Plywood in Boats was:Re: [Cal_Boats] Balsa decks

Chris, This post about balsa vs. plywood give me a chuckle. The last model sailboat I built in my youth was 36" long with a 6" bowsprit, a double ender like the 110 series. Anyway, my hamster got inside the unfinished boat, which was 1/8" balsa sheet (the model shop sold it in 3" by 3' boards), to take a snooze, and later I discover later that he'd chewed a big hole in the bottom. I repaired it with 1/8" model aircraft plywood. It was a whole lot sturdier for the change! We took the boat out on a big (well, small to you guys) lake in New Jersey with, of course, Roscoe inside, and chased it in a rented row boat, it sailed like a dream! Sadly, my flagship didn't survive the trip to California, the movers somehow crushed it. Jerry --- On Thu, 2/12/09, Chris Campbell <cl… [at] charterinternet.com> wrote: From: Chris Campbell <cl… [at] charterinternet.com> Subject: [Cal_Boats] Balsa decks To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Date: Thursday, February 12, 2009, 9:51 AM Michael Kennedy wrote: On Feb 12, 2009, at 6:51 AM, Read Howarth wrote: Do the 40s have balsa core decks? They are plywood. Balsa core came along later. My other boat, built in the Netherlands in 1961, has balsa cored decks, so the technology was available. Plywood was less expensive, a bit heavier, but serviceable if you keep the water out. Chris Campbell

Gerald Sobel wrote: > > Chris, > This post about balsa vs. plywood give me a chuckle. The last model > sailboat I built in my youth was 36" long with a 6" bowsprit, a double > ender like the 110 series. Anyway, my hamster got inside the > unfinished boat, which was 1/8" balsa sheet (the model shop sold it in > 3" by 3' boards), to take a snooze, and later I discover later that > he'd chewed a big hole in the bottom. I repaired it with 1/8" model > aircraft plywood. It was a whole lot sturdier for the change! > I thought cats were the preferred shipboard animals! I've got one of those pond yachts they used to make for kids, noting fancy like your model, just a solid block of pine worked into a boat shape and sold for the edification of the kids of sailors or to fulfill a grandparent's gift obligation. Mine was dismasted long ago and it has been sitting in my shop for a decade after I found it in my mom's basement. The night before last I was staring at it and suddenly I realized it was Star, kinda-sorta. Same keel and rudder configuration and hull form, if you're a bit nearsighted. At any rate, I've checked out the Star rig specs and will make up a mast, boom, and a couple sails after I scale the dimensions to this one's actual hull length. No hamsters allowed. Chris > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >