Australian timbers for boat building.

In building a Somes Sound in Australia the first thing to establish is what available timbers are suitable equivalents to timbers specified by John Brooks in his Somes Sound plans. That is, equivalents of oak, mahogany, Douglas fir, spruce and Sapele Ply etc.

God bless the Internet.

Finding Oz timbers suitable for boat building was not difficult, as there are plenty.

But which to use as a substitute for each specified American timber took a lot more research.

Hardness.

The first thing I discovered was that the hardest North American timber is less than half as hard as many Australian timbers. I thought of Oak (with a Janka hardness of around 6.0 kNewton) as a hardwood, until I found that Australian Spotted Gum has a Janka of 11.9 kNewton. Double the hardness of Oak. Not only that, but is is highly resistant to rot. But it’s bloody heavy and barely floats, even when dried.

Workability, steam bending ability, & stiffness

Then I had to consider work ability, steam bending ability, stiffness and appearance for bright work timbers.

One excellent guide was had by checking which timbers professional Australian boat builders used for various parts of their boats.

So the list grew to include Spotted Gum, Huon Pine, Celery Top Pine, King Billy pine, Hoop pine, Hoop pine marine ply and African Mahogany, which is plantation grown in the Northern Territory in Tropical Australia.

Huon Pine.

Of course Huon Pine is gold. God’s gift to boat builders.

Huon is splendid to work and emits a gorgeous aroma and takes on a golden shine when varnished. Some pieces have the appearance of marbled salmon and others feature contrasting birdseye.

Rot resistance. Buried Huon logs have been dug up and carbon dated at 38,000 years old.(No not 3,800yrs, 38,000yrs). One 25cm diameter log was found to contained 1,000 years of annual growth rings. This extraordinary slow growth rate has led to total logging ban. So any Huon available is from dead logs salvage from deep in the rugged Tasmanian forests or Huon cut prior to flooding of rivers by dams for hydroelectricity. This Huon is stockpiled and allocated, by the Forestry Commission, to millers for sale in limited amounts each year

Hence the price of $16,000 per cubic metre . . . . or more.

So regardless of the price, obtaining Huon ought to be treated as a privileged entitlement and only used where it’s truly golden beauty can be displayed and enjoyed for years.

For me,it will be used for the Tiller, and hopefully, if sufficient size planks can be obtained, the Transom and Coaming.

Celery Top Pine.

Celery Top to is extremely slow growing and also has a logging ban placed on it, and so only available in limited amounts.

Model Yacht.

Tim & I became divert from the Somes Sound when we decided to restore a model yacht I gave him 30 years ago. It was worth the effort.