Buccaneer 24 Builders Forum

I agree! From everywhere I've seen small gap for ply is the consensus. I've done same in plywood fiberglass hull/fuse situation to also spread bulkhead loads in skin. In theory ya leave gap, apply epoxy, and fillet shape the extra that comes out.

Barry

 

What kind of wood is meant by "hardwood"? And can it be laminated or is it supposed to be one piece? And the width is supoosed to be the width of the tube, correct?

 

Choice of wood

Fred- By my understanding and experience, "hardwood" means what ever is available in your part of the world. My stern beam was mush, (from water setting in the "V" with no outlet) and I replaced it with some treated yellow pine that I had saved for just such a use. Maybe not the best, but plenty strong and very durable for a 24. What ever you use, solid or laminated, needs to be dense enough to accept the compression loads of the inner beam mounting bolts, and glue well to the bulkheads. My 33 used some un-identified but durable wood that might be some type of mahogany. The front and rear beams and a little around the dagger trunk are the only "thick" wood in the 24, not a lot of material total, so purchase the best you can find. IMO, money well spent.
The beam thickness (fore and aft) is specified on the plans. The alloy cross tube sits on top of it, so it is not as thick as the tube diameter.
B

 

Usually when a designer specifies 'hardwood' it is for the characteristics commonly associated with many hardwoods. Density, compression strength, abrasion resistance and the ability to hold fasteners.
Balsa is technically a hardwood, but usually wouldn't serve where 'hardwood' was spec'd.
A well selected, dense piece of Doug. Fir, or S. Yellow Pine might well prove satisfactory even though both are softwoods.

 

Available wood

With an emphasis on available. Since I live in the south, I can find really good yellow pine, and for my rebuilds, I have a modest supply of copper treated wood that still glues well, unlike the newer treatment. I can get nice clear fir that works well for light frames and such, but most of what we have from the local suppliers is second growth with an open and relatively soft grain. Nice wood, but probably not a good choice for the Buc's beams.
In the Buc-24's beam mounts, some water is going to penetrate, no matter how much epoxy you put on it, so decent rot resistance becomes part of the equation. The beam saddles are hard to inspect or repair, so choose carefully
Much of the US was/is still using wooden work boats until recently, and they were mostly built, and built well, out of well chosen local lumber. The Buc, for the most part, is a simple boat and can use any number of "work boat" quality materials.
B

 

Well any available but redoak! Haha good for floors bad for boats!


Barry

 

Some white oak would do. But don't spend any money on it.You must have some suitable pieces in your fire wood pile or some scrap some where. All to often people are used to going to the lumber yard to buy wood when there might be some right in their backyard.
nelson

 

Found wood?

Nelson, sorry, but I am going to disagree with that. Down here in the lower states, our wood piles are often not very protected from the weather, and any wood in them is going to be saturated with moisture and mold/rot spores. It might not matter in an open boat, but in that location on the Buc, I would want to use wood that had a low moisture content and had been properly dried. Of course, if you know the history of your wood pile, that would be different, but for most of us, found wood is not a very good choice.
The white oak would certainly be strong enough, but it often isn't the best at gluing unless very well prepped, and in such an important place, I would prefer other woods. Just an opinion If I had access to a nice piece, Sapele might be my choice- in wood. You only need about 8' of it. If price and labor were no issue, a carbon epoxy/beam would be a nice substitute
B

 

Add to that the fact that even wood from a yard is not the old wood we used to see, those old forests are long gone! So even stuff from a nice place is technically green, and never hurts to go to a place with a kiln and be extra sure.


Barry

 

Most wood stored in outdoor areas has a water content of about 20-24%.To make sure we got our wood down to at least 12% moisture content we stacked the pieces a few inches apart, on top and at right angles to each other to form a latticed pile , covered it with poly sheet, cut the sides out of a cardboard box
to make a tunnel under the edge of the poly and blew in hot air with a small floor type air heater, with a similar outlet on the opposite side. Water would run out from under the cover and we would leave it there until all signs of water was gone. Stacking the wood properly saved the wood pieces from warping and the wood machined so much easier, was lighter and absorbed epoxy more easily. Recommend this to anyone who is building a wooden boat.

 

found wood

Your absolutely correct bruceb and os7. Sorry freddyj I should have given more info with that post. White oak being very strong and fairly rot resistant doesn't glue as well as other woods. It is better used in one piece than being laminated. And yes as os7 states the wood has to be dry enough. If you do use scrap wood make sure it is a rot resistant species and at least below 12% moisture content. I was thinking at the time what you might have in Kansas for native wood species. Looking at native trees for Kansas I see that oak isn't even listed. Was I wrong.
nelson

 

Air dried wood take longer to cure but is more stable than kiln dried.. For a cheap solar kiln a car/van parked where it gets some sun is a nice way to keep things dry. In the PNW I wait until our dry season to work on things because of the humidity.

 

+1 on kiln dried. If I'm ever in a jam and need to make a part quick that has to be thrown in kiln I double the thickness cause I'll be hogging it down planer from twist. Buddy of mine has a nice rack setup made from uni-track, the u shaped storage racks like you see in where house stores. He broke off click tab and welded nuts on so you can cinch rack any level you want. He deals a lot with cedar so he can throw boards on rack then lower another bar down onto it as it dries lessening twist. And if you follow 1 year per inch rule if you keep up on keeping it stocked you have plenty of stock in no time. For 3/4 thickness stuff you've got useable boards in 7 months. The big yards round here use os7's method with a smart twist, they put cheap pallets on top as an breather between tarp and stack.


Barry

 

Is building the frames and gluing/epoxying them the most time consuming part of the build? Seems to Be taking me a long time.

Fred

 

Is building the frames and gluing/epoxying them the most time consuming part of the build? Seems to Be taking me a long time.

Fred