bulkhead wood species?

[raslocum]

On my e-25, one of the forward bulkheads has been replaced with a marine wood plastic material. I give them an E for effort, it looks great, but they used too thin of a material. This is the bulkhead directly below the mast, and it is beginning to bow slightly. I plan on replacing it, and making cutting boards out of the plastic, - cuz that seems to be the only real use for this stuff. The other bulkhead is in great shape, and i'd like to match it. I'm not sure exactly what type of plywood it is. Okoume? Teak? What were these boats originally built with? Any reasonable sources for this stuff? As always, thanks so much for the help.

 

[NateHanson]

Can you take a close flash picture of the existing plywood bulkhead that you're trying to match?

Where are you located? Perhaps people can offer source suggestions that are close to you. I know a couple suppliers in the Boston area.

 

[raslocum]

bulkhead material

don't have a shot of mine, but found this one online. I know it is the same wood. the grain and hue are identical. By the way, I'm in Dallas Texas.

 

[rwthomas1]

Looks like teak veneered marine plywood to me. RT

 

[tenders]

I agree, almost certainly it's 3/4" marine-grade mahogany veneer plywood. Not hard to find but expensive. What you buy now will have more, thinner plies than what the boat was built with.

 

[SAILSHIGH]

Maybe Mahogany?

All,

I thought I read that these were made of Mahogany. I may be wrong but I could of sworn I read that somewhere.

 

[Bob in Va]

wood

I believe it to be a very even-grained mahogany. The bulkhead on my E23 looks to be the same as your photo. I've made some drop boards using some figured teak over marine plywood, and the color is about the same, but the teak has much more variation in the grain. Of course there are lots of variations in teak, I know, but I seem to remember a comment from someone knowledgeable that the bulkheads were mahogany veneer.

 

[NateHanson]

Looks like teak veneered marine plywood to me. RT

I agree, almost certainly it's 3/4" marine-grade mahogany veneer plywood. Not hard to find but expensive. What you buy now will have more, thinner plies than what the boat was built with.

That looks like mahogany to me. Teak has black streaks in the grain, and much longer, more open grain than true mahogany. (although much of the mahogany plywood is actually sapele or a related "african mahogany" species). African mahogany has slightly more open grain than sweetenia sp. "true" South American Mahogany. Both African and SA mahogany are reddish-brown around the grain pores, and in the grain pores, whereas teak has honey-brown wood with (usually) darker flecks (but sometimes white flecks) in the grain pores themselves. African mahogany also frequently has 2-4" wide "ribbons" of figure running in the direction of the grain. These aren't really color changes as much as reflectivity changes. SA mahogany can have this stripe figure, but it's usually tighter, and more irregular.

 

[Steve Swann]

Mahagony it is.

Hi folks,

I have a '77 E25 c/b and yes, all the bulkheads in mine are a mahogany ply. Easily obtainable, will match well with your existing older wood, and easy to work with and to bond. I would moisture seal the raw edges of anything you replace really, really well as there is a tendency for water to pool at some of the edges of the liner where it meets the ply. Mine discolored and was delaminating.

Steve
s/v Seahorse
Boise, ID

 

[Art Mullinax]

Honduran Mahogany

When looking for the mahogany ply for your bulkhead, try to find Honduran mahogany. The Phillipine (sp?) mahogany is more of a coppery color. I've used both on my E29 and you can tell the difference.

 

[raslocum]

Glad its Mahogony!

Thanks so much for your help. I'm glad to hear it is mahogony, because I called every supplier in the Dallas Ft Worth area, and not a single one stocks Teak plywood of any type anymore. It was looking like a very expensive online order!

 

[Howard Keiper]

One can readily buy teak veneer, however, and it has an interesting use. I used to go through a sanding routine every other year or so to clean up the old finish (usually Cetol) that I had applied to the hatch(s) trim / frame. Eventually I realized I had removed so much wood that there was a very distinct and unsightly overhang or lip where the Plexiglass was fastened. So I sanded again, carefully this time, so as to make the lip a more constant dimension all around, scrubbed the old teak thoroughly with MEK, cut the new teak veneer (actually, it's not a true veneer, but a three layer composite, about 1/16" thick) into strips as wide as the hatch frames are thick and as long as they need to be for each side, both hatches; cleaned them with MEK as well, and glued the strips around all four sides with a good marine grade waterproof glue. Looks good.

howard keiper

 

[Steve Swann]

Teak comments and observations

Teak is more difficult to bond to becasue of the natural oils in the wood. With teak ply, I will plane off the teak layer if I am fiberglassing to the bulkhead. Also, teak tends to dull tools quicker than other woods and the dust is more difficult to deal with since the oils make it stick to things.

One other thought about exterior finish of teak, I too, scrub the bare teak to remove surface oils before applying a finish - any finish. One thing that I have done recently is to put two coats of WEST epoxy on the bare wood first (sanding each coat) using 207 hardner (has some UV resistance, but not enough to remain exposed to direct sunlight) then applying at least 3 coats of varnish with UV protection over this.

I haven't had it on long enough to tell you how well it works, but by all appearances, it looks like it is going to work very nicely. And boy, does it ever penetrate and harden the wood!