Paul A Gigl Jr

I live in NC and I'm not familiar with GA, is this lake within an hours drive of I-95? There is a homebuilt rotorcraft fly-in in FL this same time period I was thinking about driving down for. If it's not too far off my route, I would love to see a completed weekender. Thanks, Paul Gigl --- paul@GiglJR.com

I'm having difficulty finding any quarter sawn wood around here, I may end up having to use very narrow strips of plain sawn wood and alternate the grain orientation. I have found one place two hours from here that has clear, vertical grain fir but at $7.50 a foot they can keep it. Internetlumber.com has quarter sawn oak but I'm not comfortable buying it sight unseen. I've yet to find any SYP that I would be comfortable using, most of it is filled with large or loose knots. I did find a couple of places that quarter sawn white oak flooring which might be an option worth investigating further. The tongue and groove would certainly make edge gluing a snap but I don't know how strong it would be. I may buy some samples to glue up and test. If anyone no longer has a need for their weekender videos and would like to sell them I am certainly interested, feel free to send me an email. Paul A Gigl Jr --- paul@GiglJR.com

Greetings, I recieved my weekender plans a couple of weeks ago and have several questions. First, I was unable to find any means by which to order the video mentioned on the Stevenson's web site. After receiving no response to two emails sent weeks apart inquiring about this, I finally ordered the plans w/o video. The plans seem simple enough, but I am curious if there is any critical information contained on the video that is not within the plans package. Second, I've poured over the posts regarding wood selection for the keel assembly and recognize that there is a wide array of wood being used for this. Locally, I can find clear fir and radiata pine for $80 per 1x12x16 and less desirable grades of SYP. Given this cost, I would prefer to go with white oak but have only been able to find shorter, narrower widths in FAS S2S. Is it reasonable to believe that a strong, durable keel could be produced by scarphing and edge joining these or would the single fir/pine board option handle the stress better? I am also curious if biscuit joints are acceptable for edge joining, or would these eventually become rot pockets. I should note that this will be trailered and primarily used in freshwater, although I would like to take it to the Outer Banks (NC) a time or two. My other very time consuming keel choice would be to use cherry, but I am unable to find any information on its suitablity. I have a couple of standing trees that died last year and have entertained the thought of purchasing a chainsaw bar mill and planer to process them. From a cost standpoint, it would be about the same to purchase the equipment for this as it would to buy the oak. I am just leary about this approach as I do not want to invest so much time and money in a wood species that may not hold up well. If anyone is aware of cherry being used for boat building I would love to hear from them. Thank You, Paul A Gigl Jr --- paul@GiglJR.com