![]() There are still plenty on boats that will not see any epoxy at all, and they might benefit from salt water immersion. Will the boat be dry-sailed? In salt water? Encapsulated in epoxy?Įach variable has an effect on strength and longevity. There are a lot of variables when contemplating a design. Surely there are places in a boat where sitka can be effectively used other than for spars. I used oak for abrasion resistance and point strength only a few years ago and it has already started to rot sacrificial pieces of spruce would have been a better choice. I can understand why it was not used in traditional construction but we have such excellent adhesives available these days, what would be the problem? Rot resistance is hardly a problem when most builders slather their creations in epoxy. Its poor holding power militates against the use of fasteners but it takes glue well - better than oak at least. Obviously it is best avoided in places exposed to abrasion and impact. Since it is soft and has poor volumetric strength it would be appropriate to increase section size if the designer specified a stronger wood, and a larger section of a lighter material yields better beam stiffness so I don't understand why frame spacing would need to be reduced. I would have thought the excellent strength to weigth ratio of sitka, plus its relatively knot-free nature and regular grain would make it an ideal wood for boat-building.
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