Orientation of laminated mast?

[Mr.O]

I have made my mast from three pieces of Doug fir laminated together. Now I am womdering in which direction will the mast be the strongest; with the laminations parallel to the length of the boat or perpendicular to the length? Or does it really matter? Mast is for a 16' daysailer and only 15' in length. A Gaff rig. Thanks

[Nick C]

The way it works is when your mast bends the forward piece in the bend is getting stretched and the rear piece is getting compressed. This is a strong situation for the wood to work in.

That means you want to orient your mast so that the laminations are on the side or facing port/starboard.

[Dan Hobson]

I'm painting a 40 foot laminated mast laid up in the sixties and unfortunately damaged beyond varnish by children at play. They put the laminations side by side on the boat and not running front to back. But that could have been to ease the shaping of the mast. My little Cat Boat also has a laminated mast and a gaff rig. But it's a couple of 2x6 and a couple of 2x2 rounded off with a hollow center. the laminations can be seen from the back of the boat. I didn't build either one of these, I just own them. I think that the theory says that the lamination is the strongest part of the wood and the hardest direction to bend it is the wide way. So putting those hard plates front to back makes a stiffer mast front to back. In theory. If I were you I would follow what I've observed and maybe take a good long walk at the closest dock to see how things are done.

[Dan Hobson]

Boy, that really wasn't clear! Hard to follow anyway. Both of these masts had the laminations placed so that the edge of the lamination was visible from the front and the back of the boat. From the side one would see only solid wood. I think I'm in disagreement with Nick on the proper way.

[George Roberts]

I don't think it matters.