Wood for skin on frame boats
 

Hello all,

I have some holidays (finally) and I am looking to start building a
skin on frame boat. I'm considering a Platt Monfort 'Classic 12' but
have not yet purchased the plans. Does anyone know if Maple would be
ok for the ribs, stringers, gunwales and floorboards? I have quite a
bit of it as I took down two larger Maples last fall at my cottage and
have now milled then to various sizes. I believe the recommendation
for the ribs is to use ash, oak or juniper but I haven't found a
suitable source for these in Ontario. I believe green/red ash is
indigenous so it shouldn't be too hard to find.

Cheers,
James

Wood for skin on frame boats
 

James wrote:
Hello all,

I have some holidays (finally) and I am looking to start building a
skin on frame boat. I'm considering a Platt Monfort 'Classic 12' but
have not yet purchased the plans. Does anyone know if Maple would be
ok for the ribs, stringers, gunwales and floorboards? I have quite a
bit of it as I took down two larger Maples last fall at my cottage and
have now milled then to various sizes. I believe the recommendation
for the ribs is to use ash, oak or juniper but I haven't found a
suitable source for these in Ontario. I believe green/red ash is
indigenous so it shouldn't be too hard to find.

Using a heavy wood like maple sort of defeats the purpose of building a
lightweight boat. It doesn't steam bend well, either. White pine would
be a good choice for the parts that don't need to be steam bent, with
ash for the parts that will be steam bent.

Wood for skin on frame boats
 

Maple would not be best but keep in mind traditional skin on frame
boats were made with whatever pieces of wood and bone natives could get
their hands on in the arctic. At least one person has made a boat to
Monfort design using extruded plastic for framing. When using hardwood
you can save weight by making the pieces thinner. I'm at the public
library so don't have access to my list of wood characteristics. It's
best to use a wood that resists rot. A search of the Interent on wood
characteristics should provide the information.


James wrote:
Hello all,

I have some holidays (finally) and I am looking to start building a
skin on frame boat. I'm considering a Platt Monfort 'Classic 12' but
have not yet purchased the plans. Does anyone know if Maple would be
ok for the ribs, stringers, gunwales and floorboards? I have quite a
bit of it as I took down two larger Maples last fall at my cottage and
have now milled then to various sizes. I believe the recommendation
for the ribs is to use ash, oak or juniper but I haven't found a
suitable source for these in Ontario. I believe green/red ash is
indigenous so it shouldn't be too hard to find.

Cheers,
James

Wood for skin on frame boats