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| The most difficult part of this Micro-Kat project has been the "scantlings" decisions. I have no formal education in marine architecture and there is very little inexpensive attainable information about scantlings online or off. With help from the guys at the multihullboatbuilders.com, boat building manuals, magazines, and 25 years of experience with wood, I have managed to come up with some "rules" of thumb for locally obtainable materials to build a relatively strong, reasonably light folding catamaran. Please bear in mind that the prototype is still under construction and my figures are untested, and as always constructive criticism is welcome. Micro-Kat is Woods have varying strength to weight ratios as well as resistance to deformation and water. When making decisions about the materials used in Micro-Kat I proceeded with philosophy of "local best value" . Most Midwest lumbar yards stock oaks, mahogany, and cedars, but the best value turned out to be southern yellow pine. SYP is strong, hard, water resistant, and relatively inexpensive. Statistics................. The drawbacks of SYP are that its hardness requires drilling pilot holes for screws to keep it from splitting and it is heavier than the ideal (Alaskan Cedar). The strength of SYP however allows me to use smaller stock in a given situation to achieve the desired strength. The Micro-Kat frames are made of 13/16" X3" knot-free SYP stock with 12" gussets made from 3/8" SYP underlayment. I found this SYP at Brinkmans in Fulton , IL, (a small town on the Mississippi with a full size windmill built by Dutch craftsman on the bank of the Mississippi River). The form the SYP was found in was unfinished 1"X12"X14' unplanned "fence boards" which they planed for a reasonable sum. For planking I will be using 1/4" (SYP)southern yellow pine (UL)underlayment from Menards in keeping with my "buy local best value when possible" philosophy. The UL grade plywood has higher standards for voids in the inner layer than the usual AC hobby grade.. Luan didn't impress me in the strength department...when found epoxyed to cardboard the top layer of luan peeled off before the cardboard destructed. |
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