I think Baltic Birch is a real lousy wood for PFs, wish it wasn't but it is. It's about 80% cheaper than the custom wood we use. The face veneers of Baltic Birch, are of course, Birch which is pretty soft in comparison to Maple. We used it for our original Fathom that Greg and I made 10 yrs ago. And I used just a few again on Star Trek, I think, when we ran short of wood. The wood is VERY soft, the drum sander chews it up fast, even hand sanding can easily leave bowls or low spots in the surface. Our short run experiment was to try and bring our costs down and some PFs were fine but the Bronze level yield was way too high. So we felt that it as worth the extra $55 or so to use teh custom made panels that we use. Try sanding around an insert to fix a little added epoxy and you have a bowl because the wood is sooo much softer than the insert.

The Maple we use is MUCH denser and much harder. In fact, the custom wood I use now has two solid maple rock maple faces which are fully twice as thick as a BB face veneer. Veneers are twice as thick and the wood itself is much denser, it just makes a better playing surface that stands up better. A PF size sheet of BB weighs about 9lbs, which our new wood is about 17lbs. That's about 45% more dense and 45% more resistant to dimples from the ball.

But Ron has a point. The wood when we get it is only months old, we keep in in climate controlled storage for several months more before its used, but the older it is the more moisture comes out of it, when stored properly and the denser it becomes. The grain lines I have heard mentioned will show after about 6-8 months but of course you'll never see them if the PF is installed as you really can only notice of in a pristine surface. The clear is as it fully cures is conforming to the grain below BUT your fingers which are one of the most sensitive probes out there usually cannot feel it. Your eyes do see it. At this point if the clear is sanded smooth and shot even once more we have found the grain lines never return. We'd love to do that with all out PFs but it would mean holding the PFs for almost a year for it to make a difference and it would only make a difference to wall hangers not PFs installed. We do at least three coats, usually four and sometimes more depending on the circumstances. If required they are also spot sanded and buffed individually using 3Ms system which is time consuming and expensive. It's certainly not a the same as Ron but it's head and shoulders above what I think anyone else does given the number of PFs we make every year. Ron spends days on each PF and he's doing so on a more seasoned, denser piece of wood so it's not surprising that his finished product is gorgeous, and it truly is.

Mike Purcell
CPR