Searching for 3mm lite ply or card

[Damien GardnerParticipant @damiengardner44683]

Glynn Geast's feature plan in Oct 2012 MB mag calls for 3mm lite ply or card, have never heard of such things here in Oz and no luck on the WWW or ebay, can anyone suggest corrects names or perhaps a supplier that will ship to Australia please.

Cheers Damien.

[Damien GardnerParticipant @damiengardner44683]

[david the newbeParticipant @davidthenewbe]

hi damien

i got mine from here **LINK**

hope this helps.

im not sure if thay ship to oz but maybe the wizard to get it to oz for you.

dave

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Hello Damien

If you have access to a large DIY store or timber merchants I would suggest going and asking one of their experts about different plywoods, in the UK I would be looking for a top quality 3mm birch faced plywood with best birch veneers on both exterior surfaces.

Obviously I don't know what woods are used in plywoods in Australia but if you pass on the birch faced description the ply expert will know what you are looking for and should be able to offer a suitable alternative.

Good luck

Paul

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Tut tut….Paul

Birch faced ply is definitely not Liteply and it isn`t light either!………But is still very nice ply for other uses

I would recycle an old tea chest myself

Bob

[Damien GardnerParticipant @damiengardner44683]

Thanks for the replies

I think Luan ply is a favourite lite ply even lighter is building grade ply but it's full of knot holes. Thinking on it any purchase off shore would probably be quarantined and sprayed with all sorts of muck for several months.

Being limited to a mobility scooter or taxi's It is convenien to purchase online.

I found a source of 2mm card my wife has an A3 book of tracing paper the backing is 2mm could be both expensive and wasteful as I would need 3 or 4 books that's a lot of wasted tracing paper.

[david the newbeParticipant @davidthenewbe]

lite ply has balsa in the middle if that helps you find a similar type of ply

dave

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Tut Tut?

Wasn't he an Egyptian pharaoh who had a stammer.

Or perhaps an impression of a motor boat

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Dave is correct, Lite ply is light,.. ie weighs less that ordinary ply as the centre layer is balsa (or something else thats very light cant remember now).

It is also a bit softer than ordinary ply, and so is easier to work with. It is also less stiff, at least on longer runs and so is a bit wobbly.

Dont know what model you were looking at but card or lite ply seems to be an odd alternative. Card is freely available in art shops, but may need a bit more care when using it for construction, as it is very soft, and I would have thought needed a bit more support.

Was there a reason for specifying these materials in the article?

Ashley

[david the newbeParticipant @davidthenewbe]

Ashley i think damien is look at the wrigley article as thay used card in the build and it dose say lite ply or card on the plans

dave

[Damien GardnerParticipant @damiengardner44683]

Yeah it's Glynn's Wrigley paddler Dave I tried your link the prices were good but post on 2- 12" x 48" liteply was 15quid somewhat more the the cost of the ply I'll try art shops locally for card I've seen sheets used as borders on paintings I'll keep looking.

It looks like last nights super storm has passed so I'll hop on my scooter & go searching.

Thanks for the replies

[david the newbeParticipant @davidthenewbe]

hi damien

sorry the link was to much on post and i hope u can get the card

dave

[Damien GardnerParticipant @damiengardner44683]

I found them by adding sheets to my search eg 2mm card sheets, I got 6 x A3 screenboard sheets for $13.00 plus $12 post on ebay in Aust

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Hi Damien

What are you building out of 3mm card?

I would guess that 3mm card is as heavy as any plywood?

Bob

[david the newbeParticipant @davidthenewbe]

Hi Damien

im glad u have found some and i hope you enjoy your build of the wrigley

dave

[Damien GardnerParticipant @damiengardner44683]

Bob I'm getting everything collected to start building Glynn Guest's Wrigley paddler from the free plan in MB oct 2012 mag Glynn calls for 3mm lite ply or car for the hull bottom, deck and upper deck I bought 2mm card It will firm uo on hull with one layer of 1/5 oz glass cloth & poly resin it will be ok for the cabin and bridge structure currently watching an Esky 4ch 2.4g rc tx & rx for use as tank type steering 2hrs to go and it's sitting a $3.25au I'll then have everything needed to start after gall bladder surgery some time in the next 90 days.

