Date: Sat, 07 Aug 1999 12:53:05 -0800
From: Flemming Sorvin <fsorvin@home.com>
To: baidarka@lists.intelenet.net
Subject: Re: baidarka Questions re: ribs & materials
If you're looking for rib stock you might want to try red alder. I did
it on my boat in much the same way that Wolfgang's book describes, going
out into the woods and gather some shoots with a pair of clippers. If
you're on the west coast like me, it's readily available.
The nice thing about red alder is it is plentiful and grows rapidly, so
if you're concerned about deforestation issues you have less worries.
I gathered mine in the winter, when the wood was green, soaked it for a
few days in a spare bathtub and then stripped off the bark before I bent
them in place. They dried in a few days and shrunk a little (~ 1 cm)
down from the keel. Worked great so far and now that I've added red
alder stringers to match, I think the ribs are a little stronger having
been made from a piece of whole shoot instead of ripped from a board.
I used the B.C. government Tree Book to identify the species, but I'm
sure there's plenty of other books out there.
flemming