: Found some blue stain poderosa pine at my favorite exotic wood shop, Jackal
: Enterprises in Watsonvile, CA. It was almost as light as western red
: cedar, but with a nice light pine color. It's very soft, but not quite as
: soft as WRC. The best part was the price...only $2.45 a BF! That's half
: what the WRC costs. It looked clear, no knots or cracks, and a 1.5" x
: 5.5" x 7' length cost only $12.

: Any problems with that material that any of you know of? I'll give it a try
: anyway at that price. And there should be enough left over to make a core
: or edges for a laminate paddle next. Man, I just love making paddles. If
: only boats were that easy!

: Mark

Hey Mark..

Don't quote me on this but it sounds like you've got some Spalted Pine. It's really popular for furniture and cabinets, but.... The spalting ( and I'm not positive on this... is a disease or rotting of the wood or so I was told many years ago ) is light, but fairly weak.

It will probably work for a boat, since it's coated inside and out with epoxy/glass, but I don't think it would have the strength to work as a paddle...

They used to throw that stuff away until some knuckle-head thought it was cute and then it became fashionable... As I mentioned, it may not work to well where strength is needed.

I suppose you could test it against some regular pine... ??

Rehd