Filling kayak rib orders today which is not my favorite activity, although I do like seeing the grain and watching my vintage Parks planer blast out wood chips like a snowblower.
The wood we use is Oregon white oak which is a little bit stronger and a little bit denser than some other white oak species. It’s incredibly rot resistant and can be literally tied in a knot after steaming. We source our oak from Zena Forest Products who are also happy to ship you a rough plank. Bending oak hovers around 9-10 bucks a board foot these days but when you’re talking about a project the size of a kayak the difference between that and any other option is well worth the time and frustration it will save you.
I sell pre-cut ribs for $4 apiece, which seems exorbitant, but believe it or not after tooling, transportation, time, sapwood, heartwood, pin knots, run out, and kerf losses, there’s less board then you would think left to make ribs! I’d rather people get their wood locally but there’s some places in the world where that’s just not an option.
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