Building Materials, Can't find any!!!
Greetings,
Last year I asked the same question as a "blog", but will try it again. My dad is sailing in Madison, and I am stuck here with a garage full of tools and no lumber to work on. Called several saw mills today looking for Basswood, but only found one board 13+ feet long. But, as we all know, I would need two pieces to make it work. Any suggestions on where to locate lumber to build my new DN?
Thanks,
William Schmiedlin
Shakopee
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Basswood source
Owl Hardwood stocks basswood and lots of species. I use their store in the west suburbs of Chicago, but I think there are others. I also bought Ash in thick planks to turn into strips for planks there. They have many wood species in many lengths and thicknesses, and will resaw or thickness plane their product. I like birch in the plank, they stock it. Yellow cedar makes a pretty wood in trim pieces, llike finger rails. They have hickory, maple, etc, etc.
They did not have sitka last time I checked, but did have some fine plywood in thin thicknesses.
Ken Smith
DN4137
Ken Smith
DN4137
Building Materials
Thanks for the thought on McCormick lumber. I will be in Madison in two weeks, but I am on a serious budget, and would rather build a boat out of some other material other than Sitka for my first boat. Maybe for the next boat I will use better lumber, but for this one, I just can't justify the extra expense. That is the major portion of a sail in cost difference.
Thanks for the link on the plywood. Was looking for a source for that too!
William
lumber supplier
I live here in the cities and just built a DN. For lumber, here's where I went:
1. McCormick (in Madison) is the place for the Sitka. Give them a call and tell them what you're building. The owners are iceboaters and deal with this all the time. The Sitka costs a little more than basswood, but you'll know you did it right.
2. For the plank, go to Youngblood Lumber on Central Ave. They have 2" x 2" ash in 8'+ lengths. Each 2x2 can be ripped down to four strips that will make a top or a bottom of the plank. So, you need two pieces. The middle of the plank can be just about anything, but I used sitka 'cause I had it.
3. For the top/bottom plywood, I went to Buffalo Plywood and Veneer. As it sounds, they're located in Buffalo. They have every type of plywood you can imagine.
No more Sitka at McCormick's soon
The word from a number of reliable sources (I haven't inquired personally yet) is that McCormick's won't be ordering any more Sitka after the current stock is gone.
Cheers,
Geoff S.
DN US-5156
geoff-s.net
What's wrong with basswood?
Will someone tell me what's wrong with basswood? I've heard that sitka cracks much more readily. A basswood boat that I know really well, ah hem, is minimum weight... so what is so bad about it?
well...
The thread started because a guy couldn't find it (basswood) ... availability seemes like a great primary selection criteria to me. :)
think ice
4695
Yeah but
DN5050 says don't use basswood.
Never mind. I race J24s with him and he buys pink and purple lines. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Yeah but
Very funny,
DN 5050
Building Materials
Here in the twin cities... my $0.02
1. Youngblood Lumber has stocked Sitka in the past, I have two 8/4 hunks for sideboards on my next hull, which were obtained there. (Recommended material)
2. My current, 6 year old hull is cedar,(it was a couple hundred cheaper than sitka, as are many local boats...it's a bit less strong than Sitka, in construction, because of that concern, we covered the sideboards, inside and out with one very wet layer of 6 oz. glass cloth and gougeon system special coating hardner. It's provided years of excellent service and been sailed hard, including a couple of spectacular crashes where it held up, much to my surprise.
think ice
4695
BLDG MTLS.
Look in the links and go to the Four Lakes website- look on there links for suppliers-vendors. McCormick lumber in Madison will have what your looking for. There should be other sources for lumber in their links as well.
I would recomend building your DN out of Sitka Spruce instead of Basswood however.
JD might know of some local sources for lumber.
Dn 5050
DN 5050
BLDG MTLS.
The main problem I am having with basswood is not it's availability, it is finding in dry in a usable length. If I (we) wanted to order it longer, not a problem, we just have to wait while it is dried. I can find tons of it, and even know someone that will cut it to any length I want (rough), but I want dry lumber now! The biggest problem with Sitka is that it takes so long for it to grow. It grows in the far north, slow short growing season, and we are using up all the old growth timber at a great rate. Basswood grows locally, and it very available. Just need to have it cut to our needs. Shortly, I think we will see almost all of our boats being built out of other select lumber. Driven solely by cost and availability. Will check with Youngblood and Lake Elmo today and if that draws blanks, will bring back some from Wisconsin (basswood not Sitka).
Thanks all for the help.
William Schmiedlin
Shakopee
BLDG MTLS.
Wood source update!!!
Mary at Courtland Lumber called me Friday and let me know that they just cut several Basswood planks, 5/4 x 13' long. Said it would be ready for pickup in a few months. Guess they air dry it until they have enough lumber in that length to fill the kiln. Call her and have her ear mark a few boards if your interested.
William