What Timber to Use for Boatbuilding???

[Aberdeen]

.............Adelaide is a gold-mine for Oregon in roof frames, & baltic pine in floor-boards (& the demo folks know it). No convenient millable hardwood forests here like in east & west states.

cheers
AJ

Correct about Adelaide and Oregon.... just rescued some big lumps of Orgeon 150 x 180 that was destined for the rubbish dump probably been around for nearly 100 years so should be seasoned by now. No idea what it is worth ?? No knots, straight as a die.....

I just have to work out what to do with them

[jmk89]

I see in AAPB (latest issue with the article by Mik on the trio of PDRs from Africa) that there is a suggestion that cypress (macrocarpa or monterey, not cypress pine) is a good wood to use for boatbuilding.

Any experiences?

[Boatmik]

Howdy - good contributions guys!!!!

The Cypress lead really is for timbers that are local in Africa. So we have to look for what is locally available here.

At the moment I am leaning toward Hoop as a replacement for Oregon/fir and Paulownia as a substitute for Western Red Cedar.

The Paulownia is a very good substitute for cedar. The Hoop is OK as a substitute for Oregon/Fir - it has some of the straightness instability problems of all force grown timbers and is all fairly wide grained.

But we have to accept the future and also that the plantation grown Hoop is a good thing in principle. The plywood that comes from it is exemplary in quality - even though it comes in those stupid 2400 x 1200 sheets.

With most boats I would say avoid Radiata (Crapiata) completely. But the PDRacer is a special case where people can push towards cheapness if they desire to do so - even to the level of using fingerjointed stuff to hold the ply together in the corners.

DON"T ever use finger jointed pinus for anything that is self supporting (not glued to ply at all) or only glued to plywood on one face - the fingerjoints will break really easily. It can be used for gently curved laminations, but will not work for highly curved ones.

Best wishes
Michael Storer

[jmk89]

Howdy - good contributions guys!!!!

The Cypress lead really is for timbers that are local in Africa. So we have to look for what is locally available here.

I agree, but it is available from this mob in Victoria

[Boatmik]

Thanks for the Cypress supply!

However, let me expand that a little - the people in Africa were trying to ascertain what local wood would work rather than seeking out a particular species. They mentioned cypress as one of the woods being available in their local suppliers.

Using the same thinking when you look in Australia you look in your local timberyard or places you are not going to find cypress. So my article was not a recommendation for cypress - it was to look at what was local and find something of around the same density as pine or cedar or fir with reasonably straight grain and no significant knots.

So not a particular recommendation for cypress - if you uncle has a couple of cubes stashed away and he is happy to let a few boards go - then it might come into the picture.

Best wishes
Michael

[PAR]

One of the more difficult things about design work is selecting wood species that will be available for the client, who may not necessarily be in the same local as the designer.

I have a book that I use which list the physical properties of all the commonly used domestic and imported lumbers in north America. It's a handy reference, but often doesn't have some of the odder types.

Generally, the best thing you can do is find out what the other builders in you particular area are using. Look for light, medium and heavy planking stock, the same with framing stock also look for workability/machinability, ability to accept glue, rot resistance, propensity for checking, splitting, warpage, etc. Most lumber properties handbooks will list fastener holding ability, density, color, weathering qualities, color ranges and finishing qualities of each species, etc.

When looking for a substitute, I look for similar weight, fastener holding, gluing acceptance, finishing attributes and lastly color as a suggestion for a replacement species. Most species can be cross matched with another from half way around the world, will little to no harm or regret in a substituted application.

[cookiesa]

This is a little off topic although still in the same vein I guess...

Anyway the mention earlier of demolition yards got me thinking to a couple of years ago I was getting a piece of timber and remember seeing a stack of western red cedar that had been stripped from an interior wall (hmmmm reminds me the inlaws have a cedar "feature wall".......) There was a sizeable stack.

Has anyone gone down this path for planking? (I assume you would at least want to rip the varnish (Estapol??) off.. although if oiled guess that could make it useless for use with resin.

[PAR]

RWC (Red Western Cedar) is a fine planking material for small to mid size boats, but tends to be too light for craft over say 30'. It's light weight makes it a choice in strip planked builds, especially small boats, canoes, kayaks, etc.

The use of RWC should be matched against the planking species called for in the original plans. If they have similar qualities or you can scale the molded dimension to suit strength requirements, then go for it with the RWC.

[cookiesa]

Sorry I should have been a bit clearer LOL,

I am looking to build about 18ft but probably in ply...

My thinking was we as builders often think "new" and the oregon comments got me to thinking that perhaps demolition yards could be a good source of "core" type timbers. I guess the thing with the WRC would probably be the health issue's around sanding it, although that would be the case if you were ripping new stock anyway. For the extra work, probably more biased towards smaller builds, it could be a way to go strip planking and help reduce the costs.