: Wow! Paul, That was awesome... I wasnt going to start my next one for several
: months... but after that! I need to start right away!
: You did open a can of worms on one thing though... Are you saying that I
: could actually make one from oak making the strips 1/8" or 3/16? how
: could I figure weight, I haven't seen any wood Spect. tables that included
: Red Oak. I would LOVE to try an Oak kayak, but I would have to be able to
: lift it out of the water. I'm almost 200lbs. Some of it is actually
: muscle. ( I'm thicker but not stronger)
: Dave

Weigh a few of the boards. It is a simple, and very low-tech method of guess-timating how much the boat should weigh. If a 10 foot 1x6 of oak is twice the weight of a similar sized Western Red cedar board, then if you make both boats from 1/4 inch strips the oak one will have a wood-component weight which is twice that of the ceadr boat. Add on the weight of your fiberglassing and any fittings and trim to get the final estimate of your boat weight.

For example, let's say you know that a given boat typically weighs in at 30 to 35 pounds when made with 1/4 inch cedar strips. We can assume that it uses about a gallon of resin (approximately 8 pounds) and that the ratio of glass to resin is not at the optimum 50:50, but instead has extra resin on top to kill the weave -- so lets say we have 5 pounds of glass. That makes the fiberglass sheathing about 13 pounds. The wood component of that boat would then be 17 to 22 pounds. If weight is a concern, then this is the number you want to shoot for when using other woods. Let's say that your oak is twice the weight of your cedar. If you use strips which are half the thickness (1/8th inch rather than 1/4) then each thin oak strip will weigh the same as a thicker cedar strip of the same length. If your oak is just 50% heavier than your cedar, then you could use 3/16th strips of oak and the boat would weigh about the same as one made from cedar.

Now there is an interesting question about whether the thin oak is going to be strong enough. You can answer that with a very unscientific test. Make two strips, one of oak and one of cedar, in the desired thicknesses. Set them on a brick, or between two bricks, and lay a short section of 1x3 (maybe 6 inches long) over the two strips. now step on the 1x3 so your weight is spread as evenly as possible between the strips. They will bend, and one or both will probably break. The one that breaks first is the weaker one.

My experience with red oak is that it is a beautiful wood, but it absolutely needs to be sealed with epoxy or it will rot away in 5 to 10 years. I used varnish on the red oak gunwales of my canoe and I'll be replacing them this year -- I hope. They needed replacement last year and the year before, but I've been putting off the project.

HOpe this helps

PGJ