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Denman Marine - Supplying the Best BS1088 Gaboon Marine Plywood in Australia
If you have arrived at this page after an exhaustive search
on the internet/telephone for high quality Gaboon/Okoume plywood manufactured to BS1088:1-2003 then you can breathe a sigh
of relief as your search is over.
At Denman Marine we always use the
best materials in our boats without compromise. In 2009 after being fed up with not being able to source high quality,
lightweight gaboon plywood in Australia we began an international search for a high quality marine plywood that was fully
compliant to BS1088:1 2003. That search led us to France and we began importing and reselling Joubert marine plywood
in Australia. The Joubert product was very well received by both amateur and professional boat builders in Australia
who all breathed a collective sigh of relief that finally a high quality, standard compliant Gaboon marine plywood was available
in Australia.
At the beginning of 2012 we became aware that an even better product was available that not only
was certified by Lloyd's Register as being fully compliant to BS1088:1:2003 (as was the Joubert) but also carried
a 10 year structural guarantee. That product is now available in Australia through Denman Marine and
manufactured in Europe by Allin Bruynzeel.
 Many Aussie boat builders would remember that Bruynzeel brand
marine plywood used to be imported into Australia many years ago and was considered by all who used it to be the highest quality
available anywhere.
Like many of the high quality plywoods we used to have available in Australia,
Bruynzeel stopped being sold here - probably due to much cheaper products being available from China and south
east asia. These cheaper products offer much higher margins to resellers than expensive European brands but generally
fail miserably on quality.
So why is Bruynzeel marine plywood so good? Lets have a look at some history first.
History of Bruynzeel Plywood
Cornelius (Kees) Bruynzeel was a Dutch businessman, timber merchant and yachtsman. In 1920 he became manager of the
family's timber processing factory in Zaandam, Netherlands.
In1939, Bruynzeel began to consider
alternative markets and pioneered the development of new timber materials for the production of the Bruynzeel kitchen and
for boat construction. Using a newly-developed water-resistant synthetic resin glue, Bruynzeel developed a durable three-ply
laminated panel similar to plywood and intended for the fabrication of external doors.
The naval architect Ricus
van de Stadt, known to Bruynzeel through the sailing fraternity, received the order to design a daysailer suitable for series
production. Bruynzeel suggested that his new “Hechthout” (dutch for "plywood") laminated panel,
as he called it, was superbly suited as a building material for such a sailing yacht.
In 1939 the Valk came into
being, still a popular open sailing boat in the Netherlands today with some of the original vessels still sailing. The special
marine grade plywood from Bruynzeel was a perfect construction material for the project.
While this established
Van de Stadt as an innovative yacht designer, Okoume marine grade plywood from Bruynzeel was also established as the new standard
of the industry.
Bruynzeel went on to commission one of the most famous ocean racers of all time - Stormvogel
which again was built using Bruynzeel hechthout. At 70' long, Stormvogel was probably the largest
pleasure vessel to be built from plywood at the time and she won many races including line honours in the 1965 Sydney to Hobart
race. Stormvogel even starred in one of our well known Aussie films - Dead Calm with Nicole Kidman
and Sam Neil.
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| Stormvogel - an ocean thoroughbred built using Bruynzeel plywood. Photo courtesy Van de Stadt design |
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Reasons why you should purchase your BS1088 Marine ply from Denman Marine
1. Unlike the majority of companies selling plywood, our core business is wooden boat
building and we know our products and materials.
2. Unlike the majority
of companies selling plywood in Australia we are not happy to sell poor quality, non standard compliant BS1088
plywood at premium prices. We refuse to do it as we value our reputation and also the time and effort you as a client
will be putting into your boat.
3. Unlike the majority of companies selling plywood
in Australia every Bruynzeel plywood order is hand picked by a professional boat builder to suit your project.
If you need advice on what is needed for your boat please contact us to discuss your requirements.
5. Unlike the majoriy of companies selling
plywood in Australia we can save you many hours on your build with complimentary advice on your project.
6.
