Supplier of Paulownia strip planking

[dickinz]

I'm a newbie to this forum, planning to build an 18' sailing proa (Gary Dierking T2) and according to his plans I need 70 x 5.7m lengths of 6mm x 19mm strip planking (square cut)

His design suggests these can be ripped from 6 planks of 140mm x 19mm.

I'd like to use Paulownia but the design could use other straight grained timber.

So far I have only been able to source shorter lengths, can anyone point me towards a supplier of lengths over 5.7m or who can splice together shorter lengths before ripping into strips ?

Preferably not too far from SE Qld.

Thanks, and happy new year to you all.

[labr@]

Welcome to the forum Dickinz.

It might pay to check with the designer regarding the need to have strips that long. Many people build kayaks that length with shorter strips and without scarf joints either. I am currently doing a short stripper out of recycled timbers that are shorter than the LOA and only used scarfed joints on the strips near the shear line. The rest are butt jointed when glued in place.

A couple of other things to consider are transport and handling in the workshop.
Transporting strips or planks that length is going to be costly - if you can find someone to carry it at all. A forum member, Whitewood, is also a Paulownia supplier and can not get his carrier to take any planks longer than 3.5M (correct me if I am wrong on that).
I have read comments by people who have tried the long strips but prefer to use shorter ones because the long ones are so unwieldy.

Regarding splicing before ripping the strips - I'm not so sure this will work as the splice angle would run across the face of the strips and this would give much less surface area.

Whichever way you go I hope it turns out well.

[dickinz]

Thanks Labr, I'm a bit short on experience as a stripper.

I think the surface area in the scarf will be exactly the same which ever way you cut it but I had not thought about the appearance, which will be visible since I plan to finish the hull with clear coat.

I take your point about length and fragility, especially for transport, so it will be shorter lengths.

The curves in the T2 hull are pretty gentle so butt joins should work, especially if the joints are staggered.

Thanks for your help.

[whitewood]

PM received from dickinz and reply sent. Thanks for the plug Bob.
Whitewood.

[anewhouse]

I have built half a dozen 4.5 and 5 metre strip built kayaks using Paulownia. I have used strips varying in length from 1.8 metres to about 3.3 metres. My 5 metre kayak used mostly 1.8 metre strips.

I scarf the strips using a belt sander and I find joining the strips less of a hassle than trying to handle full length strips, especially when they have to be tapered to fit at both ends.

All of my Paulownia has come from Whitewood and I have been very pleased with the product and the service.

With a bit of care, the joins are not noticeable. The join on the top row can be seen because I didn't get it clamped perfectly. The one on the second row is only given away by the change in the grain. The one on the extreme right is a bit hard to spot. The dark bit in the middle isn't a join. I believe I can get neater joins with scarfed joints, but some people are able to get neat butt joints.

[whitewood]

Alan,
Thank you too for the support.
John