drop-in outriggers: 3 or 4mm ply? and how long to build?

Hi everyone,

I'm on the verge of ordering ply to build me a set of canoe outriggers to Boatmik's plans.
The material list says 3 or 4mm ply. Have you built yours in 3 or 4? Do you think 3 is too light?

Since Michael seems to still be somewhere with a patchy internet connection, and I want to get started on this job, I figured I could ask here. :-)

Also, how long did it take you to build a pair of outriggers?

Thank you all!
Matt

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Originally Posted by Matt457

I'm on the verge of ordering ply to build me a set of canoe outriggers to Boatmik's plans.
The material list says 3 or 4mm ply. Have you built yours in 3 or 4? Do you think 3 is too light?

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Matt,

IMHO, this is an info that 3 and/or 4 mm ply is good. :D

I'm not a boat designer but I believe Michael was giving options as to the likely use for the craft. A protected lake or off the 'beach' in open waters.

Whitewood

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Originally Posted by whitewood

I'm not a boat designer but I believe Michael was giving options as to the likely use for the craft. A protected lake or off the 'beach' in open waters.

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I'm not a boat designer too, but I'm not sure... We have in Poland 4 mm (3 layers) birch plywood, which is heavier and stronger than 5mm okoume - for example. And 3 mm (5 layers) plywood for glider building, which is light but stronger than 4 mm birch one... Which ply did you mean?

Oops. Yes. I should have said which species. Sorry.
I'm looking at "Pink Satinwood" which is Buchanania spp.

It's said to be similar in weight and strength to Gaboon. I was planning to use this because it's quite a bit cheaper than gaboon, partly because of the 'B' faces rather than 'A'. This is fine, as I intend to fair and paint the exterior.

I will probably use the outriggers fairly hard.

Has anyone here built them from 3mm gaboon who can comment on the result?

Hi Matt,
I am planning to go down the same path of building the outriggers.but early in the new year.
looking at the materials list, it mentions 1 sheet of ply. I am assuming that that is for just 1 single outrigger??
if that is the case, is the rest of the materials, sufficient for a complete set of ama and aka???
I will interested in seeing it confirmed that the rest of the materials are sufficient for the pair.

Thanks
greg.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Greg_stewy

Hi Matt,
I am planning to go down the same path of building the outriggers.but early in the new year.
looking at the materials list, it mentions 1 sheet of ply. I am assuming that that is for just 1 single outrigger??
if that is the case, is the rest of the materials, sufficient for a complete set of ama and aka???
I will interested in seeing it confirmed that the rest of the materials are sufficient for the pair.

Thanks
greg.

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Yes. You'll need two sheets. I haven't checked the materials list thoroughly yet, but I have pointed out the error to Michael. :-)
For the rest, maybe Michael will chime in here. A thorough read of the plans will tell you as well I guess. I'll let you know when I've done that if the question still isn't answered.

Michael wrote to me: "I wouldn't trust 3mm ply unless the faces are very good and don't require patching or fairing."

I plan to paint the outriggers in solid colour, so I was going to skimp on the face grade to save some money. Also, I am buying plywood sight unseen. So I went for 4mm pink satinwood ply from Boatcraft Pacific which is lightweight and quite a bit cheaper than even their 3mm gaboon. Their website says the gaboon ply may use a different species in the middle veneer anyway, and isn't necessarily lighter than the other lightweight marine ply.

So... Here goes. I'll keep you posted. Maybe a build log is in order.

I got the 4 hull panels for the Drop In Outriggers cut and shaped a few years back. Am picking up the build now & will start with the bulk heads. Glad to have this source of posts to review. Tim in Wilder, VT, USA