Sabalo
Sabalo
After a trip to the local Lowes and Home Depot the only wood that I can find available is 5.2 MM Luan exterior. My question is how acceptable is this for building the Sabolo. If built with with type of wood how much difference in weight(best guestamate) will this be.
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jem
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You'll run into 2 issues using that plywood:
1) Splintering: I've used it myself for a simpler project and it splinters quite a bit. Be careful handling it.
2) Checking: It's a hardwood so you can possibly expect spider cracks in the plywood face to develop over time, especially on any twisted panels. If you're glassing the entire hull inside and out, this is a non-issue.
I had one builder, who is very experienced, build the Sabalo with that very kind of plywood and reported a boat weight of 55 pounds. I'm not exactly sure if he followed build specs or how he customized it, but it goes to show it can be done.
1) Splintering: I've used it myself for a simpler project and it splinters quite a bit. Be careful handling it.
2) Checking: It's a hardwood so you can possibly expect spider cracks in the plywood face to develop over time, especially on any twisted panels. If you're glassing the entire hull inside and out, this is a non-issue.
I had one builder, who is very experienced, build the Sabalo with that very kind of plywood and reported a boat weight of 55 pounds. I'm not exactly sure if he followed build specs or how he customized it, but it goes to show it can be done.
-Matt. Designer.
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skiabq
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I just finished up a canoe made of that exact plywood. Here are a few things that I encountered with it that you might be interested in. It is a fairly light plywood (34lbs for a 12' canoe), I did encounter the splintering while cutting like Matt mentioned, I minimized this by running packing tape over the line before I cut it, and then peeling it off after I cut the line. I did find a few small voids, I mixed up some epoxy and drizzled it down inside the void just to fill the space. Maybe that wasn't really necessary, but I am pretty SPAM 
I have not encountered any checking and I just taped the seams. I hope to not encounter any I store it inside when I am not using so I am told if I care for it properly it will reduce this possibility. I used this wood because it was all I could find around here. If I can swing it, next time I will try to buy some nice cnc precut Okoume, I think it will make for an easier build and nicer boat in the long run.
I have not encountered any checking and I just taped the seams. I hope to not encounter any I store it inside when I am not using so I am told if I care for it properly it will reduce this possibility. I used this wood because it was all I could find around here. If I can swing it, next time I will try to buy some nice cnc precut Okoume, I think it will make for an easier build and nicer boat in the long run.Corey
I appreciate the quick replies, I am still reading over the plans and getting ready to undertake the task. I was concerned with the weight of the 5.2.mm vs the 4 mm okume (sp). But the packing tape before cutting idea seems to be good, the wood just seems to be so stiff and not flexible.
The wood I am used to is something called Cupay. I built a kayak out of it , it was 1/8 inch thick, reddish in tint, very flexible, did not splinter and was very good wood. I bought it at Lowes which no longer carries it
Has any one heard of it?
Does anyone know where you can buy the okume close to Tampa, Fl area ? If not I may have to get the luan and start building a boat. I am pretty sure Rakka will be the epoxy I use as that seems to be the general consensus of epoxy for boat building.
Matt I saw in one of the previous post about pre cut kit (or something to that effect) I am curious how much would something like that cost for the Sabolo, or even if it is available? (you can reply either email or msg board)
As always I enjoy the board and look forward to any input to help get me started.
The wood I am used to is something called Cupay. I built a kayak out of it , it was 1/8 inch thick, reddish in tint, very flexible, did not splinter and was very good wood. I bought it at Lowes which no longer carries it
Has any one heard of it?Does anyone know where you can buy the okume close to Tampa, Fl area ? If not I may have to get the luan and start building a boat. I am pretty sure Rakka will be the epoxy I use as that seems to be the general consensus of epoxy for boat building.
Matt I saw in one of the previous post about pre cut kit (or something to that effect) I am curious how much would something like that cost for the Sabolo, or even if it is available? (you can reply either email or msg board)
As always I enjoy the board and look forward to any input to help get me started.
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surfman
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Adhorne, I am in the Tampa Area and I am afraid I will find the same dilemma, I am not sure what Oakum plywood is anyway I never heard of it until I visited these boat building sites. I always thought that Oakum was what they caulked the joints of wood boats with? There is a place near Temple Terrace called Craftsman Supply and there is also Causeway Lumber on 22nd Street Causeway, both carry all kinds of hardwoods and plywood. That is who I will try when I start mine. Let me know if you try them and have any luck, please, thanks.
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jem
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I'm going to post a plywood kit for the Sabalo for sale shortly.
I've been holding back on it because I have a new SOT design just about finished. It was a custom design request and is similar to a Sabalo but with a few changes.
My gut tells me many builders may select this design over the Sabalo. So I didn't want to post a plywood kit for the Sabalo, have someone purchase it, and then see this new design with a plywood kit a few days later and decide they would have wanted that one instead.
So what I want to do is not list the Sabalo kit for sale until the new design is ready...which should be about another week.
Sabalo plywood kit will be around $425. Same with the new design. For those who have recently purchased plans for the Sabalo but may want the new design instead, contact me directly by e-mail and we'll work something out.
I've been holding back on it because I have a new SOT design just about finished. It was a custom design request and is similar to a Sabalo but with a few changes.
My gut tells me many builders may select this design over the Sabalo. So I didn't want to post a plywood kit for the Sabalo, have someone purchase it, and then see this new design with a plywood kit a few days later and decide they would have wanted that one instead.
So what I want to do is not list the Sabalo kit for sale until the new design is ready...which should be about another week.
Sabalo plywood kit will be around $425. Same with the new design. For those who have recently purchased plans for the Sabalo but may want the new design instead, contact me directly by e-mail and we'll work something out.
-Matt. Designer.
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barefoot dave
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I’m not sure if Matt is referring to the Sabalo I sorta just finished, mine did come out about 55 lbs, and he has some of the build pictures on his Sabalo page. If you would like to see more on how I went about building it, go to http://www.barefootdave.smugmug.com/gallery/845838 , just promise to keep the laughter to a quite roar.
With the hopes of not getting to long winded about this, I will say that I used some plywood from Home Depot that they call Sandiply. I probably won’t build another boat with this wood, just use it for templates. I can give you a suggestion or two though. Look at the laminations, it the outside layers are noticeably thinner than the inside you wild probably find that it will not bend very easily. Next, and this might really be a moot point, take a small sample and boil in water for several minutes to see if the laminations separate, hopefully you will be coating all surfaces with at least 1 coat or epoxy, preferably at least 2, so this isn’t really to much of a issue, but if you hit an oyster shell and it slices through the glass and into the wood it might give you the confidence that the wood won’t start delaminating before you get home.
When selecting your wood, look for bubbles in the ply or voids, try to slightly torture the ply by twisting and bending to see if it does anything strange. When cutting your parts be careful to examine the edges to see if there are voids or there is a lack of glue on the laminations, if so attