Planking a ply on frame design with solid wood?

Tad, given european realities where WRC runs 9-10USD/board foot for mixed grain 2x4 (VG +30%), khaya is half the price (5-6 $/bd.ft., cheaper then imported DF), sapeli around 4.5 $/bd.ft. and given that the design is not weight sensitive would you be ok with black locust? That will likley cost him 4 $/bd.ft. but he can probably get it local and avoid shipping.

 

Tad, you are, as always, a gentleman and a scholar.

 

Honestly, unless you are specifically building a disposable boat, buy the very best material you can lay your hands on. This is an 18' boat, we're talking about hundreds of dollars, not thousands or tens of thousands. Good material will pay you back big-time, long-term....it really is worth it. That said we've seen a lot of really nice Sapeli out here, lots of boat work being done with it, and I would not hesitate to recommend that.

 

Thank you, I agree about buying good materials, just wanted an opinion about different wood species.