If you were buiding a wood strip solo canoe out of
Red Cedar what flavor gunwales would YOU want?
Ash,walnut mahogany or what? Or would you just
go for the cheapest availability of wood?
Aluminum
Or maybe carbon - for a nice contrast.
Seriously, though, maybe Cherry would look nice if your cedar was a light colour. Maybe ash if it was darker? All your options sound nice.
I’d want one-piece rails
if I could find a piece of stock over 16 feet.
Sitka is about the only species I can get in long lengths near here, and, man, is it dear!
Cypress
… old growth “heart wood” if possible .
If 2nd growth stock , best to treat with a borate solution before finishing , just to keep bugs out .
Can you get clear cypress in gunwale
lengths? If so, I’ll have to start shopping around New Orleans.
Cypress?
you would use Cypress as gunwale stock? I was under
the impression that you should use a stronger stock. Cypress is almost as soft as cedar I am told…
sure I would …
… I’ve used Cypress on a number of things , it’s a great wood . It’s not nearly as soft as Cedar but it’s just as strong . Cedar is a very stromg wood for it’s weight .
I’m certain Cypress select can be had in 1 x stock up to 16’-4" , probably longer . I’m not talking about Pecky Cypress or old Sink Cypress . Pecky has that unusual look cause of the old fungus inside but the fungus dies when milled . Sink is just rediculously expensive , the swamp harvasters get paid like 2-3 thousand a log when they haul it up from the bottom of the swamp .
I’ve even found fantastic Cypress in old exterior door and window jambs and remilled it . Cypress was once a common lumber used for residential exterior items on fine homes . It’s a great wood to work with , I like it .
More Italian harpsichords have
survived to modern times than those of any other nation, because they were made of cypress. They didn’t rot and they didn’t break easily. Even the soundboards might be made of cypress, though spruce sounded better.
Slow growing cypress should have tightly spaced growth rings, conferring strength and reasonable hardness.
But much of the good, old cypress was cut long ago. The young stuff, growing fast in the open, may be knotty and not all that strong.
Cutting cypress by hand, standing in
– Last Updated: Feb-27-12 10:14 PM EST –
pirogues. Enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HF3-0NISvs4&feature=related
Cherry is nice
if you can find suitable lengths of clear stock.
Ash is most popular and for the time being, not too difficult to obtain. With the ash borer spreading, availability may diminish in the coming years. I’ve got a generous supply of clear, long lengths, milled to 7/8" sq. If your interested, email me.
Marc Ornstein
Dogpaddle Canoe Works
Custom Canoe Paddles and Wood Strip Canoes
that was amazing g2d …
… and paddle oriented . 1925 was a ways back there .
Cypress
I had a wood/canvas canoe that someone had re-gunwaled with Cypress. I was quite skeptical but research suggested it was indeed suitable, and it worked just fine on that boat for the time I owned it.