"Toller" writes:

Question: Is this a massive plank or quarter-sawn strips glued together?
If it is a massive plank you should count on it warping.

It is two pieces (both 2" thick) glued together. I don't need it until next
spring. I can get it close, leave it for a few months, and then finish it.
Would that help?

Some but I think it will warp sooner or later anyway. A good
epoxy seal helps slow the process. But as someone else stated:
Without being able to see your blank and how the grain looks it
is very hard to be anything but rather vague about this.

This is probably the wrong answer but I actually mean this:
Use the oak for something else. Buy some light wood like Western Red
Cedar and shape a board. Add unidirectional carbon for bending
stiffness and strenght. Sheat in glass-epoxy and paint.

Oak is about 50% heavier than mahogany, but I actually want the weight, so
that is not a problem. Besides, it is free and the cedar would be about
$50.

I would say your troubles with the white oak is more about
handling and working on it in your workshop than all-up weight
on your boat. You will spend a lot more time shaping your oak than
it takes to shape cedar.

Oh, I almost forgot. It is my experience that oak and epoxy coats
don't always work well together.

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Martin Schöön

"Problems worthy of attack
prove their worth by hitting back"
Piet Hein
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There is no need to worry about making a daggerboard, centreboard, or
rudder out of solid wood. Visit your nearest sailing facility and look at
all the centreboards, daggerboards, and rudders made of solid wood. The
fact that your board is glued up means it will not warp. You can look at
the end grain to see which way the two pieces are oriented. Put a couple
coats of polyurethane varnish on it and refinish it every few years.

I've never put epoxy resin on oak but peope who have say it's only
necessary to sand the surface of teh wood to roughen it up a bit. Oak
contains tannin, and acid, and acids dilute epoxy rdeucing its bonding
strength. One way to clean up epoxy resin that has not cured is to use
vinegar, lemon juice, or some other mild acid.


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William R Watt National Capital FreeNet Ottawa's free community network
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(William R. Watt) writes:

There is no need to worry about making a daggerboard, centreboard, or
rudder out of solid wood. Visit your nearest sailing facility and look at
all the centreboards, daggerboards, and rudders made of solid wood. The
fact that your board is glued up means it will not warp. You can look at

Well, it depends on the level of knowledge of the guy/gal who did
the job. That's why asked if it was a massive slab or built from
quarter-saw pieces.

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================================================== ======================
Martin Schöön

"Problems worthy of attack
prove their worth by hitting back"
Piet Hein
================================================== ======================