Canoe in Paulownia Strip

Howdy All,

Well, I did put together a big collection of pictures from the Duckflat Spring School last month - how long ago that seems now - but I have a few new photos because the people who were building the Strip Canoe from Paulownia came back to lift it off the mould and clean and glass the inside.

This was perhaps the most interesting of the construction methods - meaning the choice of paulownia and the lightweight glass.

Paulownia is starting to be a good choice because Cedar is becoming expensive - and may not be from sustainable sources. The Paulownia (a Chinese timber) is being grown here on plantations in WA and Queensland.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2121/...7f1b0fb766.jpg

They wanted to keep the weight down so only used light glass of 2oz inside and out with a second layer where the bottom will contact the ground and on the inside where feet and knees might go.

It appears from the Guillemot Canoe site that two layers of thinner glass have much greater dent resistance than a single layer of the same weight. So the 2 x 2oz will have better resistance than on of 4oz. And generally the recommendation is that 6oz or 4oz is adequate.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2284/...26f82760cf.jpg

The boat certain feels very robust.

Here is an example of good policy - epoxying and then sanding BEFORE the parts go into the boat. Looks fiddly, but a lot easier than doing it on the boat.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2050/...3c514fb924.jpg

Note also the care taken to not get glue on the glass with the stems of the boat being fully masked. Those outer stems will be reduced in all dimensions to look neat on the boat.

No news about the weight yet. I'll post it when and if I hear.

All the photos are here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/boatmik...7602281214723/

For those wanting some of the previous discussion of Paulownia you can look here

http://www.storerboatplans.com/Faq/s...rflanding.html - this article talks about how light you might be able to go in a practical sea kayak.

http://www.storerboatplans.com/Faq/paulownia.html - this article talks about how much thicker you have to make things to keep them the same strength. This is perhaps only relevant to larger boats. Smaller boats can still use the same thickness strip as in cedar strip construction

Best wishes
Michael Storer