Newby with a question on cherry wood

[semper_fi]

I'm a woodworker who has never built a boat or canoe. I have purchased the book "Building a strip Canoe" by Gil Gilpatrick. My question is on wood. I have an amount of dry cherry wood on hand and was wondering if it could be used for the strips on a canoe. I would think it would be very beautiful, if it would be practical to use it. I know it would add some weight, but other than that, could it be used?

SF

 

[bredlo]

Certainly things like decks, thwarts and seats are routinely made using a much wider variety of hardwoods, but I'd imagine canoes have been crafted throughout history with just about every species imaginable.

As to the wisdom of it, I'll let more experienced builders weigh in.

 

[Todd Bradshaw]

It could be done, but it's certainly not the best idea you'll ever come up with. You run into too many potential problems, and/or things that don't make it a very good choice as a stripper core (weight, grain run-out, potentially poor bonding of the epoxy/fiberglass skins to hard dense wood, possible brittleness, hardness and unevenness when fairing the shape, etc., etc.). Good stripper core woods are light, stiff for their weight, straight-grained, easy to shape (mill, twist, carve, smooth, etc.) and absorb epoxy resin well to prevent delamination. Cherry wouldn't be very close to the top of that list, and other woods like cedar in particular, would simply be a lot more likely to make a good boat.

Just about anyone who can work carefully and follow directions can turn out a pretty nice, good-looking stripper. Those who already posess good woodworking skills can often turn out a stripper that will knock your socks off. The best way for first time builders to get into trouble is by getting too creative and inventing their own directions or substituting materials without really understanding the process and factors at play. I'd save the cherry for some really lovely gunwales, seat frames thwarts and decks and stick with woods that are proven to work well and be ideal for the hull's core. It just makes a lot more sense.

 

[semper_fi]

Thank you for the response, Todd. That was what I was looking for. I just didn't know. I guess it'll be cedar then.

 

[pklonowski]

cherry wood

Cherry makes for stunning paddles as well. Just make sure the grain doesn't run out, like Todd said.

 

[Fitz]

Cherry

You might be able to use some of your cherry for accent strips etc. See my "Nymph" thread. It is Nick Schade's design. He used walnut for the accent along the tumblehome. I went with cherry.

I have been busy shoveling snow and other things, so progress has stalled, but the cherry made great 5/32's inch thick strips so far. The thin strips require a rolling bevel in places and working the hardwood is a pain. I plan to use cherry for much of the trim too.

I will report back as I go.

Fitz.

 

[Todd Bradshaw]

Perhaps we should make that "OK for accent areas" rather than "OK for accent stripes". Mixing individual hardwood strips into a cedar or spruce strip hull could be quite problematic when it comes time to sand, scrape, plane, or whatever you plan to do to get the hull fair. It's not a big deal to fair a softwood area and a hardwood area and clean up the transition where they meet, but any sort of alternating pattern is very likely to telegraph the hardness difference all the way through the final varnish/finished boat steps, leaving ridges that show up. The cedar strips will dish easily and the hardwood strips will resist big-time. It's not a situation that most folks want to deal with.

One exception might be spots where you want to add a rub-rail or keel, screwed to the completed hull. On this one, for example, I installed a keel runner down the middle of the bottom and used a strip of ash (the light colored stripe on the bottom) in that spot to back it up. It helps keep the screws from crushing the core wood.