Wood you, or wood you not?

[Guest]

No, it's not a typo, just me doing odd.

Question is basically about wood. There are a number of areas on the interior of our boat where the woodwork needs repairing or replacing. The question is basically about which types of wood are suitable for use on boats. I notice, for example, teak (though incredibly expensive) is very popular and there must be a reason why. Correspondingly pine is cheap and plentiful but I've never heard of it in a boat.

I need to select some wood to make batons and cupboards / shelves etc and I want to make sure I select something appropriate. Also, where is the best place to get this kind of thing? I know B&Q is probably the wrong answer but the fact is they are opposite where I work so very easy to get to, otherwise I have to drive into Norwich somewhere which makes opportunities to go shopping far more limited.

One final thought - although I really dislike it myself, the interior of our boat is a slightly old fashioned dark wood finish. It's not completely clear what colour the wood would be if it didn't have a ton of dark varnish all over but I am guessing it would not have been that light in colour to start with. It would therefore probably be best to avoid something extremely light in colour (like beech) and then varnish or stain it to within an inch of its life to try to make it match.

[teadaemon]

For interior joinery in a GRP motor cruiser, you can use pretty much whatever species of wood you like. Teak is traditional, but ridiculously expensive these days. Plenty of narrowboats have wooden interiors made from Ash, Beech, or White Oak.

While species is not particularly important, the quality of the wood is. 'Pine' from places like B&Q is often of pretty terrible quality (huge growth rings, grain runout, large knots, multiple pieces glued together, etc) - if you're doing anything that's going to be seen, it's worth taking the time and cash to get decent wood to start with. Not only will the end result look better, it'll be a lot easier to achieve.

[Guest]

Any suggestions as to where to go to get this superior wood?

[jimbo]

I think there is a place in Wroxham Simon, the name of it escapes me just now

[Guest]

The tricky part is that a lot of what's going to be visible will be panels, rather than solid framework.

Although there are now some hybrid panels now available from (very) specialist suppliers, the usual choice is plywood.

It wouldn't need to be Marine quality, (since hopefully, it won't be immersed !), but at least exterior grade would be a good precaution just in case.

The best local supplier to the Broads that I know is Tim Collin, at Hoveton. I've spent many an hour in his small yard, selecting bits of wood and having a natter. The apparently "small" looking yard is misleading though, he has other premises, and he has been supplying specialist timber to the local boat builders on a very large scale for many decades now. Many a time I've witnessed craftsmen from Brundall selecting exotic woods like cherry for one-off Gin Palaces.

I had a couple of sheets of far-eastern mahogany faced marine ply at £60 a go that turned out very nice on a rebuild project a few years back. I've never been able to match the beautiful finish (after varnishing) with any plywood bought from B&Q, Wickes etc.. Their exterior ply looks nice as bought, but goes strange colours when varnished (even orange once !).

[Guest]

I had a couple of sheets of far-eastern mahogany faced marine ply at £60 a go that turned out very nice on a rebuild project a few years back.

Now this sounds exactly like what I am looking for and Hoveton is just up the road so no big deal paying a visit. He's moved straight to the top of list - thanks Strowager.

There are a variety of different requirements to serve here so it won't all need to be the above but at least some of it will, just to get a matching look on the surface.

[mbird]

I think there is a place in Wroxham Simon, the name of it escapes me just now

I can't remember the name either, but it is on the Rhond. Take the left fork at Barnes dayboat area and it is on the right hand side past Fineway dayboats before Sabena marine. It's a funny little shed with a couple of typical Norfolk chaps running it (helpful guys too). I'm sure if it wasn't too much you needed they wouldn't rip you off.

[mbird]

Ah, found it. Tim Collins 01603 783788

[Guest]

Great stuff, thanks.

[jimbo]

If you want to save yourself a load of cash, it's cheaper to buy a high quality 3mm ply and stick it to a cheaper exterior ply to get the thickness

[Morris Man]

Hi, if you are going to use ply then use WBP ply, it stands for water and boil proof, and uses the same resin as marine ply but might have voids in the inter layers can be full of resin.

Hope this helps,

Robin.

[Guest]

Why not use exterior ply and finish it with a veneer. You can then chose a good match for what you have or re veneer the whole lot. It allows you to fix things from the outside before the veneer goes on and is a lot easier to trim the thin veneer for a neat finish.

Jonathan

[TeamElla]

When it really has to be teak, these people are stockists:-

http://www.kjhowells.com/

They produce teak products but also sell solid wood (and veneered sheets).

Many items are mail order, but it depends where you live whether buying teak veneered sheets from them is viable or not (as you have to pick it up from Poole).

You could always combine it with a break in the New Forest.

How about this for a place to stay?:-

http://www.themasterbuilders.co.uk/

[jillR]

furniture auctions or ebay can be a good way of picking up a nice piece of wood cheep

jill

[diesel falcon]

Off coarse,

you could really splash out? http://www.robbins.co.uk/marine/teak_ply.asp

[DaveS]

Teak is traditionally used because of it's durabilty and good weathering qualities, but like most all hardwoods, is expensive.

A cheaper alternative is Iroko, which is also known as African Teak, albeit its not Teak as you would know it. There has been some discussion that the dust generated when machining Iroko may be carcenogenic, so maybe not the best material to work with under DiY conditions (i.e. no dust extraction system).

Good quality wpb/marine ply plywood, can be can be very effectively stained teak (or any other colour), and then given several coats of satin finish varnish (rubbed down with very fine sandpaper/flourpaper between coats), to give a very pleasing finish. It can be supported on a low cost pine framework, which is not seen once the plywood panels are attached.

Dave

[Guest]

I've never had any success in staining WBP to look as good as genuine mahogany faced ply.

I found it very difficult to get any consistency between sheets in the final colour once you start trying to stain it as well as varnish.

I think if anyone was trying to refurbish the interior of a medium sized boat with new wood, good quality ply would be essential to match the quality of the original finish of something like a Freeman or an Eastwood.

[marshman]

Used to able to get faced WBP; not sure if its still possible. But you can stick very thin facing marine ply to WBP - still a lot cheaper than marine ply . For interior work the possibility of rather larger voids in WBP is neither here nor there.

Staining ordinary WBP produces what it sounds like - a lash up!!! It never really looks the job!!!

[Mowjo]

Well I wouldn't call this a lash up, it's cheap basic 6mm WBP ply stained using a mix of Antique Pine and Dark Mahogany stain (after a lot of testing to get the colour to match) then four coats of Satin Varnish, the whole of the inside of my Seamaster has been replaced with normal WBP ply by me, and done in such a way that every panel is easy to remove and replace,,, Oh! forgot that second picture is before I added all the trim,,

Regards Frank,,,

[Guest]

Very nice Frank

Jonny

[Guest DAYTONA-BILL]

When it really has to be teak, these people are stockists:-

http://www.kjhowells.com/

They produce teak products but also sell solid wood (and veneered sheets).

Many items are mail order, but it depends where you live whether buying teak veneered sheets from them is viable or not (as you have to pick it up from Poole).

You could always combine it with a break in the New Forest.

How about this for a place to stay?:-

http://www.themasterbuilders.co.uk/

We live just outside Poole on the fringes of the New Forrest, so for an exceptionally large extortionate fee you can stay here . Seriously though, if you are intending to come down here, give us a call and we can meet up. Any visit to Poole would be a waste if you don`t go to the quay and see the bikes on a Tuesday evening, or a trip on one of the many Harbour cruises. Regards .......... Neil.