NewWood

[lumberjack_jeff]

http://www.newwood.com/

Have any of you used this product? It seems to me that it combines some of the best features of wooden and plastic boatbuilding.

The only obvious downside is that epoxy doesn't want to stick to it, but polyurethane glues work fine.

I do know it's great for signs and cuts well - and only costs $27/sheet at my local lumberyard.

[Petros]

looks interesting, but I have never even seen it before. The technical specs show it should be similar to construction grade plywood. The problem I have with is the plastic content, when exposed to the sun it will break down. So any exterior application would be suspect until a longer track record is established for it. This is always the problem with a new product, you just do know how well it will really hold up.

The manufacturer claims it is will hold up better than wood, but I am skeptical about such claims. There is that plastic/wood deck material (Trex and others) that also made the same claim, but I have seen it too break down with exposure to sunlight. So it does not rot or get eaten by bugs, but it eventual crumbles away after sun breaks down the adhesive quality of the recycled plastic.

Might be fun to make a dingy out of it and see how it holds up.

[PAR]

When manufactures make claims like this, they're usually comparing raw wood to their product. With the exception of teak decking, woods are protected in the marine environment, in which case, typically out preform these plastics.

[lumberjack_jeff]

Petros, I think I'm going to do exactly that, build a skiff out of the stuff to see how it holds up. Truck bed liner inside and polyurethane paint outside. The epoxy in a normal stitch and glue boat requires the same degree of protection.

When I build with plywood stitch and glue, I coat the inside with plastic (epoxy) and the outside with plastic (epoxy+cloth) and then paint. This creates a wood/plastic composite panel. At a fundamental level, new wood is a wood plastic composite panel with the plastic integrated into the matrix as opposed to simply applied to the surface.

My concerns are;
a) panel impact strength. The published data indicate that it's stronger than OSB (and CDX) plywood, but I doubt it's quite as strong as similar thickness of 1088, and certainly not as strong as 1088 + epoxy glass. But strong enough? I'm thinking yes.
b) adhesives. Because it's more flexible than 1088 but less strong, We'll adapt this to a skiff design ordinarily specifying panel thicknesses of 3/8". We'll install Port Orford inner chine logs/intermediate sheer clamps, glue them with either pl-premium or 5200.
c) surface finish. For the inside, it's a non issue, because we're going to nonskid with truck bed liner anyhow. On the outside, the surface of the material is kind of pebbly (think corian) and I'd like to avoid sanding excessively not only because it's no fun, but also because during manufacture the material is covered with a permanent poly film.

[upchurchmr]

I couldn't see where they ever said what the plastic was but they talk about recycling plastic shopping bags. Those are polyethelene, one of the weakest plastics available. It also breaks down in sunlight. Can you stick paint and adhesive to it?

Personally I would build a dog house or something first.

[lumberjack_jeff]

Does the polyethelene in an unprotected, unpainted New Wood sheet render it less durable in the weather than an unprotected, unpainted plywood sheet? Given the plywood's propensity to absorb water, I suspect that water and freeze-thaw will kill the plywood before UV kills this stuff. They market the product for fencing and outdoor furniture. In the real world, I fully expect that a painted New Wood boat should be at least as weather resistant as a plywood boat, everything else being equal.

We have an industrial application we're implementing first - weir boards in an industrial wastewater application, uncoated, unpainted, immersed full-time and exposed to the environment. We'll see how long they last.

Beyond that, I think the best boatbuilding test mule is a boat, and the economics aren't really prohibitive.

The mechanical data are available. In particular, they rate their panels with a modulus of rupture of 2594 psi. I've searched in vain for a rating for comparable 1088 okoume or meranti. Do any of you know the MOR for 9 and 12mm 1088 ply?

[upchurchmr]

Lumberjack,

To each his own for the application.

I'm not going to put painted plywood in the water. Others do and it works for them. For me your comparison isn't usefull.

Have you painted it yet? At work we have problems keeping paint on graphite epoxy laminates - which should be much easier.