Alaskan Yellow Cedar and Ancre monograph builds

[RogerD]

Most scratch builds seem to be constructed from pear, cherry and the like. Is Alaskan Yellow Cedar a suitable wood for building a vessel from one of the Ancre monographs?

Thanks,
Roger

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

personally i would say no but that is just my opinion.

Alaskan Cedar is a very solft wood, you can dent it with pressing your finger nail in it. Some builders hate the wood because it is so soft you can not apply a clamp or pressure without leaving a dent or mark.

here is the rating wood + or -

west indian boxwood 1,810
cherry and maple hardness is 950,
alaskan cedar 580,
Poplar 560,
basswood 450,


so you can see it is on the softer side of the scale. just above Basswood.

having used both Alaskan Cedar and Poplar they are very close to the same but even though Alaskan Cedar is a little harder than the Poplar it dents and breaks easier than the Poplar.

because the wood is soft you can work it easy with hand tools which is a +

 

[donfarr]

FROM MY EXPIERENCFE NO IT IS A REALLY, REALLY SOFT WOOD YOU CAN IMPRINT IT WITH YOUR FINGERS, IF YOU WANT TO TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT TRY BEECH, WITH A COAT OF WIPE ON POLY IT LOOKS LIKE OAK. GOD BLESS STAY SAFE ALL DON

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

if i built the Tecumseth out of Alaskan Cedar and by the way i handled the model, a little rough at times i would be fixing broken pieces and parts a lot.

so it is not suitable if you man handle a model for something like sanding the hull and if you not very careful just sanding you can gouge the wood.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

these hulls and timbers take on strong clamping to bend, woods like basswood and alaskan cedar are to soft to take the clamping pressure, the wood crushes. That is why woods in the harder range are better. Beech, maples, cherry boxwood pearwood they can take on strong clamping and hardly leave a mark.
softer woods are fine for delicate work and trim.

 

[RogerD]

Thanks for the advice Dave. I had used some of the wood for my Syren inner planking and enjoyed working with it. I was interested in how AYC stood up to a build after reading of its use by other builders. However, what you say about denting, breaking etc makes a lot of sense.

 

[RogerD]

FROM MY EXPIERENCFE NO IT IS A REALLY, REALLY SOFT WOOD YOU CAN IMPRINT IT WITH YOUR FINGERS, IF YOU WANT TO TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT TRY BEECH, WITH A COAT OF WIPE ON POLY IT LOOKS LIKE OAK. GOD BLESS STAY SAFE ALL DON

Thank you Don, your input supports what Dave wrote as well. I appreciate your response.