Thread: What would you do with this piece of timber ??

Hi there,
Have started a WIP on the making have a look at https://www.woodworkforums.com/f40/nz...5/#post1220129

Originally Posted by Manuka Jock

Its' only pine Travis ,
I doubt that it would be strong enough for a bike .
The result could be painful

That would depend upon what you veneer it with after all the best canoes and kayaks are made of cedar which is really only pine!!

Originally Posted by Travis Edwards

That would depend upon what you veneer it with after all the best canoes and kayaks are made of cedar which is really only pine!!

I would say it like this....


Pine is Pine...Cedar is Cedar....and.... Kauri is Kauri....


Sorry but I have to have a bit of a laugh when I see people describe timbers like this...."cedar which is really only pine!!".....If we are talking about cedar and I assume you are refering to WRC and Radiata Pine...WRC is IMHO nothing like pine and a serious insult to the Cedar, they may have similaraties like being softer and lighter timbers and similar shape in the forrest...I thanks thats what you may have meant....But in terms of characteristics, properties, and applications then they are IMHO very far apart indeed.....

There are many woods in the world that are suitable to every desired task for timber, try some Coachwood for your bike or something super strong and light, something stable that glues well, Kauri grain would let you down it, in the sense of what your bike requires from timber structurally even the best selected Kauri can't do it...Even covered in epoxy I still wouldn't make a bike with it...It is stable though and strong don't get me wrong...The density of Kauri is the same as that of Douglas Fir 680 kg/m3

It is amazing what can be done with canoes but remember the whole design is made to flex and stress is distributed over the whole design not on one or two joins like a bike frame, but many..... Success lies in the right wood and best design....

Good Luck

Matt