Wood Substitution In Kits

[datadiscovery]

For those of you who have substituted different woods for the usual basswood supplied in kits, how do you know how much of that intended substitution wood  to order? I’m considering substituting a particular wood for the deck in my next build (USF Confederacy) and another different wood for part or all of that hull. These woods are not cheap. I don’t want to order more than I will need. How do you figure that out?

Pete

[allanyed]

As you are replacing what they gave you in the kit, can you just do a count of each size (thickness, width and length) and then replace one for one?

Is this the Passaro designed model from MS?    I am curious to know what wood are you considering for the deck and what wood for the hull?

Allan

[datadiscovery]

Yes, it is Chuck's Confederacy. Your idea of counting what was supplied is a good one and I'll use it if the wood supplied for the deck and the hull are different sizes. If not, I don't know how to solve this problem. I'm considering holly for the deck and Swiss pear for all or a portion of the hull.

Pete

[WalrusGuy]

Hi Pete. It is also a good idea to get some wood sheets which are the same thickness as the planks. They can be very useful to cut out margin planks for the decking, spiling for hull planking, and other tasks.

Harshil

[Oldsalt1950]

Pete if the deck and hull planking is the same size just layout the deck planking on top of the framing and count the number of pieces. For the hull you can tape pieces together as you lay them out against the largest frame and count the number from top to keel and multiply by 2.

Jim

[allanyed]

42 minutes ago, WalrusGuy said:

It is also a good idea to get some wood sheets which are the same thickness as the planks.

Conversely you can get sheet stock, the thickness of which is the same as the widest dimension of the plank itself and slit off planks with a small table saw such as a Byrnes if you have one.  If not, I would do as Walrusguy suggests and then slit planks with a scalpel as they are no doubt pretty thin planks.   Crown Timber used to be a great go-to for sheets of these species and many others before they closed their doors.  I am anxious to hear about other sources for pre-thicknessed sheets.

Allan

[datadiscovery]

Thanks to all respondents. They're all workable solutions which I have noted and will investigate thoroughly when I begin the Confed. Note for Oldsalt1950: I'm originally from Hatboro, PA.

[manning16]

Hello all- A belated reply to wood substitution in kits..For my Confederacy build, I used(forgive me for felony theft) Fresh Market coffee stirrers..collected enough to do the decks..alot of coffee..They are birch or beech and proper dimension ..I've found the quality of supplied basswood  not good for the  planking or decking..lots of fuzz and varying thicknesses. I  have a Byrnes saw and @1000 board feet of nice basswood ,so I cut my own. For anything black, I used Guitar neck ebony, which was difficult to deal with. I inherited a mahogany  log  six feet by three feet so I bucked that up and am using it  for captain's quarters, etc. I also scratchbuild and now I find joy in harvesting and experimenting with different woods.  We live in NY and FL, so I  have access to many types of wood.   Just don't go cutting down  a mahogany or  importing  some Gabon Ebony..it's frowned upon. Conversely, a trash tree in FL, malaluca (sic) makes for great framing,etc,cuts to a fine edge sands well and is very stable..  So at the end of the day, experiment and have fun!

[Jaager]

48 minutes ago, manning16 said:

a trash tree in FL, malaluca

Melaleuca quinquenervia  - I had not come across this species until you mentioned it above.  If the pores are small, you may be golden.

 

Another species local to you is loquot -  Eriobotrya japonica -  which is in the Rosaceae family - as are Apple, Pear, Plum, Peach, and as a wood good for miniature carving Hawthorne.   The tree is also listed as Japanese Plum.  

 

 

On 7/8/2022 at 1:51 PM, datadiscovery said:

I'm considering holly for the deck

Holly is about the only wood that is as white as it is.  It does not grow nearly large enough to be used for deck planks on a real ship.  Some of the species used were Pine and Oak.   The model scale appropriate wood that comes close in color are the above mentioned Birch and Beech - as well as Maple.   It looks to me although the price for white Holly has started to enter the realm of the absurd.

 

The Holly species in Europe are not snow white.  They are closer to Birch and Beech (I believe).  As with my adventure with Sycamore, I think there was a translation misunderstanding between British publications and US readers as to which sort of Holly is an accurate decking.

 

There are varieties of Holly here that are not white and Holly that is infected with Blue mold is usually a grey color.  These would be a better color for decking.  The mold effect on the wood is only cosmetic, so that wood is still perfect for most any of our uses. Unfortunately, they seem to be treated as being trash. 

 

Now, a white Holly deck on a model is generally seen as being an ideal and something special.  If that is your view, "Never mind".

[manning16]

Yes Jaager ... that's the one..today, I was driving around our development,,saw some freshly cut limbs on the side of the street.. grabbed four nice chunks  of mahogany..  ..the malaluca(sic) has a very small grain like basswood,but harder..I'm staring at the remainder of that stump across the street, but I lost my electric saw in hurricane Ian!  

[Jaager]

Harbor Freight has an electric 14" for $50.  I do not see a current generic 20% off coupon but if they have one soon, it is $40.   No idea about how long one would last, but I did use one to bisect a Bradford Pear butt after a wind storm a couple of years ago.  Two feet is my preferred length.  A bisecting cut would be easier if the bole is attached to the inground roots.  Significant loss the kerf, but much easier to manipulate on a bandsaw table.   Doing it free hand is an Evel Knievel sort of operation with the possible kickback. Slow and light pressure.

Edited January 5, 2023 by Jaager