Thread: Air-dried boat timber

OAK?MAHOGANY? These are European timbers , you can replace them with Australian HARDWOODS, , Flood Gum is strong and will out last Mahogany& Oak.

Check out specialist Timber Yards, .

Jeff

Mathews Timber is in Vermont Sth/Nunawading. They have a hefty range of australian and imported boutique timber choices.

I'd consider trying to substitute the oak/mahogany combo for aussie timbers. Spotted Gum is an awesome timber for steam-bending (usually the main reason for using oak for ribs). Otherwise, the mahogany I'm guessing is detailing and possibly planking?

Meranti is a possibility (also called pacific maple), but it wouldn't be a good planking choice.

If they don't stock air-dried timber, they can probably point you to somewhere that does

If you can get some Huon pine form Tassie or celery top for the planking it would be a great choice. if you go with Aust hardwoods for the planking on a small Whitehaul it would weigh far to much. As the boat won't be kept in the water good quality Meranti would be a good choice. When i was a boatbuilder good quality meranti was just that...good quality but today the stuff i see is pretty dreadful but i'm sure there must be some good stuff still coming in. Mind you if you leave it under a tree in your yard after use just about anything will rot out if not cared for.
If you want to keep the cost right down then use ply for the planking. Its much cheaper and a first off boat is not a bad choice.

Hi, all of my research on whitehalls (mostly USA) shows that the hull planking was softwood, with apple for the knees and breasthook. (Can't remember of the top of my head what timber for the frames).
I would stay away from pine (except celery top pine from Tassie, & Huon = $$$).
New Zealand Kauri if it can be found (recycled) or oregon. Someone has made one successfully out of western red cedar, but I think this would is a touch too soft.
Spotted gum would be really good for the steam bent frames.

All the best with your endeavors!

Kiln dried timber absorbs air moisture once it is stacked especially if it has space around the planks. To my knowledge kiln drying only speeds up the drying time and does not harm the timber. In fact with Paulownia it helps stabilize it if it is dried slightly below average air moisture in a kiln and then allowed to settle in the atmosphere.

I don't know what a Whitehall craft is but it is a fact of boat (any water craft for that matter) building that the lighter it is the easer it is to handle and the faster it will go. Skip the heavy timbers and go for something light. Paulownia is very light, easy to work with and used to make boats from 10 + metres down to surf boards successfully. You would have to put a thin sheet of fibre glass over the outside of the hull to protect the soft surface. I don't sell Paulownia any more so don't have anything to gain by pushing it as a timber.

Whitewood

For Planking you can use Hoop Pine, Silver quango, Oregon , western red Cedar, my choice would be Silver Quandong , no much heavier than Oregon, and is an excellent boat building timber, Second choice would be CLEAR HOOP PINE.

Jeff
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