Ash
I rarely or infrequently see ash used as gunwales on a vintage wood and canvas canoe. Sometimes I see it used for gunwales on later Chestnuts. Ash was used frequently for the stems, decks and thwarts. Spruce is far more common.
yellow pine
I use southern yellow pine. I find it in a “dense-grain structural” grade. I buy 2x8s up to 24 feet. Clear, straight grained, with a dense grain as opposed to the wide grain of yellow pine dimensional building lumber. Look for it at specialty lumber yards and places that do millwork like moulding. It is almost as heavy as ash and structurally stronger!
what about beech?
I would think beech would be too
stiff and somewhat brittle. It is a good wood for making wooden planes, but I don’t recall it being used for any tool parts that require flexibility and toughness.
ditto syp
very tough , holds fasteners very well but resinous syp does not glue as well as others. when buying wood i go through the stack carefully as i do when buying fresh produce (please leave the stack at least as neat as you found it : ). theres a huge variation from piece to piece. sometimes i come home empty handed because they dont have anything good enough to be boat wood.
Cheap Ash
The market is about to be flooded with cheap Ash. The Ash Boring Beetle has the Midwest cutting down all kinds of Ash trees in an attempt to stop the spread.
Hickory? and thanx for replies
Still wondering about hickory.
Also I cut some cherry decks last year and they look good, good idea to use cherry for gunwales, thwarts etc. i do have access to some cherry.
Also is there a favorite form of joinnery when you can't get long enough sections? I've recently used a lap joint and it came out OK, Not great looking but functional and much cheaper than gettin 18' lengths of ash.
thanx again
Hickory? and thanx for replies
Still wondering about hickory.
Also I cut some cherry decks last year and they look good, good idea to use cherry for gunwales, thwarts etc. i do have access to some cherry.
Also is there a favorite form of joinnery when you can’t get long enough sections? I’ve recently used a lap joint and it came out OK, Not great looking but functional and much cheaper than gettin 18’ lengths of ash.
thanx again
Heard hickory is more rot prone
than ash.
I’m in Ohio’s Quarantine Zone
Nobody seems to give a rat’s hieney. A couple local lumber mill dudes claim the Ash Borer has been around for years, and can’t seem to see what the fuss is.
Hmmmm - - I’m using Ash, Beech, Butternut, and Hickory that we cut down and sent to the lumber mill when we cleared just enough space for my house. Guess what the wood work is gonna be??
wood
Sitka Spruce
and WHite Cedar both of which i use in birch bark canoe building.
Easy to bend
Strong
Handles being wet for a long time and doest rot
nm
Joint
For gunwale construction, consider a 6:1 scarf joint. I’m interested in hearing any responses you get regarding hickory. The wood is really heavy and hard and is usually used for handles that receive jarring shocks like axe, hammer, etc. Also a good wood for bateau poles but heavy. Wagon wheels used hickory for the spokes but I don’t know if they also used them for the bent parts. Personally, I’d use spruce if I were making gunwales from scratch. Lightweight, easy to work, easy to keep in good shape, less likely to rot than ash.
Hickory is somewhat brittle and rots
as easily as red oak.
perhaps
I have no personal knowledge aside from what I read in Stelmok’s “The Wood & Canvas Canoe”.
Rereading the reference it appears your experience is correct as spruce was commonly used for the inwales and occasionally used on the outwales, even though a harder stock, usually ash or mahogany, was used on the outwales where wear resistance was a concern.
Availability
The easy way out is to measure so you know what length is needed, then call Ed's Canoe Parts, 802.334.5130 or Essex Industries, 518.942.6671 and order ash, cherry, or whatever else they may have.
The four piece set will come milled, rabbeted and, maybe pre bored.
black walnut on my yellow prospector
tough, and gorgeous. my canoe is a stunner. too bad it’s a few thousand kilometers away…
Thanks and interesting points
Appreciate the input.
Will get some spruce, cherry and cedar to fool around with.
Thanks for the 6:1 scarf joint info and the shiplap joint from ed’s canoe looks interesting, but maybe harder to cut precisely.
see ya on the water
People steal walnut trees, and copper
from houses… I wonder if someone is eyeing those walnut gunwales of yours with bad intentions.
walnut gunwhales
and not only are they walnut, they are 16 foot uncut lengths. stunning wood. fortunately, the boat is hidden away in the folks garage. unfortunately, that is 4 provinces away…
i liked the walnut so much, i got walnut seats and thwarts in my royalex river boat from the same company. it’s the only Evergreen Prospector with walnut trim. mind you the gunwhales are vinyl. this boat lives with me on the coast here, needs to be paddled more often though.
Research
Since you cited references, I had to go look too.
I thumbed through Sue Audette's history of Old Town Canoe. The catalogue pages in the back promote the qualities of spruce for both outwales and inwales. Early Old Town catalogues suggest birch and oak were also available for gunwales. I didn't find mention of ash for wales, but you could special order about anything.
Stelmok's "Building the Maine Guide Canoe" devotes a page to the use of Northern White Spruce as gunwale material. He says Sitka is a close second, but since it is usually kiln dried it is not as preferable.
On Pages 43 and 44, of "The Wood and Canvas Canoe", the praises of spruce are again uttered forth: "Both eastern and western spruce make ideal gunwale stock because their ratios of strength to weight are unsurpassed and they are available in long lengths. Spruce is noted for its ability to take a fair curve and keep it (hence its popularity as battens for lofting), a characteristic that makes it superior to tougher woods such as white ash for inwales.
In fairness, Stelmok and Thurlow in both books do mention the suitability of ash and other hardwoods (mahogany and cherry etc.) for outwales due to toughness.
However, I still maintain that in terms of Tradition, spruce was more commonly used for outwales than ash during the heyday of wood and canvas canoe production. I have a dozen canoes lying around in the yard. The ones that don't have spruce have mahogany. In my experience spruce is also tough and probably more flexible than most hardwoods. I trip with these antiques and the gunwales are original and in good shape.