Advice on wood for gunwales

[meekumslr]

yet another question for anyone who can help.
I'm currently extending my wooden ribs on a Larch on Oak MFV with Mahogany and would like to know your views on a reasonably priced but robust wood for the side planks of the gunwhales.
The boat is 50 foot and i'd like them 600mm high.
Pitch pine comes to mind but is there a better or more abundant wood for the job?
Also, if the ribs are Oak, is Mahogany going to be OK to use to extend them?
Many thanks. Neil.

 

[tillergirl]

You haven't got an answer so I'll have a start although you might get more response on the Classic Boat forum.

First ribs. Do I understand that the extensions to the ribs are to be mahogany? I think I would prefer to use Oak - stronger, more suitable as a timber to that sort of role. I would be a little concerned about the robustness of 'modern' mahogany. Do you know exactly where it is from?

As for planks, I would be inclined to look for some Larch or Pitch Pine. However, you could use Iroko. Go to Robbins website www.robbins.co.uk I think and the site will give you the comparative cost of different species. Length of the timber is going to be an issue - you're going to be good at scarf joints when you finish! TG's gunwales are three 14'x 13"x 1" planks scarfed into one 32' length. You, I suspect, will be looking for 5 x 120mm planks per side x the number of lengths you need to get 50ft finished. My scarfs were 6 to 1 (length of the scarf was six times the width of the timber) some recommend 8 to 1. Cutting the scarfs on a 13" plank was scary but I treated myself to a brand new v high quality panel saw which was cheap in comparison and well worth it.

Most difficult aspect for me was shaping in the sheer and twist.

Hope this helps

 

[Grajan]

There are many species of mahogany all having different attributes with the majority of imported timber coming in as short length, square edge lumber which will make the job expensive Pitch pine would be ideal and S/H long length beams are/were readily available however you will need robust machinery to convert it to planking.

 

[john_morris_uk]

Second your thoughts on scarfs, although when I was doing long scarfs, I used a scarfingbox/guide and a power plane. First class results with a bit of care.

 

[nedmin]

because of the bends my last boat had Ash. dont use this as it sucks up water like blotting paper and quickly goes rotten.I spent more time on this than the rest of the boat.pleased I havent got a Morgan car.!!

 

[DoubleEnder]

We're using African mahogany on Nyachilwa. Its also called khaya. But its very expensive in long lengths. I know a man who rebuilt his bulwarks on an MFV of good quality red pine, used lots of wood preservative and maintained the paint very well. Still looks OK 5 years on. . . .

 

[DoubleEnder]

And I'd definitely choose oak over 'mahogany' for the ribs/frames/timbers