This is an archived message posted to the Kayak Building Bulletin Board. If you would like to ask a question about building kayaks, you can post a new message.
> I'm currently working on deck design's for my next project and have been
> given some beech. Can anyone tell me any thing about it's characteristics
> and what it might be like to work with. I thought I might use some for
> accent strips. Also I'm looking for some really dark wood. The only thing
> I can think of is Western Red Cedar as dark as possible or mahongany. I
> don't really want mahogany to heavy and hard. Any input would be helpful!
I'm playing w/ light and dark western red, but for 2 tiny areas that I wanted dark as possible I've used brazilian walnut. Short of using ebony ( the only other one I could think of) it has worked well. I have only sanded this area in order to see the effect - I am only guessing that it will work well when glassed. It's way harder than cedar, so levelling is more difficult.
I've also wondered about masking and using water based stain after sanding. I doubt if the edges can be well controlled but if soft effects were desired ( I can think of several possibilities) it would be striking.
-mike
This is an archived message from The Kayak Building Bulletin Board.
Guillemot Kayak - High
Performance Wooden Sea Kayak Designs
