Source of "Real" Marine Ply in the NWl

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catalac08

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I have some bulkhead refurbishing to do and need some 15mm ply. In the normal course of events I would have gone to one of the large retailers Travis, Jewsons etc and bought the two full sheets I need but on the other forums there recently been a fair amount of negative views about the quality of so called marine plywood. Some of these were apparently so bad they just started delaminating with damp from the air.
Robbins of Bristol seem to have genuine good stuff but at £180 a sheet it should be! Fyne Boat in the lakes are a possibility but they do not do 15mm and prices are similar to Robbins anyway.
So any ideas where I can get decent marine ply in NW uk?
 
Robbins will be the very best. It is hard to get really good MP without paying really big prices. But think of the hours of work, and the feeling of pride and confidence .... probably not worth spoiling the ship etc etc
 
No use to the OP, but I have found "proper" marine ply at my local (reputable) builder's merchant (Ridgeons, based in East Anglia). It is marked with the appropriate BS (BS 1088?) and I have not found any voids or other problems while working with it. That said, the outside veneers aren't particularly decorative, being mainly a light coloured wood with little grain pattern.
 
catalac08 said:
I have some bulkhead refurbishing to do and need some 15mm ply. In the normal course of events I would have gone to one of the large retailers Travis, Jewsons etc and bought the two full sheets I need but on the other forums there recently been a fair amount of negative views about the quality of so called marine plywood. Some of these were apparently so bad they just started delaminating with damp from the air.
Robbins of Bristol seem to have genuine good stuff but at £180 a sheet it should be! Fyne Boat in the lakes are a possibility but they do not do 15mm and prices are similar to Robbins anyway.
So any ideas where I can get decent marine ply in NW uk?
Click to expand...
Talk to Pete at Kendal Cut 2 Size (KTS). 01539 738859 Yes, the name doesn't sound promising, but he is a real joiner with shed loads (literally) of hardwoods etc. He kiln dries his own wood.
He is very suspicious of the far eastern imported plywooods.
 
I got some good stuff from marineplyonline. No voids, decent woods in the laminates and.. WAY below Robbins prices. I also cut some samples and left them in the dishwasher for a dozen cycles. No probs.
 
catalac08 said:
Travis, Jewsons etc and bought the two full sheets I need but on the other forums there recently been a fair amount of negative views about the quality of so called marine plywood. Some of these were apparently so bad they just started delaminating with damp from the air.
Click to expand...

Not my experience! The floor of my old RIB is 12mm Jewson marine ply painted with domestic gloss paint. It is seriously wet 6 months of the year and fairly wet when in storage in an open dinghy park and still no sign of delamination after 5years. I also obtained a full sheet of 9mm from Travis for about £75 to repair the sliding hatch of my wheelhouse roof. Treated with Sadolin Ultra. Still good after (admittedly) only six months so far. Thing to do is examine the sheet before you buy it and, in the case of Travis I told them that if I found a void I would expect a refund. I didn't and still have an offcut sitting in a bucket of sea water with no delamination. Robins if you need a good finish but for structural stuff there are alternatives.
 
I got some 3 mm marine ply from our local builders merchants, with the correct BS stamp. I was a bit suspicious, as previously 'exterior' ply had delaminated in six months, so I cut a sample and simmered it for three days in a pan on the woodburning stove. No problems, and still OK on the boat after 3 years.
 
Thanks for responses, lots of interesting info. I think the comments about "testing" an offcut with water, boiling, washing machine etc has got to be the way to go. Interestingly my local timber merchant details his Marine Ply as sourced from Malaysia and is Eucalyptus which seems to get generally good press as a boat building wood having a similar density to Oak and is classed as a hardwood. This Eucalyptus ply is a new one to me and the only supplier I have come across that details this wood, although many suppliers of "marine" ply do not even specify the wood or country of origin or that the ply is a hardwood!
 
Think you will find all ply is imported - nobody makes it in the UK, so importers have to either buy what is available or as in the case of Robbins, have it made to their specification.
 
Tranona said:
Think you will find all ply is imported - nobody makes it in the UK, so importers have to either buy what is available or as in the case of Robbins, have it made to their specification.
Click to expand...

Brunzeel (sp) is now made by an outfit called Charles in France. When I was building my little boat, I found some nice Okume 6mm in La Rochelle at 65 euro for a 10x4ft sheet. Went back for the next build, to find the 10mm was 180 euro a sheet!
 
If you order from Robbins Timber instruct them to protect the edges with wood. The packing procedure they use is terrible, silly little plastic corner protectors which do not stay on, warning labels for couriers hidden under shrink wrapping. I have two sheets of expensive ply split open lengthways about 6" long from each corner on two separate occasions. Couriers are not the most gentle of folk on the planet.
 
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 guy in my post (Pete) told me he had some 18mm ply delivered in packs. He opened them and saw the sheets were not the same thickness. They varied from 12mm to 23mm!

He stripped off the top laminate and found alternate layers were just shavings and bits, bedded in the glue with huge voids between.
He was buying from the importer and complained bitterly. He doesn't accept deliveries now until he has checked every sheet.
He is a manufacturing joiner as well as a supplier, so has to be sure of his materials.
 
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