How suitable is pine?

[cameronke]

I am fabricating a small coach roof for my E-Boat trailer sailer out of pine. It is bonded with epoxy and the plan is to stain and heavily varnish it to seal and make it weatherproof. I would value any comments about the suitability of pine in a marine environment. The boat is generaly kept indoors during the winter but lies on a mooring during the summer.

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[snowleopard]

to keep out moisture completely is impossible and once it gets in it will lurk behind the coating. expect pine to have around 1/3 of the life of hardwoods.

are you using it for cost, ease of working or availablility?

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[cameronke]

I think the honest answer would be yes,yes and yes. If I am happy with the results I may refine the concept in hardwood. In the mean time its (still) winter, 2 months till launching and i get a great deal of pleasure from just tinkering
Cheers Snowleopard

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[Trevethan]

Consider hardwood or marine ply?

I have used exterior hardwood ply to make outdoor furniture and foils for a dinghy. Providing its of good quality and you seal the edges in epoxy it seems to work. Its not that expensive and when varnished looks stunning.

However I haven't used it on a large boat though

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[snowleopard]

ply

exterior grade ply uses the same glue as marine but the quality of surface veneer is not guaranteed. you may have to be a bit picky about which bit you use on the top but you save up to 50% of the cost.

it's worth having a trawl through skips and other sources of scrap timber for hardwood. another excellent source is old furniture, i have a wonderful piece of mahogany waiting for a suitable use which i rescued from a hideous victorian sideboard (sorry, that's not an offer, i'm far too mean to part with it!)

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[rich]

My mates boat was built in 1934,the hull is pitch pine,and it's still going stong,,,,

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[snowleopard]

pitch pine...

is very different from the pine you buy from a timber merchant (my first boat was planked with it and was over 70 years old).

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[chippie]

The use of an epoxy sealer/preservative like everdure would be a good idea-this is very runny and penetrares well. If you havent started yet I would consider using ply with the same everdure treatment.

Good luck

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[dickh]

Have you considered using one of the "erodable" breathable stains on the market now instead of Varnish? - my experience of varnish is that you will spend a lot of time re-varnishing and touching up.
Sikkens do one - from builders merchants and there is also Coelan - a similar product. You wont get a gloss finish but is does protect better and doesn't lift off like varnish.
Another use is around the house - doesn't need repainting every few years, but only gives matt finish - not a problem IMHO

<hr width=100% size=1>dickh
I'd rather be sailing... /forums/images/icons/smile.gif