Bruynzeel Hechtout is the best quality BS1088 Gaboon plywood in Australia bar none. Bruynzeel Hechtout carries
Lloyd's Register certification of standard compliance and is backed by a 10 year structural
guarantee so why buy anything else?
Here are some comments from some of our clients who are
building boats with marine plywood suppied by Denman Marine;
Andrew,
The plywood has just arrived and is now in my workshop/garage. The quality looks magnificent and it arrived
very well packed. Many thanks - J. Hall, Launceston Tasmania
Hello Andrew,
I received the plywood
this morning in first class conditon. The packing was excellent and the ply was every bit as good as your description.
I can highly recommend your product and service. Thanks for your help.
Best regards,
J. Hunter - Victoria
Hello Andrew,
I recieved the ply today,
and all is fine. Thanks for packing it so well, and all your assistance.
Cheers
Michael. (Darwin)
BS1088
Marine Plywood Sales and Pricing
Denman Marine is the sole Australian importer and re-seller of
Bruynzeel plywood to both amateur and professional boat builders with the following sizes being stocked. Prices are
per sheet* and include GST;
4mm - 3 ply $83 per sheet
5mm - 3 ply
$110
6mm - 5 ply $126
9mm - 5 ply $147
12mm
-7 ply $198
15mm - 9 ply $220
18mm - 11 ply $243
25mm - 13
ply $330
(* Note These prices are current as of August 2012 but are
subject to change.)
*Trade pricing available to genuine trade customers
*bulk buy discount on large orders available
(min pack qty)
When comparing prices, be aware that our sheet sizes are larger than most at 2500 x 1220
which is 3.05 square metres compared to 2.88 square metres for a metric standard sheet of 2400 x 1200.
Freight
to any mainland destination is very competitive and becomes cheaper the larger the order. Sometimes we are able to combine
orders to the same destination to save on freight. We have shipped thousands of sheets of plywood all over Australia
including to Darwin, Perth, Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney plus a host of regional destinations as well.
Every client is provided with a copy of the Lloyds Register Certificate with their order and
it can also be downloaded via the link below.
Lloyd's Register Certificate for Bruynzeel Hechthout marine plywood
If you are in market for marine plywood you will mostly be dealing with people who do not use the product
they sell. At Denman Marine, we use Bruynzeel in our boats and we can answer any question on boat building with this
product you would like to ask. We also offer a free boat building information service to all our plywood clients that
can save you hundreds of hours on a large build.
When comparing Bruynzeel Hechthout plywood to other products be
sure you are comparing apples with apples. Many of the imported plywoods in Australia purport to be BS1088 compliant but they
are definitely not. If the sheets are not marked in accordance with the standard (see below) and your supplier cannot provide
you with a certificate of compliance to the standard then you are paying a high price for a product that really should not
be going into a boat.
Bruynzeel Hechthout Marine Plywood is a Gaboon/okoume throughout plywood panel with
selected gaboon/okoume cores and is manufactured in compliance with the British Marine Plywood Standard BS1088-1:2003. The
plywood carries Lloyds Register type approval and also carries a 10 year structural guarantee
against defects being the only BS1088 plywood in Australia to do so.
The plywood is suited for all forms of marine
construction where plywood is specified and with its high quality face veneers is also suitable for clear finishing.
So if you are building a boat and want the best BS1088 Gaboon plywood in Australia give us a call and we'd
be happy to give you a quote.
Other Products available from
Allin Bruynzeel
Denman Marine can also supply other products from
the Allin Bruynzeel range. If you are interested in a quote on any of the products please send us an email.
Note that some products carry a minimum purchase quantity.
To view the complete Allin Bruynzeel product
range please click here.
If you would like to view a brochure on the Allin Bruynzeel range please select link below for your area of interest
below.
Allin Bruynzeel Marine products
Allin Bruynzeel Exterior products
Allin Bruynzeel Accoustic products
So if you would like further information on Bruynzeel BS1088 Gaboon Marine
Ply for your project contact us . We are happy to provide a quote on request.
