in the last 15 years came from brazil, the clues are with the giant MADE IN BRAZIL sprayed to the side of a bale of ply

There is shuttering ply, WBP ply and Marine ply, the latter is usually asked for when the WBP is suitable, however, actual marine ply is hard to get hold of generally as genuine marine ply is not commonly available in hardware stores, its WBP you will end up getting.

6mm ply is going to warp and twist to some degree, it doesnt matter what grade it is, its only 1/4 of an inch and regardless of what you do to it, unsecured it will twist, timber is timber it reacts to moisture.

The grades determine its resistance to moisture and heat.

hge19

Any idea of the different quality grades available? I presume thay all meet British Standards but what depth does it go into after that?

cnocbui

Just last week I bought some 18mm marine ply in Chadwicks. Pretty sure it was marine because the guy asked me if I didn't want water proof ply which would have been a lot cheaper. At €67 a sheet it was expensive enough to be the real thing. Had some BS standard stamp on it.

jack of all

There's plenty of good online resources available to help you select the right grade of ply, but generally speaking WBP ply is "water and boil proof"- meaning the veneers and glue used in its manufacture will resist water and steam but not constant immersion in water. WBP is a ply more suited to general construction applications, for anything like boatbuilding where water is obviously an issue you need to use a marine ply. Marine ply uses more durable hardwood veneers and the glue used is resistant to water immersion. There are some boatbuilders over in the woodcraft forum who can advise on suppliers etc but Kantors is one that comes to mind.

AckwelFoley

cnocbui wrote: »

Just last week I bought some 18mm marine ply in Chadwicks. Pretty sure it was marine because the guy asked me if I didn't want water proof ply which would have been a lot cheaper. At €67 a sheet it was expensive enough to be the real thing. Had some BS standard stamp on it.

It was WBP you were sold.


I'll bet my lunch money on it

cnocbui

Then why was I asked if I was sure I wanted marine and not WBP? They said they had both.

fm

doubt it was wbp as its about 30 a sheet,more likely to be birch ply

ART6

Build4less have it and it can be ordered over the Internet http://www.build4less.ie

hge19

It is very possible to use exterior grade ply for boatbuilding. Several times have I seen guys that have built boats 20 + years ago from it and theres no sign of rot in them today! Marine play is prob the best option but a bit pricey for my budget. Might just go for some well graded of the cheaper stuff thats of some sort of quality if I can find it!

fergal.b

Hi hge19 I may be a bit late with this but the best ply to get is BS 1088 it should be stamped on the board I use it in my boat builds and is worth the extra cost the cheeper ply has a lot more voids and can cause the ply to fracture not the best thing to happen when your out on the water.:eek:

You can see my builds here http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055963665 and if you get a chance post some photos of your build I would love to see how she is coming on