Please add the scientific name of the woods, because common names can sometimes be very confusing. There can be many common names for a single species, plus there is the language barrier. Thanks.
One of the best things you could add to the chart is a general explanation about the differences between "softwoods" and "hardwoods", especially since these have little, if anything to do with the strength, density, texture, or durability of the designated wood species. For example, Southern Long Leaf Yellow Pine (a softwood) is significantly stronger, denser, and more durable than Okoume (a hardwood). The fact (rarely, if ever explained) is that softwoods are coniferous, whereas hardwoods are deciduous. And simply coming to understand that clears up a mountain of the confusion that surrounds the selection of timber in DIY and even some professional circles. Sail on ... keep the wind at your back!
We could, if you like,cross-post a brief piece of mine which includes source links and which is available from my general (non-Substack) archive of 1,500 + articles. See my Substack DIY section (https://www.portroyalgroup.com/s/diy-forum). Let me know. Cheers!
I would also include black locust and Osage orange in the table. Both are readily available and, being very rot resistant as well as hard, are especially suitable for inaccessible parts such as stems and ribs. These parts are commonly made of woods which eventually need replacing in the boat. It is better to start with something which will last as long as or longer than the rest of the boat.
Off the top of my head, this chart seems too simplified (dare I say dumbed down), too general and out of date. This seems a North American-centric table. The availability of many species of boatbuilding lumber will vary widely depending on locality. Missing are woods available in Australia for example. Some woods suitable for some aspects of boat building such as sapele, purpleheart, ipe and iroko are available from my local supplier, for another example.
This being 2024, since so many small boats are built with plywood, a whole section, in addition to hardwoods and softwoods, would be useful.
Rather than relative judgements in the weight and strength categories, it wouldn’t take much work to substitute actual numbers from the Wood Handbook. Also, what exactly is meant by strength – modulus of rupture in bending? What about stiffness (modulus of elasticity), which can be an important consideration? Some discussion of the tradeoffs between strength, stiffness and weight would be helpful.
Such an updated table should also come with a bunch of qualifiers and caveats, for example such as the vast difference in characteristics between plantation grown Douglas Fir and old growth wood. Easy to say “use only clear vertical grain” but that is simply not available to many these days.
I’m not suggesting an updated table wouldn’t be useful, but it would take work to make it both accurate and broadly applicable. As it is, it seems to me to be actually dangerous.
Thanks, Alex. That's the trick with any such chart—how to be broadly applicable and also not to turn it into a book when you were aiming for a chart. Any single-page chart is bound to be only a starting point.
Josh, You’re right of course. Perhaps an answer lies in how you think such a thing would be made available. As a printed one-pager it is always going to be severely limited. However, if is a strictly online thing, then a one-pager with links to qualifiers and other pertinent information might be the way to go. I don’t know enough about substack to know what such a thing is possible or whether it would take an actual web site.
Good point. I guess I was seeing it in print, but you're right that online we could add links. And that would take the pressure off of including every detail—we could even link to sites that already cover some of deep-dive technical info.
Over my fifty years of boating, building, redoing and doing I have watched various desirable boat woods make a splash..so to speak...on the market and over time disappear and/or become so expensive due to scarcity from over use. Teak, Honduras Mahogany are two once favorite woods in that category. Then new woods are appearing from all over the world seemingly and some last in the market and some dwindle.
Robb White (boat builder, humorist, contributor to Messing About in Boats magazine) used to use tulip poplar for his boats. Not rot resistant without epoxy, but light, strong, flexible, easily shaped. I made a pair of 11’ oars with tulip poplar which worked out very well
Yes, too simple. If it is aimed at aspiring boat builders it needs more information on what parts of a boat each wood is most suited. I noticed some references, but it needs more. Rot resistance is not the end all metric for building a boat which a beginner could easily confuse. Can’t wait to see a greenheart Whitehall on the water some day…
I second the idea of adding a plywood section, increasing the number of species included, and giving actual numbers when possible instead of using subjective terms. Even a five point scale (like Consumers Reports uses for reliability, etc.) would work better than the terms "strong, fairly strong, medium, etc." in the chart.
Please add the scientific name of the woods, because common names can sometimes be very confusing. There can be many common names for a single species, plus there is the language barrier. Thanks.
Right. Good point.
