: Red oak is beautiful wood, but it needs to be protected from rot.

: I am replacing the red oak gunwales (inwales and outwales) on my canoe this
: year because they have rotted out in places, and been severely weakened by
: rot in other places. I thought I could just replace a few feet, but
: whenever I cut out a bad area I ran into another spot that was going bad.

: The gunwales lasted only about 4 to 5 years before showing signs of rot.

: They were varnished, but not sealed with epoxy. The small decks on the canoe
: were made with wood from the same board I ripped the gunwale strips from,
: and they were coated with epoxy resin. They are in fine shape.

: So, I offer this advice: Do the untraditional thing and coat all your red oak
: pieces amd parts with two coats of epoxy resin. Varnish, paint, and other
: sealants, like linseed oil, just don't do as good a job. Either that, or
: make some spare ribs now while you are making the originals, and plan on
: swapping out the rotted ones with the replacements in about 5 to 6 years.

: PGJ
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thanks for the tip

I had seen references in prior posts about Red Oak's vulnerability
but also saw references to others having successfully used this for ribs

had quite a challenge finding "green wood"
would have preferred green ash but couldn't find any
this red oak was free, so the price was right
and it bends like a charm

timing is everything in life, I still have the opportunity to do a fix
what I will do is paint some epoxy on the ribs once they have all been placed
that should protect them