I have access here in NW panhandle (Pensacola) to a Cypress and Juniper lumber yard and mill. I have worked with cypress and find it strong, medium wgt and easy to work with. Any educated opinions on this choice of lumber? I am considering using it for everything including spars. I am still looking for marine grade plywood other than fir.
Sam
Cypress is moderately strong. The heartwood is very resistant to rot. It is often used for planking when weight is not an issue as it soaks up quiet a bit of water if the boat is left in the water, so you would want to make sure all the wood is very well sealed.
Sam I had a problem finding marine grade ply in south carolina at all
so i found a place on line and it wasnt to bad i got my wood in three days and the shipping cost was minimal, it came right to my drive way. heres the link.
http://alliedveneer.com/boat-building-pl...ation.html
I will be updating my site probubly once a week as i progress through my building of therapy, one night this week i will most likely be laminating my keel together i should be posting more pic's this weekend.
You should try to get to the lake heartwell messabout if you can i will be there and a couple really nice vacationers will be there as well it should make for a really good time.
Brian
Welcome Aboard Sam
Before I started building I asked the Boatwright at Chesapeake Maritime Museum which plywood he suggested and he said you get more bang for the buck using MDO (Primary use road signs), so I used MDO plywood for everything except the hull sides, there I used ¼â Okoume. Note:1'4â MDO is hard to find.
MDO works great especially when it comes to finish time.
If you use MDO pay the extra $$ and buy the MDO with both sides covered. I didnât but will for the next boat. (A Chesapeake Bay Crabbing Skiff in the planning stage)
Google MDO plywood and youâll find all kinds of info on specâs and use
Happy Building
Kayakarl
Sorry to repetitive, but I, too, have to post on the positive side of MDO (Medium Density Overlay) Used it down to 3/8" - rigid and GREAT as core material for glassing. The "paper" backing sucks up the resin and gives a great bond. Also gives a good finish.
Just don't buy no yellow pine till I get home! :? There are some things we need to talk about regarding the keel and lumber in general for your boat Sam.
Hi Sam,
Cypress certainly is rot resistant. As a boy, we often made lamps out of cypress knees. Whether or not, cypress has the strength needed for spars, I could not say.
On our boat we used cypress for the grate in the anchor locker and for the grate in the transom locker. Chris Gerkin, I believe, also used cypress for his decking. The Stevenson site has a nice photo of Chris' boat, if you would care to look his deck over.
As I recall, we had some finishing problems with the cypress we used. By that I mean we had problems when we planed the surface. Eventually, however, we were able to get the finish and look we wanted. Both grates turned out very nice, and quite strong, and of course, very, very light.
For our stringers, we used hickory. It followed the curvature well, and offered us a very strong wood. Hickory, too, however, will give you a challenge or two if you plane or route the surface. Yes, we broke several screws as we attached the hull, but the structure of the boat is strong, very strongâ strong enough, in fact, take on an unsuspecting shark or sleepy whale â well, perhaps not the whale, but certain a small sand shark would lose any encounter.
The strong oak may have given Old Ironsides its name, but our use of hickory may well give our boat the epithet of Ol' Hickory. That's enough to make Andrew Jackson proud, no?
Brien Walters
I checked out Alliedveneer and called them in LA, they are also in Vero Beach so I will pick up my ply from them on my way to Palm Beach, visit my dad. I won't use cypress for the spars, will go with fir there and as far as the keel goes I will try to find something durable and more water proof. Not sure yet. Maybe mahogony. I'm trying to find an alternative to sandwhiching 3/4" materials on the flat.
Sam
Thats great Sam im glad i could help, what type of ply are you gona get?
I got hydrotec I think the total weight of my ply was 900 lbs. which isnt bad.
Let me know what you come up with on your keel, i am now finaly about to laminate my keel this week, life got in the way this past week so i was delayed a bit , But enough with the excuses time to make keel!!
keep me up on your plans and take lots of pic's of your progress I look forward to seeing them.
Brian