What wood for a bowsprit?

[SkiprJohn]

Need one of these for the end of your bowsprit? This one's for sale.

kind regards,

[perchance]

Why not a heavy wall fibre glass tube? They are readily available and eliminate the worry about rot and would be lighter.

[minaret]

Originally Posted by perchance

Why not a heavy wall fibre glass tube? They are readily available and eliminate the worry about rot and would be lighter.

How would you attach the cranse iron pictured above? Can't shape a glass tube.

[Delancey]

On thing that should be mentioned is that while it is beneficial to keep the weight out of the ends of the boat in general, substituting a lighter weight wood without adjusting the scantlings may be a mistake.

Lighter weight wood is often not as strong and therefore sizes of parts may need be increased, then they are all of the sudden not so much lighter.

If you substitute the existing Teak with another wood with similar properties, you should be fine to build the new one to the same dimensions as the old one without adversely affecting the design or taking chances with strength.

[IdoraKeeper]

Originally Posted by Strait Shooter

I used some old growth Fir.

Bow Sprit on Idora also old growth Douglas Fir. Congrats, looks like she is really coming along.
Todd

[minaret]

Originally Posted by Delancy

On thing that should be mentioned is that while it is beneficial to keep the weight out of the ends of the boat in general, substituting a lighter weight wood without adjusting the scantlings may be a mistake.

Lighter weight wood is often not as strong and therefore sizes of parts may need be increased, then they are all of the sudden not so much lighter.

If you substitute the existing Teak with another wood with similar properties, you should be fine to build the new one to the same dimensions as the old one without adversely affecting the design or taking chances with strength.

The existing sprit is not teak.

[minaret]

Originally Posted by IdoraKeeper

Bow Sprit on Idora also old growth Douglas Fir. Congrats, looks like she is really coming along.
Todd

How do ya know its old growth? Is it reclaimed lumber? Almost the only way to get it any more. The only "old growth" left in the US is in our national forests...

[CharlieCobra]

The last sprit we made was Sitka Spruce from a log that had been sitting in a local warehouse for 50 years..

http://s234.photobucket.com/user/Cha...sprit.mp4.html

[Ocean Girl]

Don't know your dimension needed but looking at marine consignment shops and the Kemah graveyard, you can find some recycled wood and whole bowsprits from IKE.
Hardwood of Houston is where I got my teak plank to replace my bowsprit on my Cape Dory 30. I had to buy the whole 9ft plank to get the 5ish foot sprit but the grain was really nice and straight and came out under $400. Never varnished my new bowsprit, it checked a little bit but was very superficial. That was the ultimate deciding factor for a solid, one piece of teak, I didn't want to have the up keep of epoxy/varnish. I just made sure it was good and seasoned then let it go silver.

[austinsailor]

As someone mentioned, my old one is not Teak. Spruce? Maybe, I wouldn't know Spruce if it came up and bit me!

I've bought stuff from Houston Hardwoods before, I'll see what they offer. I kind of like the Black Locust idea. Price is certainly better.

We're just around the corner from you, Ocean Girl. We're sitting in Key Allegro over in Rockport.

Deck is about dry from washing off the PVA, got to go put on another coat of gelcoat on the foredeck.

[Ocean Girl]

Yep, we gotta gave a Texas meet up, so many CF folks around this forum good luck on your gelcoat and bowsprit job!

[perchance]

Originally Posted by minaret

How would you attach the cranse iron pictured above? Can't shape a glass tube.

Through bolt it. Get creative.

[Delancey]

Originally Posted by austinsailor

As someone mentioned, my old one is not Teak. Spruce? Maybe, I wouldn't know Spruce if it came up and bit me!

I've bought stuff from Houston Hardwoods before, I'll see what they offer. I kind of like the Black Locust idea. Price is certainly better.

We're just around the corner from you, Ocean Girl. We're sitting in Key Allegro over in Rockport.

Deck is about dry from washing off the PVA, got to go put on another coat of gelcoat on the foredeck.

Black Locust is good stuff with many boat building applications, apparently it finds use as xylophone keys as well. Looks real nice and is wayyyy cheaper than Teak, maybe 1/10 the cost.

Black locust uses

I'd like to think I will someday visit Thailand on my boat but am afraid that by the time I get there it will look like suburban America. Sadly Thailand is losing it's vernacular architecture as hundreds of years' old teak houses are torn down and their timbers sold for reclaimed lumber to make things like patio furniture for the developed world.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/15/ga...eak.html?_r=2&

The world is changing around us and I am of the opinion our expectations need to change along with it. Teak is the "King" of wood, nothing quite compares and its use on boats is the gold standard, however its high price reflects its scarcity. People will point to plantation Teak but it obviously isn't meeting demand. Meanwhile the demand and high prices lead to tree poaching which isn't good for anyone. Maybe it's time for a change?

