> A discussion the other day was about 1/8" luan (aka, door skin).
> After a long search in my midwest area, I found some. I plan to build some
> light duty recreation touring yaks for the wife and kids. My question,
> however, has to do with the type of glue used in the luan. Whereas
> "The Kayak Shop" mentioned using plywood with a waterproof
> (aliphatic?) glue (i.e., if not okume or other marine grade, it specified
> the use of exterior grade luan), Nick's book suggests using glue for
> stripping that doesn't necessarily need to be waterproof. I learned that
> the local 1/8" luan supplier has only interior grade panels. Is this
> going to matter when I plan to saturate and sandwich the stuff between two
> layers of epoxy/cloth? Like the earlier discussion also, I plan to make a
> hybrid S&G-Stripper by stripping the deck on at least the first model
> using various woods. Thanks in advance. }:) Paul

Hey Paul,

I have been looking for some 1/8" luan here in OKC OK, but I haven't been able to find any. I did though, purchase a piece of the 5.2mm exterior glue luan that Home Depot sells. I used it for making bow and stern bulkheads for my strip canoe (I glued strips to the outer surface of the ply, for cosmetic purposes, and put a 6" access plate, giving me a little floatation/storage area fore and aft). I've been thinking about a small, simple sailboat (you know...maybe a 12 footer or how about this 15 footer or hey here's one with a neat little cuddy or, ooohhh!.... if I build a temporary extention on the garage, I can build this 20 footer!) but for now, a couple of S&G kayaks. Out of curiosity, I put a sample piece of the luan in the dishwasher and left it there for a couple of months. I figured that the wet/heat and drying cycles would be a pretty good acid test (this is not my idea though....got it from the common sense boats web page). The stuff did not de-laminate and there was not any severe checking, though the "pretty" side (the dark side) did become a bit rough and dry looking. The other side-the light colored side, (One side is dark- like mahogany, the other side is really light-like pine, but fine grained), looked just about as good as when I'd put it in. You might try this with the 1/8" stuff, just to see if the glue holds up.??? I guess this is not very scientific, but the plywood probably got exposed to alot more weather than it will as a boat that is encapsulated with epoxy and paint. Hope this helps. garland