Planking Options

[Gary Field]

Friends, I am wondering how suitable "Sugar Maple" acer saccharum, might be for planking a 34 ft hull. It is described as being close grained, hard, durable (and heavy). As it grows quite widely up here in Canada (and is a fairly tall often single trunked variety) it might not be that expensive and fairly easily sourced by Quebec based sawyers so am wondering if this might be an excellent planking stock and even a good alternative to the Northern and Atlantic Cedars.
Gary

[Mike Field]

If I haven't been beaten to it already, cousin, let me be the first to welcome you to the Board.

I'm afraid I'll have to leave it to the locals to help with your question though.

[John R Smith]

Gary

I seem to remember reading that maple, while just great for the backs and sides of things like guitars and violins, has very poor resistance to rot. Mind you, that might not apply to your particular species.

Also, most maples are very dense and difficult to work. You could end up with a very heavy boat.

John

[Thaddeus J. Van Gilder]

I am not aware of any species in the acer genus that is rot resistant

I have dealt with acer rubrum (or was it rubra...), red maple, and found it to be quite prone to rot, almost as bad as yellow poplar, and someone made that stuff work...

I wouldn't put it in my boat, but, I seem to recall reading something by Chappelle (the fishing schooners book, perhaps)that mentioned the use of woods like maple,birch, and hickory for the fishing schooners after the white oak ran out. When I find it again, I'll quote the page and book.

Take that for what it's worth.

[Frank Wentzel]

Maple is prone to rot. That said, other rot prone woods have been successfully used below the waterline where constant immersion would keep the wood saturated and protected from rot. (I'm assuming you are building plank-on frame). The weight would not be so much of a problem lower on the hull and the strength would give additional protection from deadheads and the like.

If you are strip planking (& sheathed in glass or xynole) the lack of rot resistance can be all but ignored. However, regardless of building technique, you need to make sure your design can stand the weight. Simply adjusting ballast to keep her waterline as designed could result in a very tender boat.

A comment on the use of birch etc. These rot prone woods are often used on boats built "North-of-the Border". These boats last acceptably when the average temperature is low, but when they head south they may become "lunch" for the rot fungus.

/// Frank ///

[This message has been edited by Frank Wentzel (edited 10-01-2001).]

[Gary Field]

Thank you for the welcome Mike. It turns out that the local method for boat construction is carvel spruce planked with epoxy and some fiberglass mats bolted on to the hull and sawn juniper frames. I don't know how good a method this is but it is the way stout local fishing trawlers are constructed and are said to last 20-25 years (up here in the cold I'm guessing). I am trying to modify this design technique to incorporate a wood that can go south and survive (flourish!)as long or longer then that with an eye towards retaining some value. Because good boat wood is such a scarcity in Newfoundland and of course fairly expensive to bring in, I am trying to come up with an alternative to spruce for some or all of the planking. It sounds like the Sugar Maple is not the answer due to its none rot resistance and heavyness then. We have lots of Juniper available here but not in good planking sizes as far as I can determine - nor do I know if this would be a good choice for planking even if I could get good sizes. There are some scattered stands of Scotch Elm (I beleive it is Scotch Elm anyway - I need about 1000 sq. ft for the hull. I am in a bit of a fix here in the way of good boat wood. While the carvel planked bolted on fiberglass is probably not the classiest building technique it sounds like a suitable approach for a spruce based construction and it is one which I can get done here with my participation as an owner/assistant-its just that I can't get past the spruce if you know what I mean. Maybe the answer is to bite the bullet and bring in something nice for below the waterline??
Gary

[Gary Field]

Or as Frank makes clear concerning rot prone woods, the above last sentence should read, "bring in quality wood for above and below the waterline".
g.

[reddog]

Hi from Nova Scotia,Gary.In a sentence, using maple for your planking is not a good idea.Makes dandy flooring and cabinets for the house but is prone to rot.If you could get the juniper,(hackmatack),in planking stock would be a plan.For a southern soujourn you really should invest in good quality planking stock.
Good luck;Earl