Black Locust dead eyes below.

[Roy M]

Having been a shipwright for many years now, I always enjoy hearing of the individual choices for wood on boats. Some folks choose apitong for applications where high abrasion resistance is warranted, others choose high strength-to-weight species like spruce or even vertical grain fir for spars that need the flexibility, others use teak for its durability in static applications such as decks. Reading that some folks have made the decisions to turn some of these applications on their heads is entertaining, but a little sad. The bowsprit has a physical purpose, not ornamental. It has to stick out there, holding a high tension headstay, buttressed by the complementary bobstay to keep it from snapping off. It is a spar which flexes slightly as the sails pull it one way and the force of crashing into the seas cause it to sag a small amount the other way. But it is best served by a forgiving material that tolerates a degree of flexibility and LIGHT WEIGHT. Using apitong or teak makes it considerably heavier, with no redeeming value. It's like having a permanent, HEAVY crewmember sitting on the bow doing nothing. Building a mast of teak probably sounds like a good idea for someone who doesn't know much about strength of materials or how boats work, but it doesn't work well at all as a spar. Save the dense, hard woods for purposes that are better suited such as skid plates for anchor chain, deadeyes in traditional rigging, or belaying pins that get lots of friction. Use the spruce, cedar and light fir for spars. Save the teak for cabinets, and if desperate, for decks. Don't just use a particular wood species because it looks nice, or is unusual, or because you have a seasoned trunk laying in the backyard that is going to waste. Do some research to check out if your particular need is satisfied with a certain wood. You will be using the collective wisdom of centuries of boat builders who learned the hard way what works and what fails over time.

The other part of the discussion is what do you do to protect the material from failing. Spars don't do well when left unfinished, or even clear-coated with varnish. Ultraviolet light is powerful stuff, leading to minute fractures in the protective finish, allowing water to enter, and if it's fresh water, that means dry rot, the subject of the original issue with the bowsprit. If you can't keep up the maintenance and elect to use a tougher wood species like apitong, mahogany, teak or whatever, you will still be facing the issues of the natural forces working on the wood, but you will be thinking it's taken care of because your wood doesn't rot. In reality, you may be simply substituting one issue for another. Use the right wood for the purpose, maintain it religiously, and enjoy watching the bow rise to oncoming waves, rather than drag upward with effort.

[Delancey]

Originally Posted by Roy M

Having been a shipwright for many years now, I always enjoy hearing of the individual choices for wood on boats. Some folks choose apitong for applications where high abrasion resistance is warranted, others choose high strength-to-weight species like spruce or even vertical grain fir for spars that need the flexibility, others use teak for its durability in static applications such as decks. Reading that some folks have made the decisions to turn some of these applications on their heads is entertaining, but a little sad. The bowsprit has a physical purpose, not ornamental. It has to stick out there, holding a high tension headstay, buttressed by the complementary bobstay to keep it from snapping off. It is a spar which flexes slightly as the sails pull it one way and the force of crashing into the seas cause it to sag a small amount the other way. But it is best served by a forgiving material that tolerates a degree of flexibility and LIGHT WEIGHT. Using apitong or teak makes it considerably heavier, with no redeeming value. It's like having a permanent, HEAVY crewmember sitting on the bow doing nothing. Building a mast of teak probably sounds like a good idea for someone who doesn't know much about strength of materials or how boats work, but it doesn't work well at all as a spar. Save the dense, hard woods for purposes that are better suited such as skid plates for anchor chain, deadeyes in traditional rigging, or belaying pins that get lots of friction. Use the spruce, cedar and light fir for spars. Save the teak for cabinets, and if desperate, for decks. Don't just use a particular wood species because it looks nice, or is unusual, or because you have a seasoned trunk laying in the backyard that is going to waste. Do some research to check out if your particular need is satisfied with a certain wood. You will be using the collective wisdom of centuries of boat builders who learned the hard way what works and what fails over time.

The other part of the discussion is what do you do to protect the material from failing. Spars don't do well when left unfinished, or even clear-coated with varnish. Ultraviolet light is powerful stuff, leading to minute fractures in the protective finish, allowing water to enter, and if it's fresh water, that means dry rot, the subject of the original issue with the bowsprit. If you can't keep up the maintenance and elect to use a tougher wood species like apitong, mahogany, teak or whatever, you will still be facing the issues of the natural forces working on the wood, but you will be thinking it's taken care of because your wood doesn't rot. In reality, you may be simply substituting one issue for another. Use the right wood for the purpose, maintain it religiously, and enjoy watching the bow rise to oncoming waves, rather than drag upward with effort.

I thoroughly agree. My teak and teak alternative diatribe came from me me mistakenly thinking the original bowsprit was made from teak, my bad.