Wood dealer in The Netherlands?

Hi there,

I would like to build a strip plank kayak. Here in The Netherlands I am having trouble finding a dealer that can provide boat building quality wood. That might be somehow related to my poor dutch, but I am indeed struggling to find a good supplier.

Do you have any recommendations for wood dealers in NL, or neighbouring countries?
Which local types of wood would you reckon?

Thanks & cheers!

 

Woodstein,

Here are a few that are based in the Netherlands.
I can't help you in the choice of wood but i'm sure others on this forum can help you decide.

http://www.fijnhout.nl/
http://www.bootbouwer.nl
http://www.dijkhout.com
http://www.mariusvdberg.nl

Joris

 

Hoi Joris,

thanks a bunch for the instant reply & links! Exactly what I was looking for.
Are you aware of any good wood shops on your side? I'm in Zeeland, just a stone throw away from the border to B.

Cheers,
WoodStein

 

WoodStein,

I had no trouble finding woodshops that can supply wood in belgium but they don't have much experience in wooden boats so you need to know what you're after if you plan on buying here. I'm about 20kms from the border with the Netherlands and since the boat industry is immens compared to ours, it's easier to make the trip when i need something. I even bought my paint there

grts,
Joris

 

Hoi Joris,

bummer. It would have been to nice to 'jump over the fence', have a nice Belgian beer and go wood shopping after. Nevertheless, thanks for the links; I'll get into it soon.

Are you working on something at the moment?

Dui,
WoodStein

 

Hi WoodStein,

Belgian beer is always worth the trip
I started my first build about a year ago, a 20 foot Hacker (cold mold), sanding the bottom for paint at the moment and hoping to flip the hull in a few weeks.

grts,
Joris

 

Hey Joris,

the Hacker, she is a very nice one. Triple cockpit? I hope your sanding is coming along nicely.
Cheers & thanks again for the tips, the first quotes are rolling in.

WoodStein

ps.: agreed regarding B's beers.

 

Hi WoodStein,
Sanding is going better than expected
Not the triple cockpit this time, i'm trying to stay as close to the original dimensions because i'm a first timer and wouldn't want to create problems by changing anything that influences the behaviour of the boat. So 4 seater, no big V8. I did make the transom curved in both directions and will add a windscreen.
Feel free to drop in when you decide to jump the fence for some real beer or just to talk boats

grts,
Joris

 

Hi Stein,

For strip built material suppliers in the Netherlands look also at MacBoat in Medemblik.

- - Numbered Wood Strips - -

- - click pic to enlarge a bit - -​

For glass mat covered brightwork I like their idea of numbering each strip during the production process, this makes it possible to keep easy control over the wood pattern and color while building.

For a strip built kayak I wouldn't recommend any dutch local type of wood. Western Red Cedar from the Canadian west coast would be a good choice for its lightweight and durability.

Red Cedar info on Wikipedia can be found under: Thuja plicata or in dutch as Reuzenlevensboom, although the latter is a name I've never heard of IRL in dutch.

When in the Netherlands and you Google ‘‘ Red Cedar ’’ you'll find many local suppliers for all kind of applications, so not only the ones specialized in boat building materials.

Google in the Netherlands ‘‘ Red Cedar boot ’’ will give you many local suppliers who are specialized in wood for DIY boat building.

Good Luck !

P.S.

Here some Red Cedar info on general applications in dutch. (click on ‘‘Lees meer...’’ at the linked page)

 

Hi Angélique,

thanks, MacBoat looks like a nice site, they definitely do nice canoes/kayaks. I'll contact them soon to get a quote.

Ok, so you reckon no european woods can't compare with WR cedar. I remember building a strip plank canoe in Australia, there some people also used WRC, but I went for a local gum, which turned out very nice. Maybe the total was a bit heavier than it would have been with WRC, but the local 'gum' looked pretty nice too.

It looks like the dehoutboer.com is a nice place to get some wood too. Cheers for that!


@ Joris: I'll give you a shout when I'll perform a backflip over the fence.

 

Just check the density or specific gravity of the timber if you want to guage how heavy the craft will be. WR Cedar is around 0.38, same as Obeche, whilst Balsa and Pawlonia are lighter. Don't forget to allow for resin saturation and glass, when working out the overall weight.

 

For a strip built kayak I think so, but if you find a good local alternative I would be happy to learn about it . . . :idea:

Good Luck !

 

I was thinking of larix, akka larkis, akka larch. Although specific density is higher than cedar (approx 590 larch vs 380 (bye the way thanks SukiSolo for your reply and info!) cedar (source http://www.simetric.co.uk/si_wood.htm). Still a beautiful wood though,...hm. However, I'll have to sniff around if there is high quality larch around. No good to have to many knotty bits in there.
Greetings.

 

Hi Stein,

There are many species of Larch/Larix* from many countries and there are also a lot of hybrid crossbreeds. I reckon the build quality will vary by species and region of growth. For good build quality you might end up in regions like Finland or Siberia which isn't local for the Netherlands, but maybe you can find good local quality.

* Lariks / Larix / Lork / in Dutch.​

A lot of Larch-Larix wood is a bit resinous/tarry which is good for durability but this might be not so good for the epoxy absorption which is needed for the glassed strip built method. So inquire about this or do a test before the buy whether the selected timber allows for enough epoxy saturation for the strip built method. Maybe others can advise on this here.

Good Luck !

 

oh, yes, Angélique, the sap-potential-a-problem-to-bind-to-Epoxy-resin-problem is a good one. That is asking for some scientific experimentation in the backyard. Who wouldn't have thought that there is a bit of bucket-chemistry in canoe building. I like it!

Cheers!

bye the way: thanks to all of you for your ideas, time & sharing your thoughts!