A question for boat builders

[srwtlc]

I have a customer that would like some sail boat parts made to replace some rotted out parts. I have a sample of the ply material to look at and I was wondering if any boat builders out there could give me an idea of what it is. It has a face veneer that is very tight grained, but not sure if it's mahogany or teak (don't think it's teak). It has what appears to be a sprayed white paint on it that is flaking off (pretty sure it's not melamine).

Attached is a picture of the area that needs some parts made. Can't see the veneer because of the white surface, but hoping someone can point me in the right direction. Probably just some marine ply with some kind of paint? I've never had much need marine ply in farmland, much less a sailboat. ;-)

[billp]

Scott,
Most marine plywood these days is either Okume, or Sapele. They are both somehow in the "mahogany family" not TRUE mahogany. But Of course that doesn't mean that the builder actually used either of those species. If it's a home built boat it could have been just about anything with multiple layers and a nice surface veneer that someone saturated with epoxy and then painted over. The grain that is visible makes me think it might be Okume.....

[srwtlc]

Thanks Bill,

That's kind of what I was thinking. The possibility of epoxy makes sense because when I sanded off some of the paint, the grain all but disappeared and the surface polished up hard and looked like some tempered hardboard.

I'll see what I can find. I just have to duplicate some parts and the customer will finish them.

[jhedlund58]

When i built my wood strip canoe from book by the great gil patrick... he used various woods... but the epoxy process is what i wish to address here... he used west system epoxy... but i used raka... and in this process is a fiberglass cloth which comes in different weights... i used 6 lb. flaking happens when the fiberglass cloth is not floated on to substrait correctly thus air was trapped in-between and all bubbles were not properly removed between substrait and fiberglass cloth... the fix for this is to sand out the bad section and re-apply fiberglas cloth patch... dries clear and properly done is invisible

this may or may not be part of your solve... just food for thought

[steve fedor]

King starboard would be my choice. Cut it and forget it. It comes in white and will never rot. @ $200.00 / 1/2" 4x8 sheet it may be less expensive and time consuming then marine ply glassed and painted.

[gene]

Where could i find a set of plans for a small row boat that 2 people could fit in . i have been wanting to build one for some time but i havent ever taken the time to do one

[billp]

Gene,
Take a look at this page, it has more boat related links than anything else I've ever seen- http://www.boat-links.com/boatlink.html

[gene]

Thank you Bill

[taskins]

Scott-
As Steve mentioned, Starboard would be a good replacement. I have been using expanded PVC lately which is much lighter than starboard and is paintable. No chance of rot down the road and doesn't need epoxy coating.

Tim