Cabinet grade pine for cab material?

Baltic birch plywood in a 3/4" thickness should have 15 plies, including the veneer on the front and back. You can get 3/4" plywood with birch veneer on the front and back, but if it has only 6 plies it is not baltic birch plywood.

The stuff with 11 plies would probably be a better bet for speaker cabinets than the 6-ply stuff, though. I would not worry about the species of wood used for the face veneers. It's more important that it not have a bunch of voids in the inner plies, and the 11-ply stuff will probably have fewer voids than the 6-ply stuff.

Is it Chinese? If so it probably uses inferior glue. Also avoid wood that has a thin outer veneer; equal thickness plies all the way through are what you want, and is what BB and Arauco have.

All the 3/4 Baltic birch I have used is either the cheaper 11 ply(not as good but not terrible) or 13 ply (best).

Isn't pine kinda soft?

I ordered my Baltic birch through Lowes last time. $67 for a 4x8 sheet. Always have to order it from somewhere.

Mine didnt carry it but they special ordered it for me.

I don't think Gorilla used Baltic birch. Not sure what he used. Might have been 3/4 arauco. BB may be overkill but it's really nice to work with and it's extremely strong.

i dont know any plywood that is better than real Baltic Birch.

he used "cabinet grade" whatever that actually is depends on a lot of things

Appleply is at least as good if not better than BB. And you can get it in 1" thickness.

forgot about that stuff. i have never used it. is the price similar to Baltic? is it easier to find?

Unfortunately, its more expensive than baltic birtch. I recently picked up two sheets (4X8) of it in 1" thickness and it was $148 per sheet. You won't find it at HD or Lowes, but they might order it for you.

Since we got all the plywood geeks in here - anybody got a recommendation for plywood with a furniture grade veneer on one or both sides? I'm looking at an entertainment center project real soon.

then i personally wouldnt bother with it for subs when BB is more than sufficient and is much cheaper. seems like nice stuff though. guess it depends on your build. Im sure it has a different veneer? isnt it maple?

Appleply can be had with a number of different hardwood verniers. The stuff I got was just birch since I'm painting it with Duratex.

Call your local cabinet builders for tips on who has hardwood veneer plywood locally in stock or will order it (if google doesn't work). Don't waste your time with the big box stores if you are looking for walnut, cherry, mahogany and other traditional higher-end woods. They will also have the edge band veneer to match. Expect to pay 3x (or more) what oak or birch will cost you.

Red oak is a nice budget compromise if you like the open grain look and sometimes you will find nice red oak plywood at the big box store before the customers (or staff) destroy it.

Yes but it won't be equal. BB will have more plies. 3/4 will have 13 plies. The arauco may have 7

Good info, thanks.

Guys - I used 'cabinet' grade 3/4 ply from Chile. It's around 6-7 layers if I recall correctly and mostly free of voids. I've used over 20 sheets of this building random stuff and it's been pretty solid along the way. You do have to be selective when picking through the stack though since many of the boards I see have been jacked up. It's around 32.00 a sheet here and it's almost triple that for BB in my area. Since I'm covered in Duratex, it seems like a big waste to spend so much on BB, especially considering it's special order, etc. I've also stained this stuff and it looks pretty nice as well.

You guys are free of course to use whatever you want, but it's your money.

If its 7 ply its not Baltic birch. I agree with Gorilla, If your going to put Duratex over it, BB is a waste of money.

+1. I went to Arauco because it has a smooth grain like BB so it finishes well, it has equal thickness plies, and it's lighter than BB. I only use BB now with 1/8" and 1/4" constructions, for the additional stiffness. With 1/2" the added stiffness of BB isn't required. It is if that's 3/8". Otherwise, no, it's faux birch, probably Chinese. If it's not from Russia or Finland it's not BB.
http://alliedveneer.com/what-is-baltic-birch.html

Funny thing about BB plywood is that there is no specific species named Baltic birch, BB is often made either Siberian birch, Silver birch or White birch, or a mix of them. Next funny thing is that neither Russia nor Finland belong to the Baltics.

The problem I have had is that lumber yards don't usually deal with it so you have to be VERY specific with them when ordering. If its 3/4" it needs to have 13 plies. Not 11. Not 7.

I've learned that the hard way.