BS1088 Gaboon Marine Ply - General Information
Below is some information on
BS1088 plywood. It is important when buying timber for your project that you are informed about what you are purchasing
so you end up with the best products for your boat.
For those looking to build
a boat using marine plywood in Australia there are a number of options to choose from but not many in the lightweight category.
The choice of many boat builders for years has been a ply made from an African hardwoood called Okoume or Gaboon.
What
exactly is Gaboon marine ply?
Gaboon or Okoume (Aucoumea klaineana) is a
medium sized hardwood native to equatorial West Africa. Its major use is in the production of plywood.
In its plywood form it has been used extensively in boat building and is still used in the manufacture of lightweight
aircraft. Gaboon is one of the species that can be used to make lightweight marine ply under The British
Marine Plywood Standard BS1088-1:2003. Gaboon’s air dried density is around 430-480kg per cubic metre
as opposed to hoop pine which is around 530-560kg per cubic metre.
see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aucoumea_klaineana for further information on the species.
The best gaboon marine ply panels
used to be manufactured in the Netherlands, Israel and France but with the way that most things in manufacturing
have gone, much if not all of the supply available in Australia comes from mills in China, Malaysia or other South East Asian
countries. The price the importers pay for this ply might be great from these places but the quality really lets
the end user down.
Marine Ply Manufacturing Standards
Marine Plywood
is manufactured to an exacting standard to ensure it is fit for purpose. The ocean is not a forgiving place and sub
standard materials are quickly shown to be inadequate for the task.
There are two main marine ply standards
that we see in Australia namely AS/NZS 2272:2006 (The Australian and New Zealand Standard which our home grown Hoop Pine
marine ply is made to) and BS1088-1:2003 (The British standard which is read in conjunction with BS1088-2:2003 which
is a standard used for determining glue bond quality in BS1088 marine ply).
Both standards are similar and specify
in detail the manufacturing tolerances and allowable defects in ply sheets.
For example
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BS1088-1:2003
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AS/NZS 2272
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Pin knots in face veneers - up to 6 per square metre
of panel surface
Pin knots
in core veneers - unlimited number
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For Face veneers - Knots (sound intergrown)—not
exceeding 4 mm measured
across the grain and not
more than four per sheet.
For core veneers - sound knots - unlimited in number
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BS1088 as a standard is really quite abused by manufacturers and re-sellers/importers alike. I
have seen so many sheets of so called BS1088 plywood which have not been manufactured anywhere near the requirements that
the standard specifies.
Some common defects seen are as follows;
Problem
Face veneers are not compliant and are so thin that even a very light sanding will cut through into the
glue line beneath.
BS1088-1:2003 requires
For panels with a nominal thickness of greater than 3.8 mm, each outer ply
shall be not less than 1.0 mm thick after sanding and each inner and core ply shall be not more than 4.8 mm thick.
Problem
Glue bleed through into the outer plies rendering it useless for clear finishing.
BS1088-1:2003 requires
Glue
penetration shall only be permitted in areas adjacent to permitted defects, up to a maximum of 5 % of the area of each outer
ply
I have seen sheets of 4 and 6mm ply that have glue bleed through all over the sheet. One supplier
asked me upon enquiry if we were going to be clear finishing because he had bleed through on all their sheets and they would
not be suitable.
Problem
Sheet marking. We have seen many sheets of so called BS1088 marine ply that
have a small smudged or illegible stamp on the ply that makes a claim that it is BS1088 compliant.
BS1088-1:2003 requires
Panels
conforming to this standard shall be indelibly marked on the edge or back with the following information
in the order shown:
a) the number and date of this British Standard, i.e. BS 1088-1:2003,1)
and the
word “MARINE”;
b) the word “UNBALANCED” if panels are of unbalanced construction;
c) the
word “TREATED” if there has been any application of preservative treatment;
d) the nominal panel thickness;
e) the manufacturer’s name or identification mark;
f) the country of manufacture;
g) the panel type, i.e.
