WRC or Mahogany?

[TK1]

Hi,

I am (hopefully) into the final planning stages of my boat before I start building...down now to the :eek: budgeting:eek: ! I tried to avoid it, but need to plan the spend (and discuss the ROI with the CFO:( ).

Whilst the boat will be cold-molded for strength (and as it will live out of the water), I am interested in sheathing the outside with a 'veneer' (maybe 3 - 5 mm thick) layer of timber - partly as I have spoken to local marine ply suppliers and I can't get mahogany ply in the foreseeable future. This may change and solve my problem.

Failing that, I will use mahogany or WRC. A local yard said they may be able to get african mahogany, but more likely plantation-grown Fijian mahogany. It's about $3100 a cube, WRC is about $4500 a cube.

They said the Fijian stuff is a lot softer than other mahog, as it's younger. Is this still suitable for boat work, or would I be better off paying for western red cedar? Original boat I am copying was mahogany. Or, should I just stain gaboon ply??:confused:

Thoughts from people who have used either much appreciated! And obviously choice will impact on cost as I'll need a bit.

Thanks,
Darrn

[Boatmik]

Hi Darrn,

The physical properties of timber are roughly in line with the density (kg per cubic metre).

So if Western Red Cedar is OK and the Mahogany is the same or higher density it would almost certainly be OK.

Using real timber for the outside veneer makes sense as the fairing process might go through the first veneer of ply - making an unsightly job.

Gaboon is not many shades of colour different from much WRC - always a bit reluctant to stain big areas - like a boat's topsides - it is exactly the same as watercolour painting - one mistake and you have to live with it.

Though you can put the tint in the varnish (and some tints in the epoxy) to darken the appearance - you also reduce the clarity of the coating so the grain is not the feature that it can be if the coatings are clear.

MIK

[bitingmidge]

Have a look at Surian Cedar. I have no idea what species it is, and you'd have to select the colour carefully, but it's light and a rich red colour if you get it right. I've never been able to find out what species it is.

It's a bit furry to work, but once coated sands nicely.

I think it's heaps cheaper than Mahogany or WRC too.

Cheers,

P