One of the best things you could add to the chart is a general explanation about the differences between "softwoods" and "hardwoods", especially since these have little, if anything to do with the strength, density, texture, or durability of the designated wood species. For example, Southern Long Leaf Yellow Pine (a softwood) is significantly stronger, denser, and more durable than Okoume (a hardwood). The fact (rarely, if ever explained) is that softwoods are coniferous, whereas hardwoods are deciduous. And simply coming to understand that clears up a mountain of the confusion that surrounds the selection of timber in DIY and even some professional circles. Sail on ... keep the wind at your back!
Good stuff. Though some of it might need to be links and not part of my imagined single page.
We could, if you like,cross-post a brief piece of mine which includes source links and which is available from my general (non-Substack) archive of 1,500 + articles. See my Substack DIY section (https://www.portroyalgroup.com/s/diy-forum). Let me know. Cheers!
Sounds good.
I would also include black locust and Osage orange in the table. Both are readily available and, being very rot resistant as well as hard, are especially suitable for inaccessible parts such as stems and ribs. These parts are commonly made of woods which eventually need replacing in the boat. It is better to start with something which will last as long as or longer than the rest of the boat.
Thanks!
Off the top of my head, this chart seems too simplified (dare I say dumbed down), too general and out of date. This seems a North American-centric table. The availability of many species of boatbuilding lumber will vary widely depending on locality. Missing are woods available in Australia for example. Some woods suitable for some aspects of boat building such as sapele, purpleheart, ipe and iroko are available from my local supplier, for another example.
This being 2024, since so many small boats are built with plywood, a whole section, in addition to hardwoods and softwoods, would be useful.
Rather than relative judgements in the weight and strength categories, it wouldn’t take much work to substitute actual numbers from the Wood Handbook. Also, what exactly is meant by strength – modulus of rupture in bending? What about stiffness (modulus of elasticity), which can be an important consideration? Some discussion of the tradeoffs between strength, stiffness and weight would be helpful.
Such an updated table should also come with a bunch of qualifiers and caveats, for example such as the vast difference in characteristics between plantation grown Douglas Fir and old growth wood. Easy to say “use only clear vertical grain” but that is simply not available to many these days.
I’m not suggesting an updated table wouldn’t be useful, but it would take work to make it both accurate and broadly applicable. As it is, it seems to me to be actually dangerous.
Thanks, Alex. That's the trick with any such chart—how to be broadly applicable and also not to turn it into a book when you were aiming for a chart. Any single-page chart is bound to be only a starting point.
Josh, You’re right of course. Perhaps an answer lies in how you think such a thing would be made available. As a printed one-pager it is always going to be severely limited. However, if is a strictly online thing, then a one-pager with links to qualifiers and other pertinent information might be the way to go. I don’t know enough about substack to know what such a thing is possible or whether it would take an actual web site.
Good point. I guess I was seeing it in print, but you're right that online we could add links. And that would take the pressure off of including every detail—we could even link to sites that already cover some of deep-dive technical info.
Possibly add Cypress. And consider listing whether a wood sinks or floats under the weight category.
Thank you. Noted!
I think these would be very beneficial additions:
- a marine plywoods section
- actual weights per board foot (or Square foot)
Thank you. Noted!
Over my fifty years of boating, building, redoing and doing I have watched various desirable boat woods make a splash..so to speak...on the market and over time disappear and/or become so expensive due to scarcity from over use. Teak, Honduras Mahogany are two once favorite woods in that category. Then new woods are appearing from all over the world seemingly and some last in the market and some dwindle.
Robb White (boat builder, humorist, contributor to Messing About in Boats magazine) used to use tulip poplar for his boats. Not rot resistant without epoxy, but light, strong, flexible, easily shaped. I made a pair of 11’ oars with tulip poplar which worked out very well
Yes, too simple. If it is aimed at aspiring boat builders it needs more information on what parts of a boat each wood is most suited. I noticed some references, but it needs more. Rot resistance is not the end all metric for building a boat which a beginner could easily confuse. Can’t wait to see a greenheart Whitehall on the water some day…
Even just a simple list of parts might allow beginners to focus their research and form their questions.
Thanks!
Add some of the more "sustainable " tropical woods like Sapele and red grandis to the list. Also some numbers wouldn't hurt (density, flex modulus)
Thank you. Noted!
I second the idea of adding a plywood section, increasing the number of species included, and giving actual numbers when possible instead of using subjective terms. Even a five point scale (like Consumers Reports uses for reliability, etc.) would work better than the terms "strong, fairly strong, medium, etc." in the chart.
Thank you!