[bolger] Re: Luan? ....Luan temptation
Hi Bolgeristas:
Well, all this talk of Luan has me severely tempted (temptation goeth before
the fall). My Oldshoe project is currently shelved for lack of funds, but a
quickie $100 of HD Luan would get it rolling again...and I found a friend
willing to lend me a tablesaw for some two weeks (woohoo!). While on the
latest "honeyDO" mission to the Home Despot, I took a good look at their 1/4"
"underlayment" luan and noticed the followiing:
Some of it is really scary, junk wood inner ply with very obvious side-to-side
voids (cracks if you will) held together by sheets of nice smooth white stuff
that was thinner than my wallet. Interestingly enough, it was labeled
"Meranti". Yeah, I know, I know...cheap "mahagony" = meranti = luan, the
labeling is pretty much interchangeable. I wouldn't build a toilet paper
dispnser out of this stuff, let alone a boat.
BUT....
Some of it looks OK...sorta. Same mystery-meat inner ply, but no obvious voids
and no funny mottions and/or creasing when you bend it. And most telling, RED
meranti face plies as opposed to the white junk. From all I've read, white
meranti rots almost instantly, red is pretty resistant. And, strangely enough,
the red face plies appeared thicker than the white plies, have to check it with
a meausure, though.
And here's the kicker, both the red and the white-faced sheets were from the
same pallet! The pallets were labeled "Made in Indonesia", "Tropical Hardwood".
and had a sticker label on then saying "Chesapeake Hardwood Imports", this
label was on each sheet as well. The pallet I was looking at had maybe 20
sheets, four of which were red (red on both faces, too). Hmmmmmmm. I'm thinking
of picking and choosing through several pallets, even if I have to slip
somebody a $20 to open the other pallets for me. And then starting my
OldShoe....
I'm not writing this for anybody's approval or disapproval, each of us has to
"pays your money and takes your chances". Between no boat and a Red Luan boat
(my present choices), I'll take the Luan...BUT if I go this route, I'm gonna
double the bottom to 1/2 inch (yeah, yeah, I know Luan is heavy, doubled is
worse) and sheathe the whole thing in Fiber cloth and epoxy. of course first,
I've got some bills to pay.......groan!
Happy boatbuilding,
Tom
Well, all this talk of Luan has me severely tempted (temptation goeth before
the fall). My Oldshoe project is currently shelved for lack of funds, but a
quickie $100 of HD Luan would get it rolling again...and I found a friend
willing to lend me a tablesaw for some two weeks (woohoo!). While on the
latest "honeyDO" mission to the Home Despot, I took a good look at their 1/4"
"underlayment" luan and noticed the followiing:
Some of it is really scary, junk wood inner ply with very obvious side-to-side
voids (cracks if you will) held together by sheets of nice smooth white stuff
that was thinner than my wallet. Interestingly enough, it was labeled
"Meranti". Yeah, I know, I know...cheap "mahagony" = meranti = luan, the
labeling is pretty much interchangeable. I wouldn't build a toilet paper
dispnser out of this stuff, let alone a boat.
BUT....
Some of it looks OK...sorta. Same mystery-meat inner ply, but no obvious voids
and no funny mottions and/or creasing when you bend it. And most telling, RED
meranti face plies as opposed to the white junk. From all I've read, white
meranti rots almost instantly, red is pretty resistant. And, strangely enough,
the red face plies appeared thicker than the white plies, have to check it with
a meausure, though.
And here's the kicker, both the red and the white-faced sheets were from the
same pallet! The pallets were labeled "Made in Indonesia", "Tropical Hardwood".
and had a sticker label on then saying "Chesapeake Hardwood Imports", this
label was on each sheet as well. The pallet I was looking at had maybe 20
sheets, four of which were red (red on both faces, too). Hmmmmmmm. I'm thinking
of picking and choosing through several pallets, even if I have to slip
somebody a $20 to open the other pallets for me. And then starting my
OldShoe....
I'm not writing this for anybody's approval or disapproval, each of us has to
"pays your money and takes your chances". Between no boat and a Red Luan boat
(my present choices), I'll take the Luan...BUT if I go this route, I'm gonna
double the bottom to 1/2 inch (yeah, yeah, I know Luan is heavy, doubled is
worse) and sheathe the whole thing in Fiber cloth and epoxy. of course first,
I've got some bills to pay.......groan!
Happy boatbuilding,
Tom