Cypruss for canoes

rtowsley · Post by **rtowsley** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 7:38 am

Has anyone used cypruss for building a canoe? How is it compared with ceder for weight?

cecbell · Post by **cecbell** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 12:46 pm

I used some cypress under the side decks of my sailing canoe to stiffen them for sitting on. These were pieces about 7' long by 3/4" wide and 1/2" thick. I ended up with cypress because the local woodworkers' shop had it on sale and it was virtually knot free. The boards they had in stock varied quite a bit in weight but I was able to pick out a couple that were the lightest of the bunch. I don't know if the difference was due to moisture content or what, but the ones I got were very light--at least as light as the white cedar strips I used for planking.

This was my first experience with cypress and it struck me as being very similar to white cedar (NWC) except for its lack of color and figure. I didn't do any planing with it so I don't know how it responds to sharp tools. I also don't know if the boards I bought were typical since there seemed to be quite a variation in the stock I saw.

Bassbug · Post by **Bassbug** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 12:52 pm

Cypress is about 35% heavier than western red cedar, so the canoe could be up to 10lbs heavier in the end. You might be able to use 3/16" strips instead of 1/4" and reduce most of that weight.

I have used cypress to make paddles and I like the way it works.

cecbell · Post by **cecbell** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 1:14 pm

Check this reference.
http://www2.fpl.fs.fed.us/TechSheets/co ... twood.html

According to this, cypress is about half again as heavy as northern white cedar so the boards I was able to pick up were not typical of the weight.

rtowsley · Post by **rtowsley** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 1:44 pm

Thanks for your input. I am interested in building either a RobRoy or Wee Lassie and as lite as possibly so I think that I will stick with Northern White Ceder. Maybe I'll consider Cypress for and accent strip or two. Thanks again.

Charles G. Clark, Jr. · Sat Nov 25, 2006 7:53 pm

I built a Great Auk using cypress a couple years ago. I liked the color of the wood. It was a bit heavier than WRC. I thought that it also splintered much more than WRC. For that reason alone, I would not use it again. It was a pain, figuratively and literally, to use.

The wood sanded fine and stripped well.

If you do use cypress, be mindful of the splinters.

Pete in the Deep South · Sun Nov 26, 2006 5:24 am

I just finished building a Huron using cypress....I think it's a great wood to use for strippers. Being in the "Sunny South" I can find it locally. Rough sawed the price is less than $2.00 BF.
I made no effort to keep weight down and my Huron only weighted about 2 pounds heavier than the Bob Special I made using Juniper. The Huron weighted in at 55 pounds.

See post "Building the Huron" for link to pic of Huron made of cypress.