It would be an interesting experiment.
I would not expect the boat to last more than a season or two.
I would not take it very far from shore, ie how far can you swim?

In addition to the other things written here about OSB I'd also consider:
- how resistant would the spray on truck bed liner be to scrapes? If the
chips get wet they will swell. I'd put a pair of skids on the bottom to
protect the hull from scrapes in hopes the boat would last longer.
- once the chips in the board get wet and start to swell like the stuff
you see left uncovered in sheds and other buidlings, I imagine it would be
very difficult to make watertight again, ie hard to repair and keep
watertight once it starts to go.
- there's so much glue in OSB the boat will be heavier than plywood.
I'd take a pair of bathroom scales to the lumber yard and weight a sheet,
then calculate the weight of the boat before building it.

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On 9 Jan 2005 20:36:55 GMT, (William R.
Watt) wrote:


- there's so much glue in OSB the boat will be heavier than plywood.

The OSB board provided to wall a garden shed that we put up last year,
came with a flyer that explained that it is made by hot pressing
chips so that the resin bonds the material.

Brian Whatcott Altus OK

Brian-
Is the garden shed on its way to being the compost heap?

I would strongly recommend that such a boat only be used in water
shallow enough to walk to shore.


Brian Whatcott wrote:

The OSB board provided to wall a garden shed that we put up last year,
came with a flyer that explained that it is made by hot pressing
chips so that the resin bonds the material.

Brian Whatcott Altus OK

On Sun, 09 Jan 2005 20:42:58 GMT, Brian Whatcott
vaguely proposed a theory
.......and in reply I say!:

remove ns from my header address to reply via email

On 9 Jan 2005 20:36:55 GMT, (William R.
Watt) wrote:


- there's so much glue in OSB the boat will be heavier than plywood.

The OSB board provided to wall a garden shed that we put up last year,
came with a flyer that explained that it is made by hot pressing
chips so that the resin bonds the material.


Yes, but which resin? G

Chipboard has been made with, IIRC, Formaldehyde glues for years. They
may have changed, but I doubt there is no glue in there. Whatever, the
stuff is extremely strength/weight challenged, and does not like
moisture.