Wooden Boat People

By McKenzieDriftBoat.com

Larch

I was wondering if anyone had an opinion on the use of Larch. The small amount of research that I have done seems to suggest that it has many of the same properties as Douglas fir. It apparently is favored by boat builders for its rot resistance. I don't see any reference to it in Roger Fletchers book. It is available for what seems to be a very reasonable price so I was considering using it for my floor boards?

Jim Hill

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Permalink Reply by Bennett Yarbrough on January 27, 2019 at 4:40pm

No experience with it, but the stats on wood database say it’s about the same just a little more dense and a little less prone to movement. I substituted cypress and so far a year in there doesn’t seem to be any problems. I did notice that DF can be bought sorted as CVG. That saves you a lot of time and headaches in the lumber yard. I had to do a good bit of digging to find cypress with a rift/quartersawn grain

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Permalink Reply by Shawn Baker on February 12, 2019 at 12:58pm

Read Pete Culler On Boatbuilding...traditional boatbuilding materials were whatever local materials were available to the builder. :)

We're spoiled to have so many choices shipped to us nowadays.

I'm using ash for my gunnels...but the trees were city trees that died and were cut out of the local boulevards.