Deck Thickness ~ Canvas Covered Canoe

[2Lloyd]

The deck of my Huron canoe is a full inch and a quarter.

Link to photograph:

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/71VvAEpT1bAHKqZ-cmhrhQ?feat=directlink

Is there any need to replace it with a deck this thick?

I was thinking of replacing it with with 3/4" plywood that I would make double
thick along the edges (1.5").

 

[davelanthier]

Why not get some 1" hardwood planking? The original decks were Maple but any hardwood should work. Plywood is usually a soft wood and it will be hard to replace once the canoe is completed. Note that the original deck grain does not run parallel with the canoe. This allowed them to produce 2 decks from 1 short plank.

 

[2Lloyd]

Why not get some 1" hardwood planking? The original decks were Maple but any hardwood should work. Plywood is usually a soft wood and it will be hard to replace once the canoe is completed. Note that the original deck grain does not run parallel with the canoe. This allowed them to produce 2 decks from 1 short plank.

I do have some basswood that i intend using for accent strip on a strip built and some pieces of walnut. I'd have to have someone with a bandsaw cut the walnut but that could be a different deck.

Actually I do expect to do something with an attractive piece of hardwood. There is no good reason to use plywood, other than I have a few pieces lying around.

 

[davelanthier]

Basswood is to soft. A good hard wood offers structural strength to keep the canoe ends together. The walnut should work and look great. Some of the original Huron decks I've seen were birds eye Maple. I've also used Oak and Mahogany for decking with great success on the Hurons.

 

[pklonowski]

If you make the decks from plywood, and drive screws into the edges (to fasten them to the hull), won't the plywood tend to split/delaminate?

 

[Dave Osborn]

Sacrilege

Plywood decks would be sacrilege (Sacrilege is the violation or injurious treatment of a sacred object...Wikipedia)

I've seen cedar and spruce decks, but I'd suggest hardwood.

 

[2Lloyd]

If you make the decks from plywood, and drive screws into the edges (to fasten them to the hull), won't the plywood tend to split/delaminate?

I believe that you are correct and I'm dropping that idea.

thank you