Marine Surveyors Lexicon

For example, the fact that white oak may be excellent for frame members does not mean that each and every piece of white oak lumber will be suitable for such service.

Then too, in some parts of the country, a wood that may be suitable in one area may not be suitable in another for various reasons, such as the quality or quantity available, local practices of seasoning, or any number of other variables. In other words, the recommendations are all relative not only to the locale, but to the services to which the lumber will be applied.

Again, the emphasis is made that this listing is general in nature, and the guide to follow is to use those woods that are proven in boat building use in the locale. Also, when selecting a wood from the chart, be sure to look over the adjoining text for that particular species.

Hardwoods	Weight	Strength	Decay/Rot Resistance	Fastening Ability	Comments
Apitong	Heavy	Strong	Poor	Good	Difficult to work
Ash,white	Heavy	Fairly strong	Poor	Fair	High shock resistance
Elm, rock	Heavy	Strong	Fair	Good	Good for steam bending
Greenhart	Very Heavy	Very strong	Very Good	Very good	For heavy, durable construction
Iroko	Heavy	Strong	Good	Good	Can be used in place of teak in many parts
Ironbark (eucalyptus)	Very Heavy	Very strong	Good	Good	For heavy, durable construction
Lignumvitae (Ironwood)	Very Heavy	Very strong	Very Good	Good	Used for keel and worm shoes, rubbing strakes
Mahogany, African	Medium	Fairly strong	Good	Good	Not as good as Honduras Mahogany
Mahogany, Honduras	Medium	Fairly strong	Good	Good	Best of mahoganies
Mahogany, Philippine	Medium	Fairly Strong	Fairly good	Good	Use dark red variety in boats
Oak, white	Heavy	Strong	Good	Very good	Don't confuse with red oak
Okoume	Light	Not strong	Poor	Fair	Suitable for light, small boats
Teak	Heavy	Strong	Very good	Good	Hard on tools, can remain unfinished

Softwoods	Weight	Strength	Decay/Rot Resistance	Fastening Ability	Comments
Cedar, Alaska	Medium	Fairly strong	Good	Good	Heartwood & sapwood look similar
Cedar, Atlantic White			Good		Planking
Cedar, Northern White			Good		Small boat planking
Cedar, Port Orford	Light	Strong	Very good	Good	Preferred boat building cedar
Cedar, Western red	Light	Not strong	Very good	Fair	Suitable for veneers in cold mold planking and for light, small boats
Cypress, Bald		Moderate Strength	Very good		Planking
Douglas-fir	Medium	Strong	Fairly good	Good	Use only clear, vertical grain
Larch, Eastern	Light	Fairly strong	Fairly good	Good	Traditionally used for natural knees and stems
Larch, Western	Medium	Strong	Fairly good	Good	Similar to Douglas-fir
Pine, White		Weak	Fairly poor		Non-structural joinery
Pine, longleaf yellow	Heavy	Strong	Good	Very good	Substitute for white oak
Redwood		Moderate	Good to Poor	Poor
Spruce, Eastern		Moderate	Poor		Non-structural
Spruce, Engelmann		Weak	Poor		Interior joiner work
Spruce, Sitka	Light	Fairly strong	Poor	Fair	High strength to weight ratio