Attn: Boat builders

Pine for building???

– Last Updated: Jun-08-07 10:33 PM EST –

Beware! Many species of pine have higher concentrations of resin than cedar. High resin content in the wood substrate can result in a delamination. If you're going to spend a 100 hours building a stripper, you don't want to take that chance. Invest in quality wood. You can't go wrong with clear western red cedar. Most of the responses in this thread have focused on the weight and aesthetics of different wood species, there's more to consider.

Pine is fine Cedar is sweeter…
Profound words for the cedar strip kayak builder…Thank-you JJoven. Puzzlepax I appreciate your two cents worth on resining etc.Your guys answers to RandomGuy got me thinking so being the blabbermouth that I am here is my ten dollars and 27cents worth…Randomguy JJoven is so right cedar is King of the stripbuilders woods. Its textures color strength and lightness not to mention flexibility. In my kayak building I find that often times just cheater strips or filling in rather than bending is quite nice and effective. It seems that most of the bending is in the area of the bow. I think it was puzzlepax that cuts his strips 3/16ths, I prefer 5/16 so I can sand down a little more, it gives me a little more wood to work with. But not any more or else its just a little two thick. Of course when bending if you have quarter sawn strips(with grain ) it wont break so easy. Definatly I use cedar on the hull, and save the pines redwoods on the deck. Puzzlepax is so right most of your weight is from the resining. By far at least for me that is where knowledge and experience comes in. Cedar has really skyrocketed these days bin price, but for sure resin and fiberglass is going to be the biggest expense. Make sure you get fresh resin not old resin sitting on the shelf. I would definatly suggest paying a little more for tried and true brands. System three and Mas I thought were excellent. I tried this Hawaiian resin I got in santa cruz california it was excellent. It was mainly used for surfboard construction so you had to add a few drops of some other chemical to the resin and hardner to get it to totally harden. I liked it for there was hardly any amine blush. It waS AN experiment and chance getting that resin from hawaiian but it paid off. Then i got this resin thinking it was cheaper etc. but the amine blush wass so horrid that it took so long to clean off a big pain in the ass. I think system three is my favorite. Their silver grizzly I think its called is awesome. Make sure its not to cold when resining it tends to make the resin kinda murky. I like the clarity of system three. Also after perhaps six or seven years it seems like the woods underneath the resin take on an antique type color an aging if you well and it looks even more beautiful. Alaska yellow cedar is a real nice wood for color and much lighter than pine. Enough said …hope you do make a boat RandomGuy. Dont hesitate to ask us fellow boatbuilders any questions along the way…And have fun…Peace

You have some great advice…
but exactly what types of boat(s) are you considering? Much of the advice seems to focus on kayaks. Is that your intent?

JH Bahn

You have some great advice…
but exactly what types of boat(s) are you considering? Much of the advice seems to focus on kayaks. Is that your intent?

JH Bahn