Hi Steve,

As Scott mentioned, the Lauan is just a core. Sure, Okoume ply is wonderful, tough stuff, but it's best with glass over it. Just epoxied wood doesn't weather all that well.

So...if you're glassing it anyway, the strength of the plywood becomes less important. Don't get all that excited about filling gaps. If they're huge, buy another sheet, if they're small, ignore them. Try duct tape for stitching instead of copper wire.

Try to find a bargain on some 4 oz. or 6 oz. glass. Kids aren't going to be out paddling in the roughest water available (like I would), so the overall strength is less important. For a kids' kayak, plenty of abrasion glass on the bottom of the hull, and especially the keel and chines is mandatory!!!

Also check out BS 6566, which to my eye has more beautiful grain variation (A and B faces), its as well-made, but is not as expensive as BS 1088 Okoume (A-AA faces). Noah's marine has it at about 60% the cost of 1088.

The folks at CLC build some beautiful kayaks, but they're not the final authority. John Harris notes that he'd rather buy the right wood rather than slather an extra $100 of glass on his yak. I'd rather have the $100 in glass and epoxy.

Shawn

: Well, I cut my first panel last night from the luaan doorskins and guess what
: - Voids. Boy, I tried the see through light and checked the edges, but
: right in the middle of the panels - gaps. It was just like Chris K.
: reached out of his book and said 'I told you so'.

: This really isn't all that bad since I decided it was worth $10 and some time
: to acutally go through the process once with some cheap wood before
: cutting the panels for my first boat. It worked, you guys do a great job
: on this board but it takes alot of words to describe what you learn in a
: few minutes of action.

: Anyway, the current panels were for a scaled down Squeedunk Grebe for my
: daughters to play in. It really is only in one spot towards the middle of
: the bottom panel about 1/2" wide. I think they can still be made
: useful and was just wondering if any of you doorskin users has a technique
: for strengthening voids. I thought about drilling holes along the inside
: and filling it with glue/epoxy and then gluing a thin verneer over the
: gap. Either way it looks like I need to find some marine plywood for mine.

: Thanks,
: Steve