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Hello Les calling. I have come into a good quantity of old growth mahogany from the fifties. I would like to replace the planking on the Dumas Chris Craft I bought. Also I would like to mill it for some planking and decking on other ship models I have. I have a decent bench top Delta band saw and a very good table saw. Would it be worth the struggle or just purchase new?

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Hi Les,

It depends on the wood itself, I'd say.  If it's old, brittle, and open grained, you might want to think about replacing it.  Run a couple of slices off and see what it looks like and if you can work with it.

Mark
"The shipwright is slow, but the wood is patient." - me

Current Build:                                                                                             
Past Builds:
 La Belle Poule 1765 - French Frigate from ANCRE plans - ON HOLD           Triton Cross-Section   

 NRG Hallf Hull Planking Kit                                                                            HMS Sphinx 1775 - Vanguard Models - 1:64               

 

Non-Ship Model:                                                                                         On hold, maybe forever:           

CH-53 Sikorsky - 1:48 - Revell - Completed                                                   Licorne - 1755 from Hahn Plans (Scratch) Version 2.0 (Abandoned)         

         

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

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Were it an actual full size Chris Craft that you would be working on and you had enough, you would be having great good fortune.

 

It is likely to be open pore ( several species are sold as mahogany ) and this makes it look distorted when scaled down.

 

Black Cherry ( depending on the actual tree ) can be very close in color.  You can also dye a light species ( Maple, Yellow Poplar, Basswood ) to the match mahogany.  This would avoid the open pore problem.

 

A bench top band saw - the probability is that it is under powered to do serious resawing. I have a 3/4 hp  Emco 3 wheel and it has a difficult time.  If the wood is in plank form, the table saw may handle it.  Mahogany is not a dense wood, so it would be less work,  I had to flip and make 2 cuts to get 3 inch planks using a 10 inch table saw - it kept tripping the circuit breaker at 3 inch depth.

 

My wish would be a 2 hp 14 inch band saw, but I did not have a 220 v outlet wired in my garage, so I would have to settle for a 1 3/4 hp 110 v,  but given my age, it is not practical as well as no room without a major interior redo.

NRG member 45 years

 

Current:  

HMS Centurion 1732 - 60-gun 4th rate - Navall Timber framing

HMS Beagle 1831 refiit  10-gun brig with a small mizzen - Navall (ish) Timber framing

The U.S. Ex. Ex. 1838-1842
Flying Fish 1838  pilot schooner -  framed - ready for stern timbers
Porpose II  1836  brigantine/brig - framed - ready for hawse and stern timbers
Vincennes  1825  Sloop-of-War  -  timbers assembled, need shaping
Peacock  1828  Sloop-of -War  -  timbers ready for assembly
Sea Gull  1838  pilot schooner -  timbers ready for assembly
Relief  1835  ship - timbers ready for assembly

Other

Portsmouth  1843  Sloop-of-War  -  timbers ready for assembly
Le Commerce de Marseilles  1788   118 cannons - framed

La Renommee 1744 Frigate - framed - ready for hawse and stern timbers

 

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