Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

Strip planking is popular amongst canoe builders. A 1/4inch thick core of cedar has fiberglass on either side. The glass provides tensile strength and the wood provides both compression strength and a useful offset between the fiber layers.

I can lift the bare hull of an 18 foot long sailing canoe with one hand.

The downside is in maintenance/repairs, and the critical requirement to keep through holes absolutely watertight. If water gets into the core it's a total PITA

Also, strips of cedar that are 3/4" by 1/4" by 18' are really weird to handle.



Snowboards are kinda similar with usually having a wooden core for tensile strength with plastic bottom for gliding, plastic top for protecting the wood and metal edges to cut into snow/ice.

Get a hole all the way to the wood (usually by hitting some rocks on the rather soft/porous plastic bottom) without keeping it dry and patching quickly will destroy the board very fast.

Also modern boards have multiple different kinds of wood in fancy layers/placements inside to give the correct amount of "pop" in the correct spots for the wanted ride. Some of the more expensive/extreme boards have started to replace parts of the wood core with carbon fiber in the cases where weight is very important and a very stiff board is preferred (mainly backcountry/split boards)


GM used balsa wrapped in carbon fiber for a previous version of the Z06 'Vette for similar reasons [0]. It's light, it's strong, and it's cheap.

[0] http://www.autonews.com/article/20050912/SUB/509120708/balsa...


The Mosquito, a plane from WWII, was largely made of wood and is considered one of the best planes from that era.


YES!


End-grain balsa wood is a surprisingly common core material in high-performance composite structures.


Also bigger (sail)boats have been home-built using strip blanking technique. The downside is weight penalty over balsa/foam core.




Consider applying for YC's Summer 2026 batch! Applications are open till May 4

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: