Making vertical grain

Another decision has been made. No one in the area can get vertical grain wood or very very rarely does. So what is a boat builder to do? This boat builder has made the decision to make his own by slicing down horizontal grain Douglas-Fir into strips turning them 90 degrees and laminating them back together.

Now that is a perfectly fine idea, but it does add a problem. Glue. What kind and where should it come from. T-88 structural epoxy came to the rescue. It's FAA approved on a case-by-case basis for repairs to certified aircraft, and is used a lot in wood experimental airplanes. The epoxy is also waterproof, resist oil/gasoline, can fill 1/4" gaps, and dries a nice color that can be varnished. If it's good enough for an airplane it's good enough for a boat. Now I just have to wait for it to get here. There is a little surprise coming up too....

Lumber selection

After making some calls I was able to find douglas-fir. Problem is I need vertical grain, and no-one has it. So after spending literally all day searching through piles and piles of douglas fir, southern yellow pine(all crap!!), spruce, spf(by mistake), and mahogany I went to home depot!!!!!! Ahhhhhhhhhh! I know. Not in a boat right? Well guess what, 14% moisture content. Almost as good as it gets for a boat. Problen is they only had 2 pieces of vertical grain. One with a ton of knots, okay so one large knot. So, I bought it and some lauan(for templates).

The internet to the rescue!!!

Well I finally found a place that carries all the lumber i need, East Coast Lumber. Douglas fir, sitka spruce, and southern yellow pine. At least I think they do. Now I hope it is in the right sizes. Because at the moment I need 1"x8" and I can't find them at all in yellow pine. I also don't want to pay to have them re-sawn. In all honesty, this blog is an easy way for me to save a link, and remember why.
 

Lumber woes

As I said building a boat isn't going to be easy. So the first hiccup in the road. Mahogany, Fir, and Sitka Spruce are either not available, horrible quality, or prohibitively exspensive. Right now the most cost effective alternative is southern yellow pine. It's also what is available locally.

Sailboat plans are here!

Today was interesting. I watched the shuttle launch from spaceview park, and a little after i got home the glen-l minuet sailboat plans came in. To say the least, I'm impressed. 6 very detailed sheets. 2 full size drawings, a minuet building manual, and a general manual for building plywood boats. After reading the manual, the obvious first step is to make the building form. so I'm going to need 1-16 foot 2x4, 4-8ft 2x4's, and 2-12ft 2x4's. So now for the comparison shopping. Home depot or lowes? So lowes wins since it's cheaper.