Southern Yellow Pine or Doug fir

[mike from Boston]

Can I safely substitute either Southern Yellow Pine or Doug Fir for White Oak in frames? I hope to build a boat this summer with plywood over frames. Thanks,

Mike

[BrianY]

FWIW -

If you're building a plywood and epoxy boat, Karl Stambaugh says in his book about skiffs that doug fir is the preferred choice over white oak for frames because of possible bonding problems with oak and epoxy. He also says that you should never coat oak with epoxy because it moves too much and the epoxy coating will eventually fail. Doug fir is O.K. in this regard.

[Bob Smalser]

Originally posted by mike from Boston:
Can I safely substitute either Southern Yellow Pine or Doug Fir for White Oak in frames?
Yes. Up the scantling sizes a bit in the dimension that'll get the most stress, usually the molded dimension.

[AngWood]

I have used both in plywood-on-frame applications. I really like SYP, esp. if I can pick through a pile and find close-grained pieces. It seems harder than DF--holds fasteners better, less prone to splitting (neither one is especially prone to splitting, but if you've got a skinny piece and put a fastener near the end, SYP stays together better).

[RodB]

The literature on species of wood and their uses shows substitution of SYP for Oak in many cases in traditional construction...constructing the backbone, frames, etc... Doug Fir is great but I think SYP better for frames etc...just my take on this. SYP is denser, heavier and stronger. If laminating frames Doug Fir would be great.

RB

[ 06-01-2005, 07:24 PM: Message edited by: RodB ]

[mike from Boston]

Thanks Everyone!

Southern Yellow Pine seems to be the answer. I appreciate your input!

Mike