Hi, I am a new builder from India & purchased the Chesapeake 16LT plans. I read that the plywood that I am supposed to use should be BS 1088. I am not sure if I get Okoume plywood in India. If I have to use plywood from different material, does the density affect the plans. Just concerned about it.
- What is the density of the Okoume BS 1088 plywood used in Chesapeake 16LT
- What are the alternatives that I can use instead of Okoume? (Of course I will use BS 1088 but of a different material)
Please help
It does not matter if your plywood is Okoume or not. What matters is that it is the correct thickness and meets the BS-1088 waterproofing standard. In the US Okoume is generally the cheapest option
Joubert Okoume BS1088 plywood weighs about 453 kg per cubic meter for 4 mm and 459 kg per cubic meter for 6 mm. The difference in weight is because the 6 mm has 5 plies instead of 3 so it has more phenolic glue between the wood layers.
Density can affect the weight of your boat. It also affects the ease of bending the wood. Substituting fir, for example, will make your boat considerably heavier and harder to build.
A good alternative, as long as you thoroughly encapsulate the boat in epoxy, is meranti plywood. It’s about 67% the price of okoume in the US. It’s about 27% heavier than okoume and more difficult to bend, but the CH16LT does not have extreme bends.
Good luck,
Laszlo
I stand corrected on relative prices but at Boulters Plywood (one of the top marine plywood distributors in the US) a 4’x8’ sheet of 6mm Okoume is $98 and Merranti is $85 (about 12%). Their prices for 4mm are $70 for both types. They do not stock Merranti in 3mm but the Okoume price for a 3mm sheet of Okoume is also $70. Not sure where Laszlo is shopping but those of us in the NE do not see a really significant difference in the pricing between the two. Sapele, however, is 2X Okoume.
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I shop at CLC which is only 3 miles from my house (their free shipping offers are pretty useless to me 
). However, for my post I was using the price list from a distributor in Minnesota. Their 4 mm BS 1088 Hydro-Tek Meranti goes for $53 per sheet plus shipping so it’s actually closer to 75%.
I also recall a supplier in Florida who used to sell BS 6566 Meranti for even cheaper but I can’t find them with a quick search so they may be out of the plywood business by now. BS 6566 is a good alternative for certain styles of boat when BS 1088 Okoume is unavailable.
Laszlo
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I am not sure of the different marine grade plywoods that we get in India here. but yes will check other than okoume