"James W. Sloan" wrote in message ...
In keeping with the "cheap" theme, I picked up some pseudo-luan (meranti) at
Home Depot (I know...I know) and got her all cut out. Seems like the nesting
plan must not be to scale, the seat dimensions are way bigger than the
leftover material on the 2 sheets. Not a problem though...plenty of other
scrap around.

So far, all is well. I did the cutting with a jigsaw that I'd never used
before so, the first cut or two had some extra wave. Thanks goodness for
fillets & tape!!

James

I have used the same stuff. I caution to use only that which carries
the sticker which reads, "type III Exterior Merenti". Also be real
careful of the fact that it is one fat center core with two thin skins
at a 90 degree. If there are voids that run the full width of the
part, they must be filled or avoided otherwise the hull tends to snap
right there just like it was a perforated piece of cardboard. If you
are using this stuff, you may want to consider a exterior coating of
very light glass, just to strengthen the outer skin against tearing. I
have used it for a few plugs while testing hull shapes and it holds up
fairly well. I have one that is almost ten years old, but it is
covered in 6 oz glass. I did have one that cracked out during
construction years ago which sat in mud and grass in my side yard for
about 3 years before the unprotected edges started to delaminate.
Anyway good luck, and happy building.
Scotty from SmallBoats.com