Appearance

Different types of woods have different characters and aging characteristics. Redwood has a fine grain structure that gets better with age. H. Mahogany has figure and color that gets better with age. C. Mahogany is available in very fine figure including nice crotches. The white cedars are almost unchanged with age. Western Red Cedar has a coarse grain that only gets coarser with age.

Wood strips can and should be handled like veneer - matched.

The following figure shows the hull of a 17'-6" kayak. The center of the hull is just off of the right hand edge. The wood is matched 4 ways from the center. Strips from a single Western Red Cedar board covered the entire hull.

The next figure shows some nicely figured redwood used at the stern of a 16'-6" kayak. Again strips from one board covered the entire deck. The hull was cut to allow some fretwork on the stern.

The above kayak about finished.

A H. Mahogany deck. From left to right: The kevlar interior, 10-way book matched Maple burl coaming, 4-way book matched H. Mahogany deck, fretwork detail, hatch lip.

A view of some Cuban Mahogany. Near the live edge of a 5/4 x 12" x 8' crotch slab. The bottom is planed, the top is sanded, and the surface is wet.