Builders' Forum |
|
| ↓ Scroll to Last Comment ↓ | Forum Guidelines | Builders' Forum |  RSS
|
building strip kayak from mahogany or other wood
I am new to boat building but build a lot of furniture. I am curious if something other than cedar strips can be used to to build a strip kayak. Assuming wood is epoxy friendly, any reason not to use mahogany or similar?
3 replies:
RE: building strip kayak from mahogany or other wood
You will also want to consider the flexibility of the wood. Building a boat out of mahogany strips would not only weigh a lot more than cedar, but it would take a lot longer to sand. I think the main things to consider when choosing a type of wood are: weight, flexibility, resistance to rot, and cost.
RE: building strip kayak from mahogany or other wood
If you have the means to make your own strips, then one of the first things you learn is to use wood that is available in your area. I use mahogany on my yaks but only as highlights. At $12 a BF vs cedar, spruce, cypruss at $3 BF. My first yak was Cherry, poplar, mahogany, and ash and it was indeed heavy for a wood yak, but no more than one of my composites and the wood was free from one of the local moulding companies. I raided thier dumpster. It also added about 100 man hrs in making my own strips. You can see my yaks and how I made them here http://kayakkev.wordpress.com/category/wood-kayak/expedition-single/
http://kayakkev.wordpress.com/category/wood-kayak/guillimot-l/
The second one is of W Cedar, Red cedar, aromatic cedar (came off of job rescued from the dumpster),mahogany, and ash.
The cedar yak will be lighter, but the cost of shipping pre-made strips was outrageous. My next yak for me will be cyprus and mahogany
RE: building strip kayak from mahogany or other wood
» Submitted by Fishbuster - Sat, 2/14/09 » 1:08 PM
Weight is a big consideration in choosing woods. Also price and availability.