: I've seen a picture of a beautiful boat made from basswood. I'm looking into
: it for the cost savings versus cedar. I was very impressed with the one I
: saw. Are there any major disadvantages (weight, looks, workability, etc.)
: of basswood that you guys know about. Appreciate the help.
: pete

There used to be a site on the internet that had specs on various hardwoods, but the last time I searched for it I got to somewhere quite different than I expected. "Hardwood" apparently has a secondary meaning.

Basswood is very easily worked, has a tight grain, sands smoothly, a very light color, and is liked by people who do wood carving. It is not as light weight as cedar, so consider 3/16th inch strips instead of 1/4 inch. If you go with 1/4 inch your boat will be a few pounds heavier than with cedar -- but probably not so much a difference as to bother you.

I'm not sure of the availability of long lengths, so you may be scarfing a few 8 foot boards to get starting strips. That is not a big deal.

Cedar is so common by me, at least for deck material, and the price so reasonable that I doubt I would have any cost savings, unless I went to pine. Obviously in different areas the available wood varieties will have different costs -- and if you are comparing the prices on CLEAR wood then ou are already geting into a more expensive realm.

If you can get this stuff at a better price than cedar, go for it. It is a very light color, so a small amount of dark color strips would be a great accent. Redwood would be nice and dark, for example.

Go for it.

PGJ