ForMatter/Materials/wood/Baltic Birch Plywood
mat_birch_baltic

Baltic Birch Plywood

engineered hardwood plywood, void-free · Baltic birch, Russian birch ply, BB/BB grade plywood
highlast updated 2026-04-26
metallic 0.00
hue shift +0°

The plywood of the design school: thin layers of birch glued cross-grain into sheets that are stiff, flat, and void-free. Cuts cleanly on a CNC or laser, exposes a striped edge that's become an aesthetic in its own right. The standard for furniture prototypes, jigs, and visible-edge architectural work.

All-birch-veneer plywood (no fillers, no softwood core layers) bonded with phenolic or urea-formaldehyde resin. Standard sheet 1525×1525 mm in metric thickness 4–24 mm. Void-free core makes screw and edge-machining reliable. Origin Baltic states (Latvia, Estonia, Finland) historically; supply has been disrupted post-2022 sanctions.

mechanical

  • density_kg_m3680
  • modulus_of_elasticity_gpa10.0
  • modulus_of_rupture_mpa75
source: manufacturer datasheets (Latvijas Finieris, UPM)

Sustainability

  • embodied carbon kg co2e per kg0.85
  • sourceEditorial estimate from ICE / Granta CES EduPack class databases — industry mean, with cradle-to-gate boundary unless otherwise noted. Embodied carbon for any specific product depends on supplier mix, recycled content, and energy grid; verify against a primary source before using these numbers in a sustainability claim.
  • recyclabilitymoderate — wood content is biodegradable but adhesive content limits clean reuse; chip and reuse as particleboard feedstock common
  • biodegradableTrue
  • certificationsFSC, PEFC, CARB Phase 2 (formaldehyde emissions)
  • localityhistorically Baltic states; since 2022 sanctions, supply tightened — Finnish, Polish, and Chinese mills filling the gap with mixed quality
visual
pale yellow face veneer, characteristic striped edge of alternating veneer plies
tactile
smooth face, slightly fuzzy edge until sanded
weight perception
moderate
acoustic
drum-like tap, especially on thinner sheets

PBR starter values

Principled BSDF defaults derived from the sphere woodgrain finish. Reasonable seed for Blender, Substance, Keyshot, Rhino — tune per material.

# finish:      woodgrain
albedo        #dcc098
metallic      0.00
roughness     0.60
ior           1.45
transmission  0.00
clearcoat     0.00
sheen         0.00
anisotropic   0.60
copy as JSON 
{
  "albedo": "#dcc098",
  "metallic": 0.0,
  "roughness": 0.6,
  "ior": 1.45,
  "transmission": 0.0,
  "clearcoat": 0.0,
  "sheen": 0.0,
  "anisotropic": 0.6
}
Blender 4.x Python 
# Blender 4.x — Principled BSDF
# Baltic Birch Plywood · finish: woodgrain
import bpy
mat = bpy.data.materials.new(name="mat_birch_baltic")
mat.use_nodes = True
bsdf = mat.node_tree.nodes["Principled BSDF"]
bsdf.inputs["Base Color"].default_value         = (0.7157, 0.5271, 0.314, 1.0)
bsdf.inputs["Metallic"].default_value           = 0.000
bsdf.inputs["Roughness"].default_value          = 0.600
bsdf.inputs["IOR"].default_value                = 1.450
bsdf.inputs["Transmission Weight"].default_value = 0.000
bsdf.inputs["Coat Weight"].default_value        = 0.000
bsdf.inputs["Sheen Weight"].default_value       = 0.000
bsdf.inputs["Anisotropic"].default_value        = 0.600
KeyShot Python (lux) 
# KeyShot 11+ — lux Python API, Generic material
# Baltic Birch Plywood · finish: woodgrain
# Run from Window → Scripting Console
import lux
mat = lux.createMaterial(name="mat_birch_baltic", materialType="Generic")
mat.setProperty("diffuse",      (220, 192, 152))   # 8-bit sRGB
mat.setProperty("metallic",     0.000)
mat.setProperty("roughness",    0.600)
mat.setProperty("indexOfRefraction", 1.450)
mat.setProperty("transparency", 0.000)
mat.setProperty("coatingWeight", 0.000)
Substance pbrMetalRough 
{
  "_format": "Substance Designer / Painter \u2014 pbrMetalRough constants",
  "_about": "Baltic Birch Plywood \u00b7 finish: woodgrain",
  "baseColor": {
    "r": 0.7157,
    "g": 0.5271,
    "b": 0.314
  },
  "metallic": 0.0,
  "roughness": 0.6,
  "ior": 1.45,
  "opacity": 1.0,
  "anisotropyLevel": 0.6,
  "_notes": "Channels listed are the standard Substance pbrMetalRough output. Drop into a Uniform Color node per channel, or as the constant input on a layered stack."
}
glTF 2.0 Metallic-Roughness 
{
  "asset": {
    "version": "2.0",
    "generator": "ForMatter"
  },
  "materials": [
    {
      "name": "mat_birch_baltic",
      "pbrMetallicRoughness": {
        "baseColorFactor": [
          0.7157,
          0.5271,
          0.314,
          1.0
        ],
        "metallicFactor": 0.0,
        "roughnessFactor": 0.6
      },
      "extensions": {
        "KHR_materials_ior": {
          "ior": 1.45
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}
USD Preview Surface 
# USD Preview Surface — UsdShade.MaterialLook prim attributes
# Baltic Birch Plywood · finish: woodgrain
def Material "mat_birch_baltic" {
    token outputs:surface.connect = </mat_birch_baltic/PreviewSurface.outputs:surface>

    def Shader "PreviewSurface" {
        uniform token info:id = "UsdPreviewSurface"
        color3f inputs:diffuseColor = (0.7157, 0.5271, 0.314)
        float   inputs:metallic     = 0.000
        float   inputs:roughness    = 0.600
        float   inputs:ior          = 1.450
        float   inputs:opacity      = 1.000
        float   inputs:clearcoat    = 0.000
        token   outputs:surface
    }
}
↓ download glTF material
ProcessCNC Milling · Laser Cutting · Adhesive Bonding
Used inChair · Prototype / Concept Model
Substitutes
White Oak (Quercus alba)
Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus)
Laminated Bamboo

Citations