Standard (S) or Lightweight (LW);
h) the name of the timber species according to BS EN 350-2:1994.
So
what we should be seeing on the sheets of standard compliant BS1088 ply is something like;
BS 1088-1:2003,
MARINE/UNBALANCED/TREATED/4mm/MD/GB/LW/GABOON
With the "MD" being an example of manufacturers
mark, GB being the country of manufacture ( in this case Great Britain) LW showing that the panel type is Lightweight ( which
is indicitave of ADD of species used) and obviously Gaboon is the species. There are some small variations on this but
we source ply from both the UK and France and this is what is marked on the sheet as required by the standard.
If you are looking at ply that has not been marked as such, what other part of the standard has not been complied
with?
If you read the British standard
it states that “the accuracy of the claim (of standard
compliance) is solely the claimant’s responsibility. Such a declaration is not to be confused with third-party certification
of conformity.
So probably the biggest problem we face as boatbuilders is that there is a bunch of ply being manufactured
that does not comply and both the manufacturers and sellers of the ply are aware of this fact yet, they are still happy to
tout their product as BS1088 compliant. Third party certification that the ply
has actually been manufactured to the standard is considered to be the most stringent test of compliance. Lloyds Register are one such body that independently
assesses products such as Gaboon marine ply against set standards. As a professional boat builder, we spend a good deal of time trying to source the best
quality products for our boats. Normally this is pretty simple but trying to source high quality Gaboon
ply has been frustrating but has also had some funny moments.
I had a recent conversation with the manager of a large panel product distribution company in Australia.
I was making enquiries about their advertised BS1088 plywood. The conversation went something like
this – Vendor
- Yes, it is available, yes it complies to the British Standard. What are you going to use it for? Me – A boat Vendor -
I can’t recommend that, particularly if it is going to get wet Me – But the standard (BS1088)
is for plywood that will be used in marine craft construction?? Vendor – You can do with it what you want but I am
recommending that it not be used in a boat and if you do that is your choice. The next
conversation with a sales manager in another large panel product importer/re-seller didn’t go much
better; Me
– what species is your BS1088 ply made from? Vendor – Who knows? A tropical timber of some description - it
changes a lot. Me
– what is the average weight/density Vendor – it varies quite a bit from sheet to sheet – depends on species
in that pack Me
– Does it comply with the current version of BS1088-1:2003? Vendor – Not sure if that is the exact standard
but it should do, it has a stamp on it.
Unfortunately for a lot of our clients, they have already been down the
road of being sold "so called BS1088" ply by unscrupulous businesses only to find out that what they have paid for
is not compliant to BS1088 at all.
Here's a few
stories from our clients;
1. non gaboon internal cores being stained to look like gaboon and the panel being sold
as "gaboon througout" but when cut, the timber inside the ply was almost white in colour. Vendor wouldn't
take it back as the sheet had been cut.....
2. One gentleman purchased a kit for a larger boat only to find
out very late in the build that the ply was de-laminating, Company offerred a better quality (but still non standard
compliant ply) to glue on the outside.
3. One client purchased "gaboon" BS1088 ply to find
it the internal veneers were different species and hardness and this varied from sheet to sheet which made scarphing
a real headache.
4. One client bought a sample around to our workshop and I was able to get a fingernail
under the thin face veneer and pull the face veneer off with a complete failure in the glue line.
5. Another
brand new kit I have seen from another supplier had very bad delaminations and voids in the ply veneers.
So to quote an old saying, “oils ain’t oils”
or ply aint ply. Whoever you get your ply from, your supplier should be able to provide you with evidence
of compliance to BS1088, generally in the form of third party certification. As a general rule of thumb,
I ask a supplier if they are familiar with and have a copy of BS1088-1:2003. If they say they don’t,
then how can they know if the ply they are selling meets the standard?
So if you are looking for some
quality BS1088 Gaboon ply in Australia please contact Denman Marine P.O.Box 105, Kettering, Tasmania 7155
Tel: 03 62674660, or via email andrew@denmanmarine.com.au for further information.
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