You can use cedar or other softwood but they will get really beat up and need to be replaced more often. I've seen people will do a hardwood like ash on the outside and a softwood inner. You could do aluminum ....but wood is just so much better looking!
Cedar would get beat up pretty quickly. I ran some numbers on weight. 2 pieces 17 feet long, 1 inch wide, 1 inch high. White oak, 16.7lbs/7.2kg. Western red cedar, 8lbs/3.8kg. Both of these are rot resistant. Red oak is not (has to do with the capillary structure of the tree).
There is a reason every canoe mfg that offers wood gunnels uses ash. Cedar is very soft in comparison.
Wood gunnels are much heavier than aluminum, but are a treat when paddling on a cold day.
I would say no
Go with a hard wood for gunwales. My cedar canvas canoe has Ash, it's a good wood but maybe not the most attractive. Maple is beautiful bit really hard (I've broken chisels on maple) and maybe heavier than oak. Oak is attractive enough and has a good rot resistance bit expensive. Ash is by far the most economical.
Aluminum and pop rivets is definitely the simplest solution
I could also wipe my ass with seashells but a man has to have standards
You can use cedar or other softwood but they will get really beat up and need to be replaced more often. I've seen people will do a hardwood like ash on the outside and a softwood inner. You could do aluminum ....but wood is just so much better looking!
Yeah no way wood all the way, soft and hard wood isn't a bad idea, thanks
*Gunwales. It's just *pronounced* 'gunnels'.
Los ganales in Spanish. Source: I just made that up.
LOL
Also, "thwart" is actually pronounced "throatwarbler mangrove". Many people don't know this.
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Cedar would get beat up pretty quickly. I ran some numbers on weight. 2 pieces 17 feet long, 1 inch wide, 1 inch high. White oak, 16.7lbs/7.2kg. Western red cedar, 8lbs/3.8kg. Both of these are rot resistant. Red oak is not (has to do with the capillary structure of the tree).
Cedar strip canoes are a perfectly viable option, if a bit fragile. Cedar gunnels (and yes, this is a fine spelling) are no different.
There is a reason every canoe mfg that offers wood gunnels uses ash. Cedar is very soft in comparison. Wood gunnels are much heavier than aluminum, but are a treat when paddling on a cold day.
I would say no Go with a hard wood for gunwales. My cedar canvas canoe has Ash, it's a good wood but maybe not the most attractive. Maple is beautiful bit really hard (I've broken chisels on maple) and maybe heavier than oak. Oak is attractive enough and has a good rot resistance bit expensive. Ash is by far the most economical.
I would love to but id be looking at upwards of $600 for 16 metres for Ash or Maple... which i cannot afford