Hi all,
Returning to kayak building after a long hiatus.
One of the builds I am planning is a Guillemot 'Yukon' for flatwater fitness paddling and racing. I want to build as light as possible, so the obvious choice is paulownia. However, I'm interested in thoughts on balsa for the core?
It will be glassed in and out, and I may use carbon fibre on the underside and inside for strength, but will have the top clear-coated...may even use some RWC for feature strips on the top.
Whilst paulownia has a weight of 280kg/m3 and WRC is 370kg/m3, balsa is 150kg/m3. But crushing strength is 50% of paulownia and 30% of WRC. No surprises. I'm assuming lateral strength is a lot less too.
I remember seeing a canoe or two built out of balsa ages ago here, and it's used for surfboard blanks so I figure it's do-able.
Would the trade-off in strength/hardness be worth it for the weight saving? Or would I need to increase the strip size (thickness) to complensate, and therefore lose any weight advantage? Quite happy to use paulownia, but keeping weight down is key...but I'd hate to hole it or have it snap in half! I will be paddling in rivers so liely to encounter a submerged log or two, so need some strength on the bottom (maybe thicker glass?)
Hoping some of the more knowledgeable members can help me decide :) I've only done ply S&G previously so still learning the properties of strip woods.
Thanks,
Darren
Returning to kayak building after a long hiatus.
One of the builds I am planning is a Guillemot 'Yukon' for flatwater fitness paddling and racing. I want to build as light as possible, so the obvious choice is paulownia. However, I'm interested in thoughts on balsa for the core?
It will be glassed in and out, and I may use carbon fibre on the underside and inside for strength, but will have the top clear-coated...may even use some RWC for feature strips on the top.
Whilst paulownia has a weight of 280kg/m3 and WRC is 370kg/m3, balsa is 150kg/m3. But crushing strength is 50% of paulownia and 30% of WRC. No surprises. I'm assuming lateral strength is a lot less too.
I remember seeing a canoe or two built out of balsa ages ago here, and it's used for surfboard blanks so I figure it's do-able.
Would the trade-off in strength/hardness be worth it for the weight saving? Or would I need to increase the strip size (thickness) to complensate, and therefore lose any weight advantage? Quite happy to use paulownia, but keeping weight down is key...but I'd hate to hole it or have it snap in half! I will be paddling in rivers so liely to encounter a submerged log or two, so need some strength on the bottom (maybe thicker glass?)
Hoping some of the more knowledgeable members can help me decide :) I've only done ply S&G previously so still learning the properties of strip woods.
Thanks,
Darren
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