Subject: Re: [baidarka] Wood Choices
From: Peter Chopelas (pac@premier1.net)
Date: Fri Dec 07 2001 - 14:43:26 EST
I have a few comment to add:
> - Redwood is OK weight wise, but somewhat brittle and stiff.
Redwood is highly rot resistant, and also the brittleness can cause failures
on parts that need to be flexible, and costly.
>
> - Fir is stiff and heavy. I used it for the bow plate, stern plate and all
three stringers in my boat. I had to thin the chine stringers considerably
in order to get them to bend and twist properly. CVG fir makes rugged,
stable bow and stern plates. It does tend to chip, though.
Fir has a moderately high degree of rot resistance, and has a very high
strength to weight ratio, but is a bit on the heavy side compared to the
rest, so smaller pieces would make up for that, and still have the same
strength. It is also very stiff for the same size pieces, so smaller pieces
would also compensate for the stiffness if you desire flex (as in all the
stringers, keel, gunwales) it also has a very high cross grain compression
strength compared to the other woods, meaning it would have a high degree
of resistance to denting when running the keel aground over rocks, etc.
>
> - White pine is a good compromise between weight, stiffness and strength.
It tends to warp when it's cut, so if you go with it, build the upper frame
quickly, to avoid having the boards warp while they sit around. I used it
for all of my deck beams and a few small parts. I will probably use it for
the gunwale boards on my next boat.
>
> - Poplar is rather heavy, but other than that, I can't comment. most of it
that I've seen has been pretty straight grained, so perhaps it will work OK.
I think this has very little resistance to rot.
>
> - Cedar is light and easy to work, but not very strong. If you make the
gunwale boards a little wider, it should work well. I'm also considering
trying it on my next boat.
Red Cedar is very light, and in fact has one of the highest streanght to
weight ratios, it is easy to work, and highly rot resistant. A common
favored wood for Alaskan natives. All parts of the frame are suitable for
red cedar except the parts you are steam bending (white cedar works good for
those). It will take glue well too because of the open grain. My wood of
choice personally. But you must wear a dust mask when sanding or using
power tools with it. The same compounds that make it rot resistant are
toxic, you do not want to breath the dust.
I have previous posted a lot more about the properties of these woods, go
see the archives for more info.
Peter
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