Wooden Spreaders - What kind of wood?

[Roadkill]

Hello,

I have to replace two wooden spreaders on my (Twyan?) wooden masts. Can anyone suggest what kind of wood I should use? I'm not sure what Twyan is. Either a brand name or a type of wood. I can't find any information on it whilst Googling, so I'm hoping the forumites will come to the rescue once again /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Thanks,

Dave.

 

[Guest]

I would take one to a Timber Merchants ... find the old boy round the back and ask hime what wood it is ...

Note that a spreader is under compression and not as a beam - so it is not necessary to be as strong as you imagine. Example - look at alloy masts with the alloy tube spreaders ... take away side shrouds and hang a weight - won't take that many kg's before they bend !

 

[Roach1948]

Mine are mahogany and I have stripped and re-varnished this season. They have been going fine for 60 years!

 

[Roadkill]

I think these have been on for a decade or so, but they were broken before I bought the boat. They were knocked while the masts were being removed when the boat was lifted out - one on the mizzen and one on the main. The wood is rotting where the bolts go through, so it probably didn't take much to break them.

I will ask as suggested, or get the bloke who is making new ones for me to.

Thanks for the answers!

 

[Salty John]

Mine were sitka spruce. Apparantly this is good in compression due the straight grain.

 

[Rick]

Sitka Spruce, or in a long second place, Douglas Fir, but Sitka Spruce is definitely the best here. Be careful that you get Sitka though - there are lots of lessor Spruce variants.