Strip canoe question. Cherry instead of cedar?

[alteran]

I have a lot of cherry in my home, floors furniture and trim. I like the look.

Thinking of making this winters canoe of cherry.

The extra weight is not a concern since the weight of the strips is only a portion of the canoe weight and a few extra pounds is not critical.

I am wondering about the flexibility in the compound curves and how hard it will be to fair.

And any other advice or comments you may have about building it with cherry.

Thanks, Al.

[windfall]

You will likely have to fair it with scrapers and abrasives. Cherry gets alot of woven grain and with thin strips a lift could be bad. It's great stuff. has good rot resistance, doesn't bend all that well but with thin strips and good stock you should be OK.

It might take a long time for the wood to lose the frrsh pink tone and develop that nice red under a encapsulation of epoxy, and layers of UV varnish. The reaction is mostly photo induced, but it will eventualy oxidize I guess.

[alteran]

I was thinking of staining it after getting it ready for epoxy because of my concern that the UV inhibition of the varnish would keep the cherry from getting naturally red.

[Cuyahoga Chuck]

Alteran,
You can use any wood you like.
The longest, most laborious stage is fairing the hull inside and out. It adds up to an awful lot of surface some of which is awkward to get at. If you choose a wood that doesn't readily yield to you tools you're in for a long grind.
You can't cheat on the fairing operation. Once the 'glass goes on the fat's in the fire. No big corrections can be made without harming the 'glass.
Charlie

[JimConlin]

By my back-of-the-envelope calculations, using cherry vs. cedar would add close to 15 lbs. to a 16' canoe.
I'm not getting any stronger and i'm very glad that my canoe weighs 50 lbs., not 65.
Use cherry for the seats.

[Bob Smalser]

Pretty...but heavy and a sanding nightmare if swirl marks under the brightwork make your teeth itch.

[Jack Heinlen]

Use cedar.

P.S. Cherry inwhales, outwhales, perhaps breasthooks, could be very nice. I wouldn't hesitate to use if for stems either.

[ 07-23-2004, 08:44 AM: Message edited by: Jack Heinlen ]

[Corso]

I have seen some really nice canoes in cherry, but it comes out sort of heavy, in a canoe 10 lbs count a lot if youll have to portage for 5 kms with all the camping gear.
Id use cedar (or other light wood) and some strips of cherry for accents (being careful since they sand differently), outwales, inwales, thwarts, yoke, decks and seats. You can even laminate it in the paddles.
But you can always email to Ted Moores at The Bear Mountain Boat Shop, they have a builders forum too.

[Dan Lindberg]

Even under 6-8 coats of marine varnish, my cherry decks have turned a very nice, very dark color, just took a couple years. Interestingly, most of the time the canoe is in the garage way from direct sun.

Dan

[ 07-23-2004, 01:04 PM: Message edited by: Dan Lindberg ]

[alteran]

Near as I can figure cherry would add about 5 pounds. Assuming cherry at 36 lb. per cubic foot, cedar at 26 and the volume of the strips about .6 cubic foot.

Am I correct?

[htom]

16' x 5' x 1/48' = 1.6 cubic foot (length x girth x thickness)

Now you're not going to end up with all of that in the canoe, of course. Maybe half? 8 pounds? And some of that will be shaved away.

If she's gorgeous and heavy, use her on local lakes where that won't matter.

[Cuyahoga Chuck]

Alteran,
You're not to be detered, are you?
If you are a neophyte your ability to build to minimun weight will be impaired. Building heavy is the newby curse. Keeping the 'glass down and the epoxy content to a minimum takes time to master.
So, if you intentionally add weight you may be making a marginal condition worse.
In some circle weight matters a lot. A $700 polyethelene canoe and a $2700 Kevlar canoe have the similar abilities. The only difference is one weighs 20% less and is much more pleasant in the water or on your shoulders.
Charlie

[George Roberts]

alteran ---

I will stay out of the weight discussion.

You can set up your forms, cut a few strips, and see how they handle and see how they fair.

[Steve Lansdowne]

You might consider that having contrasts between wood color and other wood colors, or paint, can be quite sriking.

[FG]

I'll stay out of the weight issue as well. Be careful about using woods with different sanding rates/pproperties. You could end up with a nightmare to fair.