I've found great weight variations that correlate to color. Even within the same board, same grain density and dried to the same moisture content, one end of the board dark color and the other end light colored. The darker tones are much lower density and are somewhat brittle. I don't know if this is alway the case but it has been in all the WR cedar I've bought (enough for two kayaks).

I bend some of the strips with my fingers to test them. Good quality wood can withstand a certain amount of flex and has good elasticity.

The dark colored wood breaks easily and I don't use it.

Alot of strength comes from the wood as you can see from the testing results on Nick's site. Samples 5 thru 8 in each graph is with the wood grain oriented at 90 degrees to the direction of the load.

http://www.guillemot-kayaks.com/Building/Testing/index.html

Doug K.

: I was at the lumber yard picking out cedar planks for my boat and couldn't
: help but notice the great variations in weight. Some planks seemed to
: weight 30-40% less than others. My guess is the grain density.

: Choosing light boards could save alot of weight.

: Any comments???