Thread: Paulonia Experiment

Hi B Midge,
Thank you for that paulonia website. As it is, Tyalgum is quit close to me and I look forward to visiting them.
As a keen surfer as well as sailor I want to build a hollow wooden surfboard, which if done well can be a joy to own and ride.
Going up to "Dugong" next week with my lovely partner to do some sailing up to Wathumbah on Fraser Is perhaps. The humpback whales are up there now.
That boat is looking good Lewy-wish I had those wood skills which you are showing us.
Cheers
Mark

Originally Posted by mark_dugong

Hi B Midge,
Thank you for that paulonia website. As it is, Tyalgum is quit close to me and I look forward to visiting them.
As a keen surfer as well as sailor I want to build a hollow wooden surfboard, which if done well can be a joy to own and ride.

Mark,

You'll find John is keen to help.

There are a couple of Sunshine Coast blokes building hollow boards out of Paulownia, I'm presently tracking them down with similar thoughts in mind.

We're a mere 10 minutes off the highway at Aussieworld/Ettamogga pub if you want to pop in for a cup of tea on your way past!

Cheers,

P

Hi Midge,
Thanks for your offer of a cuppa-I will be too happy to take up but I can't get permission on this trip from my partner as she is on a tight schedule-yuk, which I reckon is a bit crook when you want to drop in and have a cuppa and talk boats an building stuff. Sooo it will have to wait until another time and as I am going up regularly should be soon, thanks again look forward to seeing you. Here is hollow wooden board site I found which looks like real quality! www.hollowsurfboards.com/hollow_surfboards.htm.
Cheers
Mark

Thanks Guys

Had a look at the Whitewood site, answered most of my questions.

Next Question if your out there Mik, would entertain the idea of using Paulownia for planking a trailer sailer or would stick to WRC?

Rob Legg has sent me drawings of his new trailer sailer to have a squiz at, and while not yet committed to it, doing some workings out is all.

Regards

Matt

Howdy Matt,

I dunno. In a sailing load sense it would be fine but because of the bigger boat incidental bumps and bangs may dent the hull more than cedar.

Its impossible to know unless you glue up some panels of paulownia and some panels of cedar and drop some big ball bearings on it from a varying height until the indents on both are equal.

Or something like that. I'd give it a shot for a small sailboat but RL's new boat may be a bit flash to run the risk on without testing.

I'll have a trawl on the net and see what I can find out.

MIK

Run a test panel by all means, but the weight of glass necessary for Trailer Sailer type boat that size will probably be sufficient to prevent any significant dents, certainly any from minor knocks.

There's not that much difference in reality between the bump required to dent foam compared to cedar, and paulownia won't be much different to cedar I suspect. Don't forget, the core is only there to keep the laminated structural layers apart!

Cheers,

P

Hey you guys,

I have been around timber for a long time and used a lot of WRC for joinery, while I have only played around with Paulonia for the last couple of years, my thinking is there is very little diference in the density and strength, I know what the stats say but Paulonia can vary greatly, I expect due to the age of the tree and perhaps the relation to the heart.
A lot of the paulonia I have used is equal or better than WRC.

Having said that I agree it then depends on the glass as well.

Cheers

Lewy

Been flat out with work so the baots taken a back seat. Pulled all the peel ply of and sanded with 120 then 180 yesturday and gave it a thin coat of west this morning. Its going to take one more coat by the look of it, I'll see how it sands up, then its on some Clear Bote coat Aquacote.

Regards

Lewy

Other things I like about your project:

The temporary floor. Much better than the Black plastic I use!

The strongback on wheels. I've been meaning to do that, because every time I go to use something I have to move some project or another.... great stuff!

Cheers,

P

Midge
If you want some mdf for temp floors or frames or what ever send me a PM I throw the stuff away, we give it ti boat builders and any one who wants it. Free to a good home, it costs me money to dump it. Its packing sheets and mostly 3100 x 1200 X 16mm some is 18mm. most of it has nothing wrong with it.

Regards

Lewy

Originally Posted by Lewy the Fly

Midge
If you want some mdf for temp floors or frames or what ever send me a PM I throw the stuff away, we give it ti boat builders and any one who wants it. Free to a good home, it costs me money to dump it. Its packing sheets and mostly 3100 x 1200 X 16mm some is 18mm. most of it has nothing wrong with it.

Regards

Lewy

Why cant I find a Lewy around here? Man I could do with one I can tell you!!

Turned it over at last - weighed in at 51 kgs. I'm now confident that the bare hull will come in at under 100 kgs. The dags inside aren't all that bad, guess what i'll be doing this weekend.

Regards

Lewy

Haven't posted much lately but at last its on the trailer and its going down to the joinery factory to be finished over the Xmas break.

Merry Xmas all

Lewy

Originally Posted by Lewy the Fly

Hey you guys,

I know what the stats say but Paulonia can vary greatly,

All depends on how the tree grows. Two trees in a plantation can have a great deal of difference. If both are the same age but grown in different ways, ie sunlight, water, soil quality, etc, one could be twice the diameter of the other.

The smaller will end up being heavier but far stronger while the faster growing tree will be far lighter.

Paulownia can range from 220kg per cubic meter up to 350kg. Most plantation paulownia tends to be around the 270kg weight and tested for strength sould be around the F5 level, again depending on the size of the timber.

Paulownia also bruses easily and will hold the dent. The cell structure actually colapses under the compression impact. This does make it useful for colissions as it will obsorbe the impact.

CSIRO testing for borers has only been on live trees and not on dried timber. Live trees are prone to borer attack. I have had an 8"x4" plank against a termite mound now for 5 years with NO termite damage at all and this seems to be the same as others have reported to me.

Same with rot. Paulownia in ground rots quickly, just above ground and left out in the weather the seams to be no problems.

Paulownia also is very easy to shape when green and will dry and remain stable in that shape. If you want to bend it further than normal it will also take to steaming and again when dry will remain stable in that shape.

For bonding its recommended to use arildite AW106.