Need help sourcing 3mm plywood

Lomax

Lomax

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Hi all,

I would like to use 3mm plywood for lining the ceiling on my boat, in 80x120cm panels, but despite spending days trawling the interwebs I haven't been able to locate any. It seems 3.6mm is the thinnest there is? Hoping someone here knows!
 
RichardS said:
I believe that 3.6.mm is the thinnest available. Why not use that?
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That's a long story, but I'd like to find 3mm - or even 2.5mm - thick plywood. Alternatively some other type of thin rigid board, as long as it's not plastic...

Edit: I actually have a piece of 2.5mm thick plywood in my hand, which I found in the trash, so unless my calipers are lying it does exist.
 
Alex_Blackwood said:
3mm Birch Plywood
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Oh, that's actually pretty good! Birch ply tends to be pretty good quality (stiff), compared to some of the Chinese generic "hardwood" stuff. I double checked and I can actually manage with just 105cm width, which brings it to £15 per 105x80cm piece, or £210 to cover the whole ceiling (14 pieces). Does that seem like a crazy amount? I have no idea...
 
Lomax said:
Oh, that's actually pretty good! Birch ply tends to be pretty good quality (stiff), compared to some of the Chinese generic "hardwood" stuff. I double checked and I can actually manage with just 105cm width, which brings it to £15 per 105x80cm piece, or £210 to cover the whole ceiling (14 pieces). Does that seem like a crazy amount? I have no idea...
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1 piece 200 X 80. Less than 4mm. In Kent.
 
I bought a sheet of 3mm ply from Robbins a while ago to do some headlining as well. Looks like nice stuff, although I have yet to cut it.
 
I have several score sheet-offcuts of birch ply from a furniture manufacturer which are 3mm and about the right length. They're perhaps a little narrower than specified, but if they're otherwise suitable you're welcome to come here, select what you want, and take it away FOC.

I'm just south of Bath, on the A36, but it may be worth your while in terms of time and fuel cost. Send me a DM with your phone number and/or email addy, if you're interested, and be more specifiec about what you require..... and I'll go and have a root around to see what is there that might prove satisfactory.
 
I still haven't gotten anywhere with this, despite spending another half a day searching. Meanwhile daytime temperature on my boat is exceeding 40deg C, and the glue I used to install the insulation is melting and the panels are falling down around me. I think I might be better off just getting rid of the boat and forgetting about the whole thing; what I want to do is apparently impossible, at least for a reasonable price. Everyone I've talked to say "bah, just use PVC panels", but I'm sorry, I cannot do that. It would feel like a massive degradation of the standards I'm aiming for.

But I didn't come here just to moan; it seems if I lived elsewhere in the UK I would be able to buy 3mm birch plywood for less than half the price it would cost from Cut my Plastic. For example, people in the Manchester area can buy it from George Hill Timber for just £16 for a 1530x1530mm sheet. At that price it would cost just £100 to cover the whole ceiling... I have also found some suppliers in the Bristol area with similar prices. I don't understand what it is about the South East that prohibits the availability of this material?
 
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I am now considering desperate measures; 3mm hardboard from the big orange place with a two-letter name. An awful material which would still cost me £80, and which will probably sag over time. Still, better than having a glossy, flammable, toxic, melting PVC ceiling...
 
How about "oil tempered" hardboard - is this a good material to use? I worry it may be difficult to paint? I can get this in 3mm from Selco, who have branches nearby, for just £14 for a full size (2440x1440) sheet, which would come in at £84 inc VAT to cover the whole ceiling - or about 1/3 the price of 3mm birch ply from Cut my Plastic.
 
Ah, but of course:

Selco is exclusively for Trade & Business, so to buy from us you need to have a trade card. To get a trade card, you must be a bona fide tradesperson or business owner. Once you've got your trade card, you can shop in any of our branches and online.
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Lomax said:
How about "oil tempered" hardboard - is this a good material to use? I worry it may be difficult to paint? I can get this in 3mm from Selco, who have branches nearby, for just £14 for a full size (2440x1440) sheet, which would come in at £84 inc VAT to cover the whole ceiling - or about 1/3 the price of 3mm birch ply from Cut my Plastic.
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I also have half-a-dozen full sheets of hardboard stashed away in my famed polytunnel. Dunno about 'oil tempered'. You're welcome to one or all of those FOC, if you're willing to come and hoik them out of where thy're stored.
 
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