Woods for boat building

[racerv24]

Building a service runabout. What is best wood for ribs and stringers

[baries]

Obechee, if you can find it. Second choice, for me anyway, is Sitka Spruce.

[ZUL8TR]

All great choices. Sitka was the choice of wood in parts of the old sailing ships, a great choice. The I have used local easy to get #1 clean select white spruce and look for straight grain and is essentially knot free, never had failures. Sitka has somewhat better strength properties than select white spruce but not that different and white spruce weighs less. Obchee weighs more than Sitka. Most important to have the right wood cross section dims and orientation of same and placement of ribs and stringer spacing.

[Albert]

Do people not use okume for runabouts ? Seems to be the peoples choice up for building hydro.

[ZUL8TR]

Ocume is plywood used for decks, sides and bottom you asked about structure

[Albert]

Ocume is plywood used for decks, sides and bottom you asked about structure

Haha, you’re totally right. French school system up here messed me up for life.

[Mini Max]

My first boat building job (1970) was at the Henry Boat Company in Plain City Ohio. We built 150 18'-26' wood "Skiff Craft" a year. We went through a lot of wood white oak and Philippine mahogany.
I have seen live Oak so dense that it would sink in water, and oak as light as mahogany. Mahogany as light as balsa and mahogany as heavy as oak.
I found the finest white pine boards at Lowes I have ever seen in 50 years. My own CSR I used an Eastern White Cedar, light and tough.
Boats are generally built with what you can get! Get out and pick the best you have available.

[runabout333]

Steve Rostkowski in Indiana has had Sitka Spruce.. Don't know if I spelled his last name correctly..

[DeanFHobart]

Check out a wood called ‘Bass Wood’…. For stringers and cross frame members.