plywood for a tiny boat in Sydney, Australia?
 

Nice to see a kindred spirit in the newsgroup.

Look for Herb McLoed's one sheet skiff, Gavin Atkin's Mouse, and
Prizm by a guy in Finalnd, all one sheeters. Also look in
www.ncf.ca/~ag384/Boats.htm for the small boats I've designed and
built for myself.

The plywood of choice if underlayment. It's nailed to floors to go
under vinyl and other flooring, hence it's name. There are three
kinds. Luan and meranti are essentially the same, some king of Asian
cedar. The meranti I've seen has better surfaces and frwer voids than
the lauan. They weigh about one pound per sq ft, the same as okume
marine plywood. Virola, the other kind is from Brazil, weighs half as
much as lauan and meranti, bends a lot easier, but resists water like
tissue paper. I've build two boats out of it and have to keep sealing
surface splits and gluing pieces of surface ply back on. All three are
very cheap. Look along each edge and pick sheets with no gaps "voids"
in the edge. If voids are unavoidable they can be filled by drilling
holes and forcing in caulk or glue with a caulking gun. These boats
last longer if stored inside, for example in a garage or carport.

I use screw and glue construction with chine battens cut from cedar
2x4's and then cut in half to make 3/4"x3/4" battens. The glue is
LePages' Bull Dog brand PL Premium polyurehtan construction adhesive
in the caluking tube. Very cheap. The outside seams are rounded with a
sander and sealed with a dab of polyester resin spread with a
toothpick. The finish is semi-gloos latex acrylic house paint below
the water and linseed oil everywhere else. The way to reinforce the
thin plywood bottom is with a keal or skids on the outside and if
nececessary bits of plywood glued to the bottom on the inside.

I don't know why Google groups doen't have a spell checker... :(

plywood for a tiny boat in Sydney, Australia?
 

On Jul 16, 11:44 am, Wm Watt wrote:
Nice to see a kindred spirit in the newsgroup.

The plywood of choice if underlayment. It's nailed to floors to go
under vinyl and other flooring, hence it's name. There are three
kinds. Luan and meranti are essentially the same, some king of Asian
cedar. The meranti I've seen has better surfaces and frwer voids than
the lauan.
I don't know why Google groups doen't have a spell checker... :(

Well, if you are going to use Luan or Meranti (I have used both too)
feel it before you buy. If you "pet" the panel all over with a flat
hand, many times you can "hear" differences in density in this type of
thin, usually pretty dry, plywood. Also look for a sticker on the
sheets that say "TYPE III". It will at least be made with water
resistant adhesive. If you are going to use other than marine, this
stuff, in my opinion, and as available in my area, is much better than
pine or fur for boats. I actually have a couple of sheets put away for
a special project that came with a wild grain and was probably some
other "filler" wood that was used in manufacture. Maybe an end sheet
or something, but it is beautiful. I may make a small kayak or skiff
out of it, the kayak would show off the grain better.

plywood for a tiny boat in Sydney, Australia?
 

On Jul 16, 11:44 am, Wm Watt wrote:
Nice to see a kindred spirit in the newsgroup.

I should add a reference to a more complex one sheeter recently
described at
www.duckworksmagazine.com . Scroll down to the two articles on "Baby
Canoe". I think there's enough detail for construction. It's more like
building a bigger boat than any one sheeter I've seen so far.

Also, it's a good idea to make a cardboard model or two before
beginning to build a small boat full size.