Aspen for boat building?

[Mihun09]

Anyone ever try it? It is abundant and cheap here. Clear cedar, 2x6 (1 1/2 x 5 1/2), $7.80 a linear foot! Aspen, $2.50 a linear foot. Mind you there is a really nice dark 16 foot 2x6 that I might get anyway since I want a dark feature stripe, that would only show on the inside since I will pigment the exterior this time. That one board with taxes would be about $142.

Ever notice that a 2x8 is now 1 3/8's by 7 1/4 these days?

Hard to believe it is getting so difficult to find decent wood in a country that has more trees than people.

Mem, what size were your strips, like 3/4" with the bead and cove and how many strips did it take? I know when I built the first stripper the boards were all milled to 3/4 to begin with and after the bead and cove were on they were barely 5/8. Took almost 80 strips on that one.

Karin

 

[memaquay]

Aspen will add weight, but would look all shiny and stuff. I used white pine in a few canoes, i would guess it added ten pounds over the cedar. I've used a variety of sized strips, for the chum, I wouldn't use more than 3/4 before bead and cove, there are some wicked curves on that thing. There must be cedart in manitoba somewhere, you will regret compromising when you have to carry.

 

[Mihun09]

Yep, cedar grows everywhere here, but they cut it down when it is only 6" across and clear boards are hard to find. Perhaps we need a new zombie hybrid cedar tree that will grow 20 feet a year and not have any branches.

 

[Canotrouge]

I never used Aspen, but a friend of mine built a stripper out of white spruce from is firewood pile with knots and all. the boat is not as pretty as one build out of cedar, more it is as light, but it is totally functional!! http://www.yukon-news.com/life/crafting-a-canoe-from-firewood/

 

[Bothwell Voyageur]

I was under the impression that the cedar that grows in Manitoba is eastern cedar. The stuff in the stores is western cedar, a very different tree. Same as ash here is not the famous white ash that is in demand for gunwales etc.

 

[Mihun09]

We have a mix of western red and homegrown cedar in stock. The stuff from here has some really nice colour to it, if you like that kind of thing, pinks, yellow, oranges et al.

We have one clear cedar 4x4 post and a couple of 1x4's left over from the first build, but if we bought the one 16 footer we saw today and one of the 12 footers we could likely get the cost around $300 which would be good. We may just go buy it next weekend and start milling. We will be doing scarf joints to get the lengths, rather than butting. Just prefer it that way is all.

 

[memaquay]

In terms of workability, the eastern cedar is much nicer than the red. I find the red to be more brittle. Unfortunately, it looks so pretty, the chum was the first one I built using all red. I'm thinking of maybe redoing the Raven in red this year, try to get it down to fifty pounds.

 

[memaquay]

Same as ash here is not the famous white ash that is in demand for gunwales etc.

Your Manitoba ash is probably the same as ours, black ash. If you can find trees big enough, it is a beautiful wood for trim. Not beautiful to work with, but the grain and colour is fantastic. I've done several canoes with it.

 

[Mihun09]

Another build eh? How many would that be over years?

 

[Alan Gage]

Have you thought of trying to get a wholesale account somewhere? It drops the price considerably. In a city as big as Winnipeg there must be a couple big wholesalers that supply the cabinet makers and house trimmers. You'll probably have to deal with a minimum order size but it's worth it, just stock up all at once.

I don't know how things work in Canada but in the US you just need a federal tax ID number, which you get when you register a business, and then fill out a credit application. Most of them will do COD as well.

I got a tax ID number and set up a wholesale account when I thought I was going to start doing cabinets for money. That never materialized but I still use it for buying wood for house projects and canoes. To keep the tax ID current I have to pay quarterly taxes but that's not a big deal. I don't pay sales sax since I'm not selling any goods, I just have to pay a use tax that makes up for me not paying sales tax when I buy from the wholesaler. If I don't buy anything that quarter, which is the case most of the time, it doesn't cost anything.

You probably won't get to hand pick your wood but I haven't found that to be much of a problem. If a piece isn't good enough to make strips out of it will find use somewhere else. Some pieces are too nice to make strips out of so they get held back for other projects.

I like having 3/4" strips before milling the bead and cove. Makes the curves much easier which equals less sanding time.

Alan

 

[Mihun09]

So, Mem and I will be building and there are 2? on the go at the moment? Anyone else? Perhaps Mr. Dodd will build something other than a Pearl.

 

[Bothwell Voyageur]

Your Manitoba ash is probably the same as ours, black ash. If you can find trees big enough, it is a beautiful wood for trim. Not beautiful to work with, but the grain and colour is fantastic. I've done several canoes with it.

No it's green ash, Fraxinus pennsylvanica var. subintegerrima (Vahl) Fern, very similar to red ash . according to my Trees of Canada.

 

[Mihun09]

There will be no ash in this boat. Although Windsor Plywood could get in bending Ash, it is far too heavy for what I want so will go in a different direction. I was hoping to save some money with the Aspen but might as well plunk down the dollars and do it right.

 

[Jim Dodd]

Hi Karin
I use Aspen for my feature strips. It machines great . It is heavier and I believe a little stiffer. You could cut thinner strips and get by OK .
Say cut them 3/16", or less, bead and cove, and you will be fine ! Throw in some cedar for color, and you'd have a neat looking boat!

I pay a lot more for Aspen, than I do Cedar, but I try and sort #3 cedar for usable planks.

Jim

 

[Jim Dodd]

Hi again Karin

I missed that post.

I have strips cut for two more canoes, but will wait until I have a few other things done around here, before stripping begins.
Alan has been tempting me with his Barracuda. J Winters has a neat, but tough to build design there.

As for building too many canoes? A person can always sell one! My wife would appreciate it, until I started crying ! HA !

All but the far one,(the original Pearl) was built in the last two years.

Jim

 

[stripperguy]

Karin,
I virtually mentored a first time builder on "another" forum.
His screen name is Zach, lives in western NY. He has built two canoes from aspen that he felled, milled, dried and planed himself.
He specifically chose that particular tree because of the spalting. When you compare the density of aspen to western red cedar, there is not much difference.
He said it was easy to work with and for him, it was free, except for the sweat.
The wood actually has a fair amount of character, not counting the spalting.

If it were me, I would jump on the 1/3 cost difference and never look back. Pigmented on the outside, inside covered with mud, sounds perfect!!