Source of "Real" Marine Ply in the NWl

[akyaka]

All the exterior ply i have seen in the last few years has been of far eastern production & of such appalling quality that it was totally unfit for use anywhere on a boat. One sheet supposedly BS 1088 exterior completely delaminated in just two weeks and it was well painted.
The same stuff is in every timber yard round here still being sold.

The RH inside a boat is little different and often better than around your average house. Wouldn't expect even painted chipboard to disintegate within two weeks inside a boat, sounds like some real rubbish you got palmed off with.People like Travis Perkins are selling to the building trade and would soon get sued if they tried to palm non-compliant material off on contractors and it failed in use. We buy from our local joiners shop who knows why we want it and have never had any problems and even out here in Turkey were I have a wooden boat we have found a reliable source at a timber yard just outside the village, but having said that I always check the edges to check the extent, if any, of the voids.

 

[121]

Robbins are not necessarily the best - they are the most expensive however.

You can get Bruynzeel (which I and many others rate higher than Robbins stuff) from Timbmet (Oxford), but I have got it from local suppliers as a special order...

 

[Keith 66]

The RH inside a boat is little different and often better than around your average house. Wouldn't expect even painted chipboard to disintegate within two weeks inside a boat, sounds like some real rubbish you got palmed off with.People like Travis Perkins are selling to the building trade and would soon get sued if they tried to palm non-compliant material off on contractors and it failed in use. We buy from our local joiners shop who knows why we want it and have never had any problems and even out here in Turkey were I have a wooden boat we have found a reliable source at a timber yard just outside the village, but having said that I always check the edges to check the extent, if any, of the voids.

I am afraid that the same rubbish "exterior" ply seems to be in every timber yard round here these days, when taken to task they just shrug & say "its all like that".

 

[Andy61]

The original poster asked for a NW UK supplier of marine ply. I got some good (and reasonably priced) iroko from Richard Price at Nantwich, Cheshire, NW England and had a mooch round the yard and sheds and saw that they also stocked marine ply as well as a number of exotic timbers. Worth a telephone call I would think.

 

[catalac08]

The original poster asked for a NW UK supplier of marine ply. I got some good (and reasonably priced) iroko from Richard Price at Nantwich, Cheshire, NW England and had a mooch round the yard and sheds and saw that they also stocked marine ply as well as a number of exotic timbers. Worth a telephone call I would think.

Thanks for the suppliers reference at Nantwich but I have just bought 2 sheets from Atlantic Timber at Altrincham. I bought this on the basis of their website citing theirs as Malasian or Paraguyan Eucaliptus and talking to the shop people. Got it home and found it stamped China but no voids visisble at edges of sheet or internally when cut (had it sliced by shop). A bit dissapointed that I do not really know what wood it is but I need to get on with this before it becomes too cold for epoxy. It seems quite hard (pretty hard to cut with handsaw or jigsaw) and the shop website quotes their external ply as Chinese Plantation Grown Eucalyptus so it is probably Eucalyptus and this is properly marked as Marine Ply with appropriate references BS etc.. I have given a piece my boil water test (boiled and left soaking on and off for a few days) and there is no separation of the laminates or distortion or anything other than the end grain of one of the laminates swelling slightly proud of the other laminates. This was about £50 for a 8x4ft sheet @18mm thickness and about 1/3 the price of Robbins and other speciaist suppliers of Okume and the like. Just need to learn to use the router properly and then on goes the bulkhead additions.
Thanks for the many considered thoughts on this!