Wood Cockpit sole other than teak

Teak is expensive, and doesn't take glues very well, but the feel and look of real wood under bare feet can't be beat. Has anyone ever used any other woods for a cockpit sole? I'm thinking about putting a wood cockpit sole in a little skiff that I am building, but it has an okoume deck, so I can't use fasteners to hold down the wood. I'll probably end up using teak, but I figured I would research my options first. Bamboo, Ipe?

 

Pay the price and go with teak. It is supperior to all woods.

Locally work boats use iroko. Not bad.. Durable...a bit heavy....prone to splitting when dry

Whatever wood you choose do not go too thin.

Check with the companies who supply pre fit teak decks.

You supply them with a template..they ship you the deck, ready to install.

Vacum bagged to a substrate is ideal

 

Ipe would definitely hold up. I used it for a shower grate. I believe that bamboo would rot quickly.

 

By the way...herreshof used white pine decks

 

Pitch pine is the poor man's choice, though not as durable as teak, Ipe or Iroko, a lot lighter. Cedar is often used on cockpit soles. It's soft and can be easily dented, but durable and light weight. I'd recommend Alaskan or Spanish cedar as the best choices.

 

That Iroko looks like nice stuff. Substantially cheaper, but still heavy. Cedar splinters scare me, plus it is so soft. What about using 1/32" flitch veneers? vacuum bagged to the deck? I know it was recommended not to do this, but I'm curious why? I know I shouldn't be but I'm just as concerned with the weight as the cost.

 

1/32" veneer will have very little wear, before you've literally worn through and need to replace it. High traffic areas and a few scrubbings is all it'll take, to ruin something this thin. I wouldn't consider anything less then a 1/4", if you expect any reasonable durability. 3/8" is the minimum if you hard fasten it. Most veneers will be 1/8" or thinner, with 1/10" being fairly common of the thicker ones.

Alaskan and Spanish cedar aren't going to act like the cedars you're familiar with. They're heavier, harder and stronger, so make good grates, cockpit slats and decks.

 

Thin veneer is not waterproof and is only suitable for interior or when protective coatd

For naked veneer you need to think big...exterior veneer of 12mm is better.

12mm may only give about 10 mm when finished. Naked decking can erode 1 mm per year under high use when wet .
When you choose your stock only use verticle grain and choose the stock with the highest density of growth rings.

Dont let standing water form on a wood deck...camber the deck with epoxy bog or other.....before veneering

A small modern deck may be made........
Lay a sheet of mat backed eglass ....mat up....on a flat mold released surface. Impregnate the cloth.. peel ply. ...let cure. abrade the cloth then epoxy all the planks to the cloth...NO SEAMS...butt joint...let cure, run a circular saw with guide between planks to cut seams...calk seams..sand flush...carefully peel,pry the cloth back decking off the mold release surface.... trim to template shape....abrade the surface...vacum bag to deck

 

The Alaskan is often called Alaskan Yellow Cedar here in the UK and the Spanish one South American. I've used the latter as outer veneer on racing shells before now. Quite a pretty colour, nice smell when you cut it. The old Thames punts were made from it and rarely rot. You can even dig one out the river, re-dry the timber and reuse it sometimes. Hard to get in UK as on CITES protection.

The Alaskan is much harder than WR, I use it as foil cores sometimes.

 

It is a very variable timber. Good Iroko is a fine timber....but. Here it is difficult to buy good Iroko in small quantities; it will already have been picked over many times by the time it reaches a seller who will sell just a plank or two. What is left is often disappointing even as a fire wood. The common faults are: Weak cross grain, an extraordinary amount of internal tension so that it is impossible to work with because you unbalance the wood as you cut it, lots of stony deposit that ruin your tools and instability with change in moisture so that it is constantly moving. It also has a tendency to be brittle and splits easily.

 

Iroko has been and is used as an oak substitute repairing the old Thames barges. It has quite a yellow/green tint to it. Only personally used a small ammount and it was similar to oak but a bit more wavy grain. Hard to make a general judgement though, but it certainly seemed pretty durable and quite heavy. Other odd timber (African) I have come across is Muhuhu, that should be durable but a pig to work other than with power tools....and more wavy and two way grain.

 

Iroko splits. There is a brand new...huge..sailing yacht in town undergoing warranty work on its split iroko deck.

Its possible that some iroko is better than others.

The fishboats with iroko are heavily oiled..perhaps this helps ?

The exterior decking ipe ? Seems robust but is very heavy

There are some other tropical hardwoods that might be suitable

In the end teak is the way to go.

 

Here they sell Iroko as 'teak' so that lots of people are confused. As a joiner, I was often asked for 'teak' windows as that was what the competition was offering!
Iroko is to teak as yellow-brass is to gold...

 

Alaskan yellow ceder is an excellent choice for decks. this is a very different wood than Western red cedar (which is very soft w/open grain, and does not wear well). Alaskan yellow cedar has been used for decks here in the PNW for over a century, and for many centuries for native water craft. It has a clear tight grain and is fairly dense, pale yellow or whitish appearance, highly rot and wear resistant. It also costs more than western red cedar, but I am sure it is much less costly than teak.

I have used it on a number of small boat projects and like the way it can be worked. It is much lighter in color than teak, so you likely can stain it dark if you want.

 

You say you are dealing with a "small skiff. Why do you need floorboards (sole) at all? The boat, unless it has a very curvacious, or steep vee bottom, needs no flooring. I am presuming the the small skiff is not a skin on frame boat.