Pros and cons of Redwood for boat construction?

I have the opportunity to aquire at very little cost a great deal of redwood which I am considering using for plank-on-frame construction of a small Barnegat Bay Sneak Box sailer. I recently saw a cedar plank boat that gave me this idea. What I know of redwood are its resistanc to rot and light weight, similar to cedar. Im wondering how it would flex and bend to assemble, as well as if it is stong enough for planking on a hard-use BBSB when cut in thin planks. Also how would it resist the screwheads from pulling through the planks and and would it tend to absorb water quickly, if not totally encapsulated?

If this forum's focus is only plywood and composite construction, I'm sorry for an out-of-place post. If that's the case, any links or other forums you can suggest would be helpful.

Thanks for any expertise you can offer?

Ken

I have seen a beautiful redwood kayak - not sure if it was a CLC or a Guillemot, but I think it was a Chesapeake. I once read that redwood is more prone to cracking if subjected to a twisting force, and I believe it is classified as a less durable wood than cedar and it may need to be treated. I don't have any hands on experience with redwood myself because it is very, very expensive here, so I'll leave it to those who know more than I.

[Jeff]

I think that redwood is equally resistant to rot as cedar, possibly a little more brittle, but still plenty workable. Both are soft, and probably will show abuse if the boat is used hard.

Another good place to ask about materials is the rec.boats.building usenet group. This group has more boatbuilders actively posting than we do, for now...

--everyone is invited

Redwood, while being rot resistant, does not have the impact resistance of cedar or any of the other more common boatbuilding materials. Tensile strength is low...it will easily snap when bent...try some. There is a great comparison table in the Gugeon Bros. tome that is helpful for making engineering decisions.

[gonzo]

I've heard the comment about redwood being prone to cracking. However, none of the wood engineering manuals support that claim. If you want facts and real data check out these sites:
http://www.worldagroforestrycentre.o...els/Dbases/WD/
http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/FP.../fplgtr113.htm
Also you can look into books like "Wood Engineering" and "Wood and Its Use In Shipbuilding" by the US Navy.

[pjwalsh]

I think redwood is probably just fine as planking for a sneakbox.

According to my wood handbook redwood is stiffer and stronger than atlantic white cedar. The downside is that it is more brittle - it does not absorb quite as much energy when loaded to breaking as atlantic white cedar. This basically indicates it is going to crack at a smaller amount of deflection than the cedar.

The difference is not all that large though , and if the sneakbox has robust scantlings you will likely not have much of a problem.

I have worked with redwood (I am not talking about the heartwood stuff they sell out west) quite a bit and I think it splits more easily than atlantic white cedar. It has good resistance to rot too, and paints very nicely.

cheers,

Peter

[pjwalsh]

Just checked the online source Gonzo posted for mechanical properties - contrary to what my handbook says their numbers for energy to rupture indicate that redwood is tougher than atlantic white cedar - go figure. My wood handbook is pretty old but I wonder which source is correct.

At any rate I think you will have little problem with the switch to redwood.

Peter.