Damien.

I still have a little to do on LCT – 6 from a MB mag some time back.

[LARRY WHETTONParticipant @larrywhetton68737]

Hi Damian,

Ihave built the wrigley , from the contents of my scrap box, 1/8 ply hull resin coated inside

styrene deck structure , wooden window blind slats for deck , funnel a bit of pc pipe fancy bits card from shirt packaging , paddles from styrene , drive will be chain driven , off a 400 motor,

see Bobs drive on Glasgow……….hope this helps ………..cheers Larry….

[Damien GardnerParticipant @damiengardner44683]

Thanks larry your wrigley is looking good,

I bought a 4ch RC on ebay for $32au to use for tank steering & I plan on leather thonging for the drive with the motors on sliding rail for tensioning and I have some 12v hair dryer motors to power it.

Damien

Edited By Damien Gardner on 03/12/2012 09:01:10

[Damien GardnerParticipant @damiengardner44683]

I changed ebay search wording and came up with

OFFCUTS of 2mm Card at A3.
Sold in packs of 6 sheets. @ A3.

Ideal for Kids Craft is this 2mm thick Ace Screenboard Card.
Used in the Sign making and Display Industry. Ideal for Point of Sale, School Projects, Posters & Signs.

 

• It's gloss finished on both sides & will do the job nicely.

Edited By Damien Gardner on 05/12/2012 23:42:39

[wizardParticipant @wizard]

Hi Damien,

there are plys called aircraft ply from super thin upwards. I suspect these are similar to the UK lite ply. I don't know what part of OZ you live but here is a link to a supplier in brisbane.

http://www.misterplywood.com.au/products/plywood/aircraft-plywood

Wizard

[LARRY WHETTONParticipant @larrywhetton68737]

Damian,

Have you tryed photograpfic or picture framers they use mount board all sizes and thickness,

very likly glad to give you off cuts for nothing , also good art shops may have the same ,

sign board adds may have suply plenty about this time of year check uot dump bins ,

or aproche markets or house agents , they use foam board a thin pvc 2 sides with a thin foam centure ……best of luck Larry….

[Peter FitnessParticipant @peterfitness34857]

I've never had a problem in the past obtaining 3mm lite ply from our local model shop in Lismore, northern NSW. However, I haven't been in for a while so I don't know if they still stock it.

Peter.

[Yabbie1Participant @yabbie1]

Damien,

Like Peter I have never had a problem buying Lite-Ply here in Melbourne from most model shops that stock scratch-building materials for model aircraft. Be careful, only try "Lite-Ply" has the balsa core, many shops sell "light ply" or "lite ply" which is just that, light ply. You only need a steel rule and modelling knife to work with Lite-Ply; yes, it's not as stiff or strong as normal ply but is usually more than strong enough for us, beautiful to work with and weighs about the same (3mm thick) as 1/16" normal ply. The sheets I have used were marked Made in Finland, hope this helps.

Yabbie 1.

[Damien GardnerParticipant @damiengardner44683]

Being disabled and stuck with Taxi's or mobility scooter I'm very limited in choice of shops to visit this is why I try online first Bunnings h/ware is a $16 round trip and sell poor quality balsa and although they will cut an 8' x 4' ply in half you pay for the whole sheet plus cut fee the nearest hobby shop is further away again both are more the half my scooters battery capacity Bunnings offered a power point to recgarge at but I dont fancy just sittion ther for 4 hours whilst charging.

The 1.5mm styrene I bought from a UK seller arrived today only to find 6- 2mm sheets going to be expensive to send back I paid him 6GBP Aust post want $34 or 27GBP

Awaiting their reply.

Apart from this another online purchase tha is out of stock I have got everything to start building.

Damien.

[Yabbie1Participant @yabbie1]

Damien,

The other problem is that a sheet of Lite-Ply is 1200 long which exceeds Austalia Post's dimensions for parcels. Here are two shops from which I've bought Lite-Ply in the past, they might agree to cut the sheet in two smaller pieces for you for posting. I don't know, but perhaps worth a try.

**LINK**

**LINK**

These are both in Melbourne, if you're elsewhere it might be better to contact local model aircraft shops.

Yabbie 1.

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