Wood

I had a plywood question I buried at the end of another discussion, then figured I would start my own thread with it and a couple other questions.

 

My soon-to-be wife and I are building a Briggs boat. We're going to build it ribless, using foam or honeycomb for the floor and bulkheads, and wood for the sides and interior.

 

It's difficult to find suitable marine plywood in Salt Lake. Macbeath carries Aquatek meranti which I've read on here isn't a suitable alternative to Hydrotek. They also carry Okoume which I used on my last boat, but it is expensive and brittle. I asked if they could bring some Hydrotek in with one of their regular shipments from CA, but with shipping it will come out probably more expensive than the Okoume. Then the salesman said something which surprised me, that the Hydrotek has the same cores as the Okoume, just different veneers. Is that true?

 

If building frameless with the sides sheathed in fiberglass and epoxy, would exterior grade plywood from the Home Despot or Lowes be a reasonable alternative for the side panels, if they are glassed before bending? Could save me considerable amounts of money, unless of course they fail.

 

Also, for the stem - my choices are cvg doug fir, sitka spruce (Macbeath says "boat grade available"), eastern ash (how does it compare to Oregon ash?), white oak, etc. which should I choose? Thanks in advance.

 

 

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Permalink Reply by lhedrick on February 16, 2011 at 4:05pm

I have built with wood and composite.  

 

As stated this is the place for discussions about wood.  I would still one day like to build a killer clear finished wood boat that will shutdown the boat ramp when it shows up.

 

One of these might just do it.

 

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Permalink Reply by Lawrence E. Long on February 17, 2011 at 5:43am
AJ: A very thoughtful and elegant discussion on the evolution of drift boat building.  Working with wood is a pleasurable experience (except when you cut into 8/4 mahogany at the wrong angle)-I get great pleasure out of planing off some white cedar shavings- paper thin- with my fathers Stanley  low angle block plane some  80 or so years old.
Permalink Reply by Sandy Pittendrigh on February 17, 2011 at 7:28am

Well said AJ.  I tried my best to write what I wrote with a non-threatening tone. I lurk here on this forum a lot because I learn here too. But I don't post all that often because my focus is a little different (once fir-plywood went away I essentially gave up on wood....and the honeycomb cores do seem to fix all the drawbacks to the end-grain-balsa core experiments I made many years ago).

What I like is "design it and build it yourself."  I'm not particularly attached to wood per se. I've spent my whole life in the trades, so it's not like I'm missing out on wood. I've made enough sawdust over the years to fill a container ship.  

You mentioned keeping the old swing band classics alive. I'm (still) a music collector. I have about 600 vinyl LPs still, and zillions of cd discs, of everything from 1030s Bessie Smith, 1940s Billy Holliday and 1950s calypso music from Trinidad.  But lots that's new too.  I love listen to Afro Pop Worldwide, and do when ever I can.

For boats and music, I don't see that appreciating the past requires spurning all that's new. Boats are like appreciating the opposite sex--you can learn to love them all.  

:=))

 

 

 

 

Permalink Reply by Jeremy Christensen on February 16, 2011 at 5:58pm

Very interesting discussion as always.

 

As a craftsman, I would love to build a traditional drift boat someday. But frameless boats appeal to me for a variety of reasons. I am very keen on the history and traditions of wooden boats. But I am also very interested in new materials, new techniques, and new territory. I love that people like Roger, AJ and other on here are so committed to preserving the traditional methods and history of Oregon drift boats. But that isn't really my bag. I will gladly assume my place in the lineage, while doing what boat builders have always done, and that is to adopt and adapt methods and materials that best suit my personal preferences and the rivers that I float.

 

Why wood? It has a lot of qualities that make it an ideal building material. But all else aside, it's purely aesthetic. There is nothing like a wooden boat. I resisted painting the interior of my first boat because I couldn't bring myself to paint over the beautiful Okoume wood on the hatch lids and decks. Keeping the look and feel of a wooden boat is going to be a very important aspect of my next build, even with the incorporation of honeycomb and other modern materials into the boat.

 

This site and Sandy's site (montana-riverboats.com) have very different focuses and unique contributors, but I hope we don't feel the need to segregate the discussions completely. Though I am not a "traditional" boat builder, and though I embrace materials and techniques that might make the old timers and purists hem and haw, I value the input and knowledge of these builders and their contemporaries immensely, which is why I like to participate in both discussion forums.

 

Jeremy

Permalink Reply by Dave Z on February 16, 2011 at 7:24pm

On the topic of Heroes-  well said AJ. 

 

I play old country and hawaiian steel guitar music.  There are the same parallels in tradition.

Sandy and Aj are two of my heroes.  As well as alot of the contributors to this site and our hosts. 

 

And I always love to hear from Sandy.  His perspective and practicality not to mention his "why not?" approach to boats and flytying ring loud with me.

 

That said, I'm still a sucker for tradition, but I like my fly rods to be plastic.

 

...I too would be a member of "plastic boat people" haha.

 

Dave

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