softwood or hardwood

[daveyjones]

I would like to use Douglas Fir or other softwood to fit out a 40 foot yacht, partly for cost saving, but mainly for environmental reasons (ie not using scarce hardwoods). All internal woodwork and also deck beams would be of softwood, and also bearers for cabin sole and bulkhead frames. Obviously the scantlings would be increased because of the reduced strength of the softwood compared to hardwoods , but are there any other potential problems? All information, advice and opinion welcome.

 

[tcm]

yeah, cheap and strong. There's lots of other choices tho, i found this
http://www.glen-l.com/wood-plywood/bb-chap5e.html

 

[PeteCooper]

I know very little about wood, but I was told years ago that balsa wood is a hard wood, so hard or soft is no guarantee of strength.

 

[BrendanS]

Yes Balsa is a hardwood. This is because Hardwoods have nothing to do with strength, just how the wood grows. The definition of hard wood is wood from a deciduous tree which is a tree that produces a fruit or nut (not necessarily edible) that sheds it's leaves and grows new leaves each year.

Soft wood is wood from coniferous trees.

So softwood can be hard, and hardwood can be soft. Hardwood and softwood mean [no thanks] all to building - you still have to understand wood, and choose to suit the application

 

[Scarron]

Don't know much about building boats with it but I have just installed a several windows and doors made from Douglas Fir on a building project I have been doing, lovely to work with, looks fabulous with a clear straight grain and smells great, but definately not cheap; - try Bamptons in Southampton, they'd be the best people to advise you.

Paul.

 

[PeterStone]

Do you own a copy of 'Complete Amateur Boat Building' by Michael Verney? If not, try to track one down secondhand - full of useful info. There is a list of suitable woods for boatbuilding in table form at the end of the book, their individual characteristics and recommended applications.

Douglas fir has a moderate life, wet or dry, is easy to work and recommended for spars, joinery and bulkheads. Interestingly it is available in an average maximum length of 50ft - so you can see why spars are suggested. Not sure why planking isn't one of the recommended applications - considering the great lengths it is available in and also the fact that it bends easily.

 

[celandine]

Hi David. Sounds an interesting project. Have you considered larch? Quite reasonably priced. Ian Barker used a lot of it, to good effect.

 

[Captain Coochie]

Douglas fir is great for long lenghts its grown tall and fast with a small canopy at the top so you get very few nots . I wouldnt worry to much about using Hardwood as the stuff you buy now is grown to be logged . Unless you own a big superstore then you can buy illigally logged timber from Indonisia !

 

[robstracey]

We use douglas fir for spars, stringers, etc. It is a fantastic timber to work with. But i would recomend Iroko for supporing cabin sole as it is far more durable. Another to recomend is sweet chestnut, which we use for side decks, seats etc, it looks a little bit like oak, but is easy to work and lighter.

 

[Gunfleet]

Cedar smells fantastic. Pricewise it would probably be best bought sawn from a tree feller rather than from a timber yard. But given the opportunities for moisture uptake in a boat I would personally stick with plywood for a boat interior and just add mouldings and trims. I would even consider laminating beams and the like. Soneone else here suggested larch. It's an incredibly hard wood (in the usual, non technical sense) but nice to work.