Questions about wood: bobsherry

[bob sherry]

I'm bit ashamed to admit it but I have a fiberglass hall I'm reviving, a 17' er that I intend to rig as a gaff cutter. I will make all the spars in wood, the mast in boxed plywood, but solid wood for the booms and the gaff. My question: What is the best wood for that use? The main boom will be 11', the gaff, 6' and the staysail boom 5'.
Second question: Can I use mahogany for a bowsprit or will the sun eat it?
Thirdly: Know a source for a track that can be fastened to the mast?
Thanks.

[Thorne]

Bob -

Welcome to the Forum!

Best to go to the USER CP link in the upper left of this page and add your location to your profile -- otherwise you'll have to keep telling us where you live.

Also be as specific as possible -- what make/design of FG boat are you re-rigging? What sort of experience, budget, transportation, storage, etc?

I've never heard of a plywood mast, boxed or otherwise -- is this common in your part of the world? From my experience Doug Fir is the best inexpensive spar material, Spruce the best overall for strength/weight ratio but costlier.

You can use mahogany for the bowsprit, just cover it with a good UV-rated varnish if you are worried about sun damage.

[StevenBauer]

A plywood mast. That's a new one. Wouldn't half the wood be oriented the wrong way and provide no strength, just extra weight?


Steven

[Mrleft8]

I forsee a delaminated plywood mast in the not too distant future.
If you live in the northeast USA look for Black Spruce at a local lumber yard for all of your spars. It closely resembles Sitka Spruce, and is very inexpensive.