Lumbers by Region

[Mac McQuinn]

An instructor in my neck of the woods did a class effort Kayak to be given away for charity a few years back and utilized a nearby car dealership to put a Urethane finish on the craft. It looked fantastic although I not sure how it survived everyday use along with expansion and contraction movement under the sun and changing temperatures. The price of automotive paint is getting pretty expensive, not sure if I'd chance it. Perhaps you could do some test strips with various coatings over the winter with plenty of exposure to determine durability.

Mac

[Allan Froehlich]

I have sprayed cars in the past and I have all of the equipment necessary to spray clear. A gallon of clear and catalyst from a reputable manufacturer will set me back about $65.

I was also pondering what it would look like if I sprayed a tinted clear over the hull. This would look especially good over a hull with lightly colored wood.

[Mac McQuinn]

Sounds interesting although above and beyond my expertise. If It didn't work out or you want to refinish, how tough would it be to strip? Seems like anything strong enough to strip Urethane might be detrimental to epoxied sub-surface.

Mac

[AJ Quinter]

Have you tried looking at Kettle Moraine Hardwoods. They have two locations one north and one south of Milwaukee. They seem to have a reasonable selection of local hardwoods and also some exotics. I have had good luck working with them. You can check out their website if you are interested.

[Brian George]

A member of our wood turning club is making a cedar strip kayak out of cedar flooring purchased from Menards.

[Larry Halberstadt]

The LL Johnson's location in Grand Rapids closed at the end of March. Their main location is Charlotte.

[Allan Froehlich]

Last week, I went up to the UP and bought 100bf of northern white cedar.

Time to build a boat!!!

[glenn witgen]

Where you able to by any nothern white cedar with any length to it. All the boards that I find are full of knots and 12' max length. When I look at how many knot I would have to cut around, I end up with 3'-4' pieces or 50% waste.

[Allan Froehlich]

I found a mill near Eskanaba that had 8' lenghts of clear. There was the occasional knot or two about the size of a pencil eraser on 1/4 of the boards.

There are cedar trees EVERYWHERE up there. I'm guessing 1 in 4 trees is a cedar. Lots of saw mills too.

[Anthony Albano]

How about Paulownia; I just completed a strip built, fiberglass covered kayak. Very light, pretty strong, readilly available

[Kyle Skov]

You can purchase strips from Northwest Canoe in St. Paul, MN. I realize I'm a little late to the game though. They have a website.

[Robert Joseph]

Sounds interesting although above and beyond my expertise. If It didn't work out or you want to refinish, how tough would it be to strip? Seems like anything strong enough to strip Urethane might be detrimental to epoxied sub-surface.

Mac

This is why the wood/canvas canoe crowds cringe at glass/epoxy. Refinishing is extremely difficult to say the least.

[randall rosenthal]

if you go the epoxy then varnish route its a good idea to thin the first coat of epoxy. it will penetrate further and give the next coat something deeper in the wood to grab on to. i did a mahogany swim platform like this and it held up very well.

[doug barr]

What about a source in the north east, near NYC???

[Steve Schoene]

There is a firm in Branford CT (off 95 just past New Haven) that specializes in white cedar, including boat lumber. They also mill bead and cove strips, though I haven't priced anything. Their web page is at http://www.whitecedar.com/ They are mostly about the lumber not so much about strip building.