Cost wise- best place to purchase marine grade plywood

[clockwork orange]

The beauty of a standard like BS1088 is consistency regardless of where its made, you can visually inspect plywood and determine if it conforms to the standard in every way EXCEPT the glue line. For this you will need to do your own boil test. Not all BS 1088 is Lloyds certified but that does not mean in any way that it is inferior. I have used Hydrotek meranti plywood which I believe is made in Indonesia, its as good as any other BS1088 meranti, I don't think it is Lloyds certified but I could be wrong on that.

On the epoxy there are a lot of lower cost ones that are great but I would suggest buying a smaller batch and trying it before committing to a bigger quantity where the real cost savings come from.


Steve.

[Sailorbob8599]

Originally Posted by Chotu

Buy in bulk.

Boulder Plywood out of Boston.

Get resin direct from the manufacturer in 55 gallon drums.

Good advice to buy in bulk, especially s.s. fasteners (screws/machine/wood) I use s.s. screws now for everything I need to fasten whether it be on the boat or household maintenance. There are no 'ordinary' screws in my shop to cause problems of rust or corrosion. Buy them from a wholesaler.

[Matt Johnson]

Originally Posted by coastalexplorer

The North American wholesale supplier for Bruynzeel marine plywood made from light weight Okoume Gaboon from west Africa. is>


The J. Gibson McIlvain Company
1-800-638-9100
info@mcilvain.com


Their stock has a Lloyds of London BS 1088 certification.


Many of the offshore producers in the orient claim that their materials are manufactured to the BS 1088 certification. but that does not mean that they are certified by Lloyds.

The best plywood I’ve come across in the US. Truly beautiful stuff.

Matt

[lady sophie]

Homestead Hardwood where I get the BS1088 will provide Lloyd's certificate with every lot of plywood they get.

[Zach]

Atlantic Veneer in Beaufort, NC stocks a lot of boat building material.



World Panel Products in Windsor, NC does a similar line.


Are you building a hard chine, or round bilge boat?



Have you considered doing your build in a location that does a lot of cold molded construction?


Some stuff is nice, like 5x10 sheets of ply... 20-21 foot long fir for stringers that require fewer scarfs.


Zach

[Sailorbob8599]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

I hope you know what you are getting into.
Be careful to not buy too many things too soon. It's amazing how plans change and the "bargain" windlass you thought you wanted 2 years ago isn't what you want now.etc.
Open a builder's account for marine items. Some stuff is 40% off that way. Others not much at all.

Oh, how true . . . I've spent the past 6 months selling off a whole boat load of "stuff" that I bought at retail over a number of years, only to find something better when it came time to install or build into the boat. So yes, Cheechako, you are right, don't buy too far ahead because technology changes almost as often as one's mind. But I've had no trouble selling off the items I listed as "surplus to requirements" & met some great people at the same time. Now if only someone would come along & buy the boat at a fair price, I'd be more than happy. Just gotta find that person who likes lotsa teak trim & decks.

[Pendrith]

And on a similar note re: 1088 ply..u might want to try material called crezone or medium density overlay...this is the material they make those big green highway routing signs out of. Caveat...treat all cut edges with epoxy before installation...I would not hesitate to use it anywhere on the interior ( bulkheads...cabinetry..etc which might be painted)...or above the waterline. Very good finish and half the price of marine ply...btw..those signs take a heck of a beating outside 24/7/365...rain,shine,so let and snow.

[Zach]

MDO is good stuff, I've played with it, mainly on interiors. Bit of a hell on tools however.


Marine ply in Occume and Meranti have a positive that they can be sanded/long boarded smooth between layers. Bit back breaking, but you can get pretty smooth before fiberglass sheathing.


Cheers,

Zach