matt_betzina
2011-11-17 21:20:29
I'm looking into buying a troller built in the mid 1960s from Yellow Cedar. I'm pretty sure yellow cedar is a common boat building material for the west coast, but how does it stack up against other woods in the region? What are the pros and cons of the various wood?
Thanks, I really appreciate the input.
lone eagle
2011-11-17 23:37:38
I'm a big fan of white cedar which was the wood of choice here in the lower 48. I've no experience with yellow (Alaskan?)cedar but have the idea that it's superior to fir. White cedar also known as Port Orford cedar. As with all wood you need to keep the rainwater out of it but cedar is very tolerant of neglect
stormbird
2011-11-18 01:58:33
Yellow cedar is nice wood. Every part of a wooden boat can be successfully made from it. It can be prone to freeze checking - the wood will take on the appearance of a riffled deck of cards in severe cases of this. If the wood has been well maintained - just enough and not too much paint or oil kept on it - then the freeze checking may not be an issue.
I've noticed that some builders seemed to choose yellow cedar over fir in areas that they thought would be particularly prone to decay or difficult to repair - for example, many canadian built boats I've repaired have had all fir planking save the swollen plank behind the main guard, and often the sponson would be yellow cedar instead of fir. On these boats the break beams and keelsons have also tended to be yellow cedar rather than fir.
In my experience as a shipwright, the quality of craftsmanship and maintenance has been far more important than species of wood in determining the longevity of wooden boats.
Blaise
mydona
2011-11-19 16:52:38
So how do you get paint to stick to yellow cedar? I've always had a problem with this. It seems that it always peels in large sticky rolls. Also isn't Cyprus (?) a type of cedar? I have seen a lot of ex military WWII boats made from White Cypurs.
stormbird
2011-11-20 19:47:06
I've seen a lot of military boats that were built in Gulf coast shipyards out of cypress. It's great wood but absorbs lots of water and thus gets heavy. It tends not to rot though.
Alaska yellow cedar IS in the Cypress family, but is distinct from the swamp cypress they use down south.
As far as paint goes, if you're getting big peeling sheets you've got too much paint on the boat. Getting the wood as dry as you can, using oil based paint, painting when it's above 50 degrees, (yeah, I know...), and priming with a 50 paint/50 turpentine mixture is the only recipe I've got for success with painting a wooden hull.