Maple is not very rot resistant, but oak is. There is a reason why oak was the material of choice for ship building.
-----Original Message----- From: CnC-List [mailto:cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com]On Behalf Of Ronald B. Frerker Sent: Tuesday, August 06, 2013 4:24 PM To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com Subject: Stus-List C&C 30 mast step yet again Got the engine running, so I could shift the mast over to work on the step. (BTW trouble was in the battery cables; corrosion inside the sheathing). I have only two supports and the oak plank I used bowed in the middle; probably because I didn't seal the edges well enough and water wicked in. It did last 10-15yrs though. So based on what a lister mentioned, I'm going to put in a third support in the middle. I can only buy 3/4 marine plywood by 4x8 sheet. So I'm going with solid wood for the support. The hardwoods dealer suggested mahogany, but it seems to porous for a bilge. A friend suggested ipe (epay or ironwood). Extremely dense and used in lock gates on the river. He claimed that some don't even treat it. I'm using maple (very dense) instead of the oak I used last time for the horizontal plank; oak apparently is known to bend readily with moisture, especially steam. I'm planning to coat all with a few coats of epoxy which I think Dennis suggested; the hardwoods dealer suggested marine poly. So, given I'm going with wood instead of a wood/metal combination, are there any suggestions about which wood and the coating? Ron Wild Cheri STL
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