Guest Morley Posted February 18, 2003 Report Share Posted February 18, 2003 Hello Graham, Enjoyed our chat the other day and looking forward to getting the hardware I ordered....launch day is nearing! As I mentioned I am going to build the one peice masts hollow/octagonal (before rounding) per the article in Wooden Boat. Wood will be 3/4" Clear 8) Fir. (Would Poplar be an alternative, as it is available through Home Depot. Have not done cost comparison between Fir and Poplar....but would guess Poplar to be less expensive) The hull I am using is 13 ft at the water line. Could you please advise on height and diameters top and bottom for this type of construction? Tell Carla "Hi" ...Morley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest gsb Posted February 22, 2003 Report Share Posted February 22, 2003 I am back on line and have caught up with the most pressing business and am now trying to get caught up on questions here on the forum - so sorry for the delay Morely. In response to your questions: Part one, the type of wood: If you want to spend less than the cost of fir - Probably the best low cost alternative for wooden mast material is eastern white spruce. It's the knotty stuff they use for studs. You have to have access to their stacks of wood at your local homebuilder's supply place. There are often boards in the stack that have a corner missing, but that are otherwise very clear. Because of this missing corner they have downgraded the piece of wood to this price level. You have to have an open mind as to sizes when you do this. You might be thinking of 1 X 4's and you'll end up coming out with a couple nice 2 X 6's. If you can't obatain this kind of access to the stacks, you'd better stick with the fir. Remember if you do get to play in the stacks to put everyting back really neatly, so othey'll let you play again. As obvious as this seems, some folks just walk away and expect the yard guys to restack...then they wonder why yards have policy against allowing customer to do this :roll: As for the use of poplar, I can't find any reference to it as a decent boatbuilding/spar wood, but I know it is rated as weak and prone to rot, so I can't say I'd recommend it. The second part of your question: As for mast size - it's hard to be precise without knowing more about your boat's design. I think it probably isn't as stiff as the BRS...so you will have to make your own judgement in comparison to the BRS. I'd think you'd be looking at about 2 3/4" at the base tapering to about 1 5/8" at the top. This size would be based on the length and use of spruce as described above and using the birdsmouth construction. Hope the hardware has arrived safely by now!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.