Laminated plywod vs lumber

C

clinton andrus

Active member
I have a question for the members here can plywood be laminated together to make a thiker peice and then scarfed together to make it longer and use it to make cockpit comings and maybe some braces ?

And if so would it be as strong as say useing SYP and would it come out lighter then the SYP lumber.
 
Tom S just used plywood and heated it into place. I used lumber for mine. You can get as expensive or as cheap as you want. I used mahogany but if youre willing to putz I wouldn't hesitate to go the plywood route.
 
Yes you can. I had several long pieces cut off the hull sections which I laminated together to form the keel log rather than use a solid piece of lumber. It was about two inches wide by the time I was done building it up.
 
Thanks for the replys gents.

So what your saying is it would be as strong as useing lumber.

What would be the weight comparison would the ply come out lighter then the lumber.
 
Not positive, but I think ply wood will be heavier with the glue. Being that laminated wood is stronger, I think it can be thinner.
Any woods that will be submerged constantly should be solid, not laminated. jmo
 
The answer depends on how the piece will be used. Wood is stronger along its grain than across it. If the piece is to be used as a beam, the solid lumber will be stronger, because the plywood has the grain in half of its plys oriented the wrong way. You mentioned cockpit coamings, for example. If these are just decorative coamings to finish off the edge of the deck and keep water out of the cockpit, the plywood should work just fine. But if these coamings are also serving as carlins to support the deck beams along the side decks, then the solid lumber, with all of its grain running long-ways, will be a lot stronger.
 
The answer depends on how the piece will be used. Wood is stronger along its grain than across it. If the piece is to be used as a beam, the solid lumber will be stronger, because the plywood has the grain in half of its plys oriented the wrong way. You mentioned cockpit coamings, for example. If these are just decorative coamings to finish off the edge of the deck and keep water out of the cockpit, the plywood should work just fine. But if these coamings are also serving as carlins to support the deck beams along the side decks, then the solid lumber, with all of its grain running long-ways, will be a lot stronger.
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Best answer!
 
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