On Wed, 1 Jul 2009 11:00:40 -0700 (PDT), Frogwatch
wrote:

On Jul 1, 1:42Â*pm, HK wrote:
Zombie of Woodstock wrote:
On Wed, 1 Jul 2009 10:09:24 -0700 (PDT), Frogwatch
wrote:

I'd like to see a true high tech wood composite. Â*Maybe bamboo
alternating with carbon fiber/ epoxy and then bamboo running at right
angles to the first. Â*This would be lighter and stronger than marine
ply. Â*On the outsides it would be skinned with a lighter glass than we
use for boats now like my Tolman.

It's called cold molding.

http://www.cwb.org/cold-molded-boat-building-2009

Been around for years.

Building a cold-moulded wood boat requires...well...the sort of skill
that comes from experience. But it does produce beautiful boats.

All glass boats are too heavy requiring too much fuel. Aluminum boats
are good but welding them right requires more skill than most boat
companies can afford and they are difficult to repair.
Above the waterline, foam/glass is ok but below the water, no.
Loogy, I am not a ME but a physics geek. Carbon fiber is currently
expensive and if such a boat was struck by lightning, the result would
be bizarre.

Since you're still interested in the subject I posted a response I had
written to Wayne but didn't bother sending.
In that "efficient boats" thread.
Some weight examples, and my view that FRP is still pretty heavy and a
new material is in order.
Pie in the sky, but maybe you can come up with something.

--Vic