best wood for replace hull

[olesouth]

I have to replace about 200 bft of my hull it came with Honduras mahogany but the best price I can find it is 7.00 I have other option wanted to know if someone had any great ideas for other woods and why.

 

[Tony B]

I would only replace it with Honduras Mahogany.
If you use another species of wood, like cypress for instance, the coeeficient of expansion will be different. This is, the diferent tpes of wood would expand and contract diffferently and would either force the adjacent pieces apart and cause splitting or in the other direction, the wood would shrink differently and leave large gaps.
Honduras mahogany is a quality mahogany. It does not expand as much as most other woods when wet. Cypress, onthe other hand, expands (swells) quite a bit.
My first choice would be for Honduran Mahogany. Sometimes, depending on the type hull you have, and the placement of the wood would also determine if an alternate wood could be used.
Is your hull planked, lap straked, or something else and how big is your boat and what style boat is it?

 

[olesouth]

wood

Its a 50' grand banks and there about 200 sq ft to replace so thats 1500$ of wood I am not so worried about the expansion of the woods I would still use a suitable type wood , Like Red Grandis, Africain Mahg. Spainsh cedar. or Sapele. which are all in the 2.50 - 3.00 bft

 

[Nomad Willy]

Tony is right. Honduras Mahogany would be best but numerous other species of wood would probably work fine. African Mahogany comes to mind. Yellow Cedar is very dimensionally stable too. It is softer and weaker than HM but much more dense and stronger than Red Cedar. It's also very rot resistant and a very popular planking material. Just an example. Go to BoatDesign.net and look in the wood boat section and probably a better substitute will emerge. I think Tony is right though ...dimensional stability is probably the most critical element of a dissimilar wood marriage. Also more effort into the search may produce less expensive Honduras Mahogany.

 

[Killick]

Must jump in here. While dimensional stability is very important, rot resistance is equally critical. You don't want to have to do the repair again - money down the drain if you use a wood not suiting for planking. Point in case - I have a 50 ft Defever (Mahogany) that a respected yard replaced some planking (above the waterline) with a lesser grade mahogany (Lauan) and all of it rotted within 7 yrs. I'm replacing all of it now with genuine Honduran mahogany. African mahogany is dimensional similar to genuine honduran mahogany, but is not very rot resistant. Yellow cedar expands and contracts much more than the old growth real mahogany used in those old Grand Banks. Less expensive wood might be false economy. In any case, the cost of materials is far less than the cost of the time to do the repair.

Check out the wooden boat forum - there is a wealth of wooden boat knowledge there.

 

[olesouth]

which woods

I have been on the wood database page and they give all the breakdowns on wood from shrinkage's , to strengths and rot, ect . The closet I can find is Spainsh Cedar which is not a ceader but part of the Mahogany faimly. I buy lumber for wholesale in 2 different states and 7.00 is the best I can find most are 9.00 and most retailer are 12.00

 

[bobofthenorth]

This is strictly my personal opinion which is likely worth something less than what you are paying for it but if the wood in question is below the waterline then you should not put dissimilar woods together. In other words, put back what you take out. OTOH, if you are starting from scratch then I'm a big believer that a good wooden boat builder works with whatever wood he has available locally.

 

[olesouth]

which woods

the next problem is that the lumber wholesale stock very little of gen mahogany and its short lenghts 7-8 ft most of my planks are 14' and a couple of 16' so I would be short planking all over the place. and I have no idea if I can get longer and at what price they tell me it well be a premium if they can get anything past 12'

 

[Tony B]

I dont know where you are getting your lumber from, but most 'exotic lumber' yards buy their wood and sell it in "random lengths and width's". Basically, the way it came from the original log. If all you can get is 7 or 8 foot pieces, I think the lumberyard is selling your 'shorts' left over from one of their milling operations.
A note about African Mahogany. I have used some of it and refuse to ever put it in my shop again. It is too hard to bend for your application. It will tare up all of your tools. It will fracture and split without provacation.
The reason it is so cheap, even if it looks good is because no one wants to fool with it.
A friend of mine bought a few pallets of it for his kitchen cabinets and now can hardly give it away.

 

[hollywood8118]

wood replacement..

the next problem is that the lumber wholesale stock very little of gen mahogany and its short lenghts 7-8 ft most of my planks are 14' and a couple of 16' so I would be short planking all over the place. and I have no idea if I can get longer and at what price they tell me it well be a premium if they can get anything past 12'

I used to own a wood gb36.. If you replace with anything other than Honduras the density and characteristic have to be very similar. I am fortunate to live in the same town as the premier exotic wood supplier in the country... contact them.. that can mill and ship anything anywhere.. I am a loyal customer but have no financial ( except what is has cost me over the years connection ) Contact them .. they are a wealth of information
Edensaw Woods, Port Townsend Wa.

Edensaw Woods Home Page

HOLLYWOOD

 

[Portuguese]

Greetings Olesouth

Go to your nearest wood supplier and ask him for the Physical properties of the woods available and also the Honduras Mahogany. Check the numbers and choose the closest one to the Honduras. If my memory does not fail, you will be in an excellent shape with African Mahogany as all Mahoganies tend to stretch the same amount. You can also look for Red Cedar which called Red Mahogany in many places.
Have fun!

Fernando

 

[Portuguese]

....In time!

Google for the Physical properties of wood! check this out!!! Technology Topics from Answers.com

Do some research and you will be blessing the time you spent doing it!

Fernando