Wednesday, March 6, 2013

The first White Oak Frame and 2 knees are in place. they are temporally fastened so that the entire frame can be dry fit, before 3M 5200 is applied. I only got one in the boat today but i ruff cut and surfaced all the lumber for the bottom frames, knees, and upper frames. White Oak is hard and heavy. Here is what the American hardwood export council says.
"American white oak (Quercus spp.)
Other names: Northern white oak, Southern white oak

   

Distribution
Widespread throughout Eastern USA. The white oak group comprises many species, of which about eight are commercial.

General description
White oak is similar in colour and appearance to European oak. The sapwood of American white oak is light coloured and the heartwood is light to dark brown. White oak is mostly straight grained with a medium to coarse texture, with longer rays than red oak. White oak therefore has more figure.

Working properties
White oak machines well, nails and screws well although pre-boring is advised. As it reacts with iron, galvanised nails are recommended. Its adhesive properties are variable, but it stains and polishes to a good finish. The wood dries slowly and care is needed to avoid checking. Due to its high shrinkage, it can be susceptible to movement in performance.

  
Machining
Nailing
Screwing
Gluing
Finishing

Physical properties
A hard and heavy wood with medium bending and crushing strength, low in stiffness, but very good in steam bending. Southern white oak is faster grown with wide growth rings, and tends to be harder and heavier.

Specific Gravity: 0.68 (12% M.C.)
Average Weight: 769 kg/m3 (12% M.C.)
Average Volumetric Shrinkage: 12.6% (Green to 6% M.C.)
Modulus of Elasticity: 12,273 MPa Hardness: 6049 N
* Values for Q. alba

Durability
The heartwood is resistant to decay, extremely resistant to preservative treatment, and the sapwood is moderately resistant to treatment.

Availability
USA: Readily available but not as abundant as red oak.
Export: Very widely available in lumber and veneer, in a full range of qualities and specifications. The most important hardwood export.

Main uses
Construction, furniture, flooring, architectural joinery, exterior joinery, mouldings, doors, kitchen cabinets, panelling, railway sleepers, timber bridges, barrel staves, coffins and caskets. White oak can vary in colour, texture, characteristics and properties according to the growing region. It is therefore recommended that users and specifiers work closely with their suppliers to make sure the wood they order is suited to their specific needs. Northern and Southern may be sold separately."

Alder
Ash
Aspen
Basswood
Beech
Birch
Cherry
Cottonwood
Elm
Hackberry
Hickory
Hard Maple
Pecan
Red Oak
Sap Gum
Sassafras
Soft Maple
American Tulipwood
Walnut
Willow
White Oak
I think they summed it up well enough.  they did however leave out that it makes great boat frames.

Random picture of surf board/ SUP hybrid progress to follow.

© 2002 American Hardwood Export Council

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

I finished bracing up the Dodge today. Its all temp bracing until I put the new frames in the boat.  She looks like a pile of sticks.  scary.
My white Oak finally came in and i can start cutting frames.  It took almost 3 weeks to get this lumber. My only guess is that someone is making a lot of whiskey barrels  i guess it could be that its 5/4 qtr sawn minimum 6" widths.
Waiting on the gold leaf guy for the Chris Craft. Its nice to see guys are busy but man i want to get that boat finished.
leave some comments, i am interested in your thoughts.

Monday, March 4, 2013


BOATS:
I spent several hours working on reclaiming some clear cedar siding this weekend, its the going to be decking for the SUP i framed a week ago. I had to run it through the table saw 3 times and through the planer 2 times. i  have quite a bit of the material 400 hundred lineal feet. I cut it all hoping for future projects. the finished product is 3/8"x4 1/2" that should keep me set for a while. i did all the work in my garage without my dust control system running ... what a mess, even with the door open dust every where... my hockey gear looks like it was in a war torn 3rd world country.

HOT RODS:
There is a 1957 Chevy Bel Air 2 door sedan for sale on the side of the road not too far from where i live. i have driven past it for three weeks and kept thinking that it looks so cool i should stop.. i finally did today. its got no glass, no hood, no trunk lid, missing floor pans, front clip is gone and the drivers side rocker is gone the passenger side is  rusted through both inside and out, no motor or steering column, no price or phone number. how can you sell something like that? Its still very cool and here in Michigan you just dont see too many for sale. that car sells for $45000 finished, makes me wish i had the money to invest in building one. Once again i am forced to evaluate my projects and what i REALLY have time to do right now. Reality sucks.