warthog5
Well-known member
This thread inspired me to write this.
viewtopic.php?f=15&t=12209
Plus I had a guy asking me in a PM the other day. "How hard to install a floor?"
Let me start by saying that there are actually a few types of "Marine Plywood".
There is Fir.....The most common around the country.
Then there is Okoume & Meranti.
The Okoume & Meranti will not check.
OK.....What's he talking about "Checking"? Fir plywood will "Check".
This is a experiment I did years ago.....about 10yrs? This sign was made with standard 2 X 4 [Lodgepole] for the frame ripped down to size and a grove plowed to receive the plywood.
The plywood is A-B Fir Marine. The plywood has several coats of epoxy on it and was primed and painted with some high quality automotive paint....[PPG Concept]
Now.....What you see in the pix's looks like the paint cracking, but thats not the cause. It's the grain on the wood. This piece was hung on the fence and left to weather as it would over the years with nothing else done to it.
So.....If your going to use Fir plywood....A light layer of fiberglass say some as light as 4oz will not add any weight, but will stop the checking on the underside. The top side will for sure get a heavier layers of glass for protection against dropping things. It's claimed that Okoume & Meranti will not check, but I'd still do the same to them, if that is what I was using.
By the way.....The Fir plywood of equal thickness will be stiffer than Okoume or Meranti.
That ends the lesson for today.
viewtopic.php?f=15&t=12209
Plus I had a guy asking me in a PM the other day. "How hard to install a floor?"
Let me start by saying that there are actually a few types of "Marine Plywood".
There is Fir.....The most common around the country.
Then there is Okoume & Meranti.
The Okoume & Meranti will not check.
OK.....What's he talking about "Checking"? Fir plywood will "Check".
This is a experiment I did years ago.....about 10yrs? This sign was made with standard 2 X 4 [Lodgepole] for the frame ripped down to size and a grove plowed to receive the plywood.
The plywood is A-B Fir Marine. The plywood has several coats of epoxy on it and was primed and painted with some high quality automotive paint....[PPG Concept]
Now.....What you see in the pix's looks like the paint cracking, but thats not the cause. It's the grain on the wood. This piece was hung on the fence and left to weather as it would over the years with nothing else done to it.
So.....If your going to use Fir plywood....A light layer of fiberglass say some as light as 4oz will not add any weight, but will stop the checking on the underside. The top side will for sure get a heavier layers of glass for protection against dropping things. It's claimed that Okoume & Meranti will not check, but I'd still do the same to them, if that is what I was using.
By the way.....The Fir plywood of equal thickness will be stiffer than Okoume or Meranti.
That ends the lesson for today.
