> I checked out the air-dried oak stock yesterday and it was all full of
> splits and the grain wasn't going the right way anyway. The idea of
> contacting a local tree surgeon is a good one, but still requires a lot of
> work. A Question: Is there any material-even non-natural-that would have
> the properties that you need for rib stock? I guess I could use willow
> shoots, but the rib mortices are rectangular... Cedar, some sort of
> plastic extrusion, ???? Just thinking out loud. It's time to get creative.
> Thanks- Jack

Jack,

Yellow cedar is a very popular rib material. It is quite strong yet still quite light, it is also much more rot resistant than oak. You could also use red cedar but it does not have the strength of yellow cedar. If you want light weight and don't plan on too rough of use, go with red cedar, otherwise yellow cedar is probably the best route. I built my entire Putz frame out of red cedar except for the mastic(sp?), footbrace-deckbeam, and misc. cockpit coaming parts, I used mahogany for those. I've had no problems, but the kayak is quite flexible.