I have a question about what kind of plywood to use. I have sifted through pile after pile of luan plywood, and have yet to find one good sheet. We do not have any decent fir plywood either. My final option is to use marine plywood, which is 90 dollars a sheet; I am building an Uncle Johns four rib pirogue. One thing in addition to the lack of quality of the luan, is whether or not I am looking at luan or not. The luan I have seen in the past was slightly dark brown on one side, and lighter colored on the other. It is labeled as luan, but I wonder whether these big box stores just label it as such; with no real knowlege of what they are selling. I am dying to get started, but I do not want to waste money needlessly. Other questions I have, is how many sheets will I need for a four rib pirogue that is fifteen feet long? How do I space the ribs? Thanks for any feedback.
What plywood to use
- Thread starter grubdog
- Start date
$90 a sheet? Ouch!
Try calling these places to see if you can get a better price:
South Bend - Johnson's Workbench, 51315 N US 33, 46637, 574/277 8350
Indianapolis - Carter Lee Lumber Co, 1717 West Washington St, 46222, 317-639-5431
Elkhart - Hudson Marine Plywoods, PO Box 1184, 46514 219/262 3666 '
La Grange, KY - Northland Corporation, 2600 Highway 146 East, 40031, 800-873-1441, 502-222-1441
Try calling these places to see if you can get a better price:
South Bend - Johnson's Workbench, 51315 N US 33, 46637, 574/277 8350
Indianapolis - Carter Lee Lumber Co, 1717 West Washington St, 46222, 317-639-5431
Elkhart - Hudson Marine Plywoods, PO Box 1184, 46514 219/262 3666 '
La Grange, KY - Northland Corporation, 2600 Highway 146 East, 40031, 800-873-1441, 502-222-1441
Thanks for the resources! I really did not want to pay that much, but I have everything in place to start the build. I will be making some calls this week.
A Uncle John pirogue only requires two sheets of plywood and the ribs if using 4 of them should be evenly spaced in the boat dividing it into 4 equal sections. The center two can be a Little closer together depending on what you want to do.
Best thing is to contact the designer and see what they have to say , just to play it safe.
Chuck.
Best thing is to contact the designer and see what they have to say , just to play it safe.
Chuck.
I thought that was the way to do it, by dividing the boat into four equal sections. I'll call UJ just to be on the safe side. Thanks.
grubdog said:
:lol: :lol: :lol: He might tell you to check on Southernpaddler or to send me a email.
Grubdog, what thickness were you pricing? 4mm or 1/8" is what you want to use, I expect. My answer to you is in my signature block (down below the whiskey and women part - gotta keep priorities straight, ehh?)
Thanks Kayak Jack, I will go with that. Now the fun part is getting the wood to my house with the least amount of money possible. In my neck of the woods, few people ever consider building a wood boat of any kind; so availability of marine ply is almost nil. I just discovered that we have a beautiful marsh and swamps connected to some lakes near the Ohio River, so now I have a great incentive to build this boat. Hopefully I will do alright, then I can build one for my wife as well. I love this forum because people are so willing to help others out, a rare thing in this day and age; so thanks to everyone.
Noah's has great prices. Shipping cost hurts on small orders.
http://www.noahsmarine.com/United_State ... ng-us.html
http://www.noahsmarine.com/United_State ... ng-us.html
Got Lowe's where you are? They have a better grade of 1/4" Luan for sale. They call it premium underlayment. Brand name "Ultraply XL". Should be around $20.00 per sheet. It is not marine ply by any stretch of the imagination, but it is decent, and I think a good choice for a first boat.
GBinGA
GBinGA