Just a couple of points. (having built a boat out of plywood before)
- Plywood incapsulated correctly in epoxy will not decay.
- Plywood (and particular okoume) will suck up a lot more epoxy than cedar
will. So you have to work faster, which may be harder for the first time
builder. So the weight advantage could go away or be diminished.
Christian
----- Original Message -----
From: keith <keith@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tuesday, September 30, 2003 1:55 am
Subject: Plywood and Cedar
> Marine Plywood is slightly heavier than raw western red cedar. 6mm
> Okoume,5ply marine ply is 20 pounds a sheet or 27 pounds a cubic
> foot. Western red
> cedar is variously between 22 and 25 pounds a cubic foot, depending
> on who
> you believe. (And, as Bram noted, individual boards vary
> substantially) If
> you figure in the epoxy joint every 3/4's of an inch, there is
> little doubt
> the joined cedar would actually be heavier prior to the application of
> glass. The plywood holds the added advantage of a controlled
> productionenvironment and the none of the variables of individual
> placement of strips
> one to another.
>
> All in all, I'd vote for plywood bulkheads being stronger, lighter
> and a lot
> faster to put together.
>
> Note that Meranti 6mm, 5 ply marine ply is 35 pounds a sheet vs the
> 20 of
> Okoume. Not all marine plywood is equal. Meranti is less
> susceptible to
> decay than Okoume. With careful application, and installation, the
> Okoumeshould be fine.
>
> Keith
>
>
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