> Live in FL and choice Western Red Cedar and Redwood is hard to find
> without special ordering it. Found a place to get Cypress of good quality
> but was wondering if the wood bends well when cut 3/4" by 1/4",
> is relatively heavy due to higher specific gravity or takes epoxy resin
> well. Anyone opinions on whether to use this or not? Thanks.

If Cypress is what you got, use it. Here is why:

Cypress is a wood that is naturally resistant to rotting and therefore has been used in wooden boat construction for many years. We know it works for boats.

If it is slightly stiffer than you want, cut the strips narrower. Make them 1/4 by 1/2 or 1/4 by 3/8 and they will bend easier. the only reason cedar strips tend to be 1/4 by 3/4 is that they are commonly cut from nominal 1 inch planks, which are actually 3/4 inch thick. If you need them narrower, you'll waste a little wood. If you find a lumber supplier who can give you plnaks that are thinner, you cut that for making thinner strips.

Personally, I get 5/4 lumber (nominally an inch thick) and cut a lot of strips that are 1/4 by 1 inch. In areas where the cuves are extreme i rip those in half to get pieces that are a bit under 1/2 inch by 1/4. The actual measurements don't really matter as I put the same number of strips on both the left and right sids of the boat, in the smae places, and they all match up.

As for weight: When you are portaging that boat over the mountains in Florida to get to the next stream you will really appreciate a light boat. Oh, wait. There ARE no mountains in Florida. So, it shouldn't be a big deal if your boat is 15 pounds lighter than a plastic 'yak, or just 5 pounds lighter. If you are a stickler for super light boats you'll be special ordering a lot of things. Get used to it. Otherwise, you can do a few things to shave some weight off of your craft. George Roberts has previously suggested most of these ideas, and I think they have mucho merit: Weigh your boards at the store. I guess you'll need to take along a fishermans scale of some type. Moisture content and the ensity of the ring pattern on wood can make individual planks differ in weight. After selecting the best ones in the stack, just buy the lightest ones.

Cut thinner strips. George says he uses 1/8th inch strips, which he covers with extra layers of lightweight fiberglas cloth. Best prices I've seen for lightweight cloth are from Aerospace Composite Products web page. the URL is: www.deltronix.com/public/acp/P_fc.htm

Their price list has 2 ounce cloth for $1.25 a yard. (38 inches wide). Putting on three layers gives the same ( or slightly better) effect as using a single layer of ounce cloth. The equivalent ocst would be $3.75 a yard for a single layer of 6 ounce cloth -- which is certainly in the ballpark. They have 3 ounce material listed (use 2 layers to equal a single layer of 6 ounce) for $1.80 a yard. Remember that an 18 foot kayak is 6 yards long. getting enough fabric to wrap the outside of the deck and hull with two layers means getting 24 yards. From most suppliers you use the price list for 25 yards or more and get the best price. wider cloth is more expensive, of course.

Wrap a tape measure around the widest form you have and measure from sheerline to sheerline. If the measure is 36 inches or less you can use 38 inch wide cloth with no problem, and have less waste than you would get from using wider cloth. If the measure is slightly over 38 inches, consider joining the hull and deck at aome point other than the sheerline so you can get the best use from your fabric. If the total circumference of the boat is in the 40 to 45 inch range, or less, get 50 inch material and carefully cut to get the best use out of it.

Other people use strips that are 3/16 thick. If you go this route the wood in your hull will be 75% the weight of a hull built with 1/4 inch strips. This is a good way to shave pounds off of a boat. If you go this route, I'd suggest you check your strips for accurate thickness so they line up well and you don't need to do as much sanding after they are assembled. Bead and cove work well here to keep edges lined up, too.

Clear red cedar is expensive, but more common pieces of wood can be used. I get mine from the stacks of materials used for backyard decks. It has knots, but I can get plenty of clear strips, or strips with minor knots, by carefully selecting pieces at the store, and then cutting carefully. I can cut out bad knots and make a butt or scarf joint to eliminate the flaw, too.

As for epoxy holding on Cypress. A test will be simple and relatively fast. Try it on a scrap piece. It should hold. The epoxy soaks into the pores of the wood, and solidifies, acting like millions of tiny clamps around each grain of wood. Anything glued on that has the same strength as an epoxy plastic to epoxy plastic bond -- and without getting into engineering reports, that seems to be more than strong enough for the kind of work we are doing here.

Just some thoughts for you to consider. Good luck in your project.

Paul Jacobson