are cedar and d/ fir the only choices for strip planking??????

1.how many board feet of lumber did canada produce in 2000?

[tonyr]

Originally Posted by zabi

1.how many board feet of lumber did canada produce in 2000?

27.7 billion board feet. Why on earth do you want to know? A Google search on "canada lumber production" will get you more information than you thought existed!

Tony

[lprimina]

back to the man's question. As Gonzo asked me one time "is the boat for sale or for personal use". If for sale then it needs to be built with the proper woods. I f for personal use then go with luan. At $10.00 per sheet it cant get any cheaper. Plus it is in the mahogany family(I think)

[John ilett]

Originally Posted by lprimina

back to the man's question. As Gonzo asked me one time "is the boat for sale or for personal use". If for sale then it needs to be built with the proper woods. I f for personal use then go with luan. At $10.00 per sheet it cant get any cheaper. Plus it is in the mahogany family(I think)

Is'nt strip planking usually only done with light to moderate weight timber to replicate a sandwich type construction. Your talking of plywood there are'nt you? very heavy !

[JDTriGroup]

a while back in this thread i saw someone talking about using bamboo as flooring. i recently saw an article in a paper about a wood mill making bamboo into a sandwhich (like plywood) type material by drying out extremely thin peices of the stuff. it was also extremely light (only a few pounds per 4x8 sheet).

Redwood works well and is available clear in long lengths. It looks really good finished clear, but it is expensive and more dense than cedar. (23 lb/ft^3 for cedar, 28 lb/ft^3 for redwood - ~ 5-7 lb for a canoe or kayak or ~ 15 lb for a K-19 sport boat)

The major advantage of cedar is its low density. The only structural function of the wood in a glass-epoxy strip planked boat is keeping the glass layers seperated to achieve good stiffness to weight. The only wood less dense than cedar is balsa, which is more expensive.

I've had good luck buying lower grade rough sawn cedar at the local lumber yard. I buy about 50% more than I would need for clear, rip it into strips, cut out the knots with a chop saw and use strips shorter than about 6' for kindling. I sort the strips into bundles by size. When I plank, I use random lengths with staggered butt joints.

I've done 3 kayaks, 2 canoes and have a K 19 sport boat in progress.