What type of wood......

[Slow_boat]

For the shaft of a long boathook?

 

[Stork_III]

For the shaft of a long boathook?

Ash

 

[Slow_boat]

Thanks

 

[PlankWalker]

Douglas Fir, Spruce, for light duty, Ash for heavy duty.

Plank.

 

[Evadne]

I used a "red hardwood" tool handle from an old fashioned hardware shop, it is still going well 10 years or so on, I think B&Q sell these from time to time. Bog standard broom handles for shorter ones seem to work well as well.

 

[Slow_boat]

I'm after a decent size one, at least six foot, that will take a good amount of force for shoving off harbour walls etc.

 

[bikedaft]

i know you are supposed to use ash, but i have a 3m soft pine one that will prob last about 10years like the last one

b&q wasn't much

seems hard to get the right stuff more than 2m long

 

[RobinBirch]

Earlier thread here http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?230703-Which-wood-for-a-Boat-Hook

 

[maxcampbell]

Ash

I believe you, but why? Why not, for example, oak? What is it about ash?

 

[sailorman]

straight grain,flexible,light & traditionally used for horticultural & garden tool handles.
it is cut when the dia is the right size & often has a natural curve at the bottom end that is then good foe hoe`e & the like

I believe you, but why? Why not, for example, oak? What is it about ash?

 

[30boat]

I've got some Iroko I was thinking of making a new boathook out of.Not good?

 

[TimBennet]

I've got some Iroko I was thinking of making a new boathook out of.Not good?

You have to watch the grain in Iroko. It can by quite 'swirly', so in a long thin thing like a boat hook handle, can can end up with an area of cross-grain and weakness.

 

[sailorman]

How about using Ash then, before it all dies off

You have to watch the grain in Iroko. It can by quite 'swirly', so in a long thin thing like a boat hook handle, can can end up with an area of cross-grain and weakness.

 

[Stork_III]

straight grain,flexible,light & traditionally used for horticultural & garden tool handles.
it is cut when the dia is the right size & often has a natural curve at the bottom end that is then good foe hoe`e & the like

What he said. Thanks SM

 

[sailorman]

When @ skool i worked for a local market gardener saturdays n holidays, he grow his own 4 candles

What he said. Thanks SM

 

[Stork_III]

When @ skool i worked for a local market gardener saturdays n holidays, he grow his own 4 candles

Did they use ash in the 19thC then?

 

[sailorman]

Oh yes & straighten nails to make seed trays

Did they use ash in the 19thC then?

 

[LadyInBed]

Hickory
From Wiki- The wood is very hard, stiff, dense and shock resistant.
There are woods that are stronger than hickory and woods that are harder, but the combination of strength, toughness, hardness, and stiffness found in hickory wood is not found in any other commercial wood.
It is used for tool handles, bows, wheel spokes, carts, drumsticks, lacrosse stick handles, golf club shafts (sometimes still called hickory stick, even though made of steel or graphite), the bottom of skis, walking sticks and for punitive use as a switch (like hazel), and especially as a cane-like hickory stick in schools and use by parents. Paddles are often made from hickory.

 

[sailorman]

In England we use common native woods, Ash is like a weed its (or was ) so prolific

Hickory
From Wiki- The wood is very hard, stiff, dense and shock resistant.
There are woods that are stronger than hickory and woods that are harder, but the combination of strength, toughness, hardness, and stiffness found in hickory wood is not found in any other commercial wood.
It is used for tool handles, bows, wheel spokes, carts, drumsticks, lacrosse stick handles, golf club shafts (sometimes still called hickory stick, even though made of steel or graphite), the bottom of skis, walking sticks and for punitive use as a switch (like hazel), and especially as a cane-like hickory stick in schools and use by parents. Paddles are often made from hickory.

 

[goskar]

For the shaft of a long boathook?

ash