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Wood as bouyancy?
Posted: Dec 11th, 2011, 11:34 am
by bigbadbob
Has anyone tried using wood as bouyancy? it would seem to be ideal as it is easy to shape and easy to seal against it getting waterlogged and wouldn't crush under pressure. maybe it's not bouyant enogh though. comments?
Re: Wood as bouyancy?
Posted: Dec 11th, 2011, 1:52 pm
by thegadgetguy
You could probably use balsa wood or another light wood covered with fiberglass or something, but for the effort it would probably be better to go with closed cell foam or something for the extra buoyancy.
Re: Wood as bouyancy?
Posted: Dec 12th, 2011, 10:05 am
by bigbadbob
Fair enough!
Re: Wood as bouyancy?
Posted: Dec 12th, 2011, 10:18 am
by thegadgetguy
Just my $.02
Probably could do some test to be sure.
Re: Wood as bouyancy?
Posted: Dec 13th, 2011, 6:38 am
by bigbadbob
Yeah, i might give it a try. anything is worth a shot.
Re: Wood as bouyancy?
Posted: Dec 13th, 2011, 11:32 am
by thegadgetguy
In my opinion, it seems like wood would be unecesarily massive for the flotation it would provide, depending on the density of the wood of course. On the plus side though, it'd be strong and, with the right tools, easy to work with. Interested to see what you come up with.
Re: Wood as bouyancy?
Posted: Dec 16th, 2011, 12:33 pm
by bigbadbob
Might try it sometime. I agree it might be a bit too dense. and if you use enough to give the nessesary bouyancy it would cause a lot of drag. I've gone with "Kingspan" skinned with marine filler. this will be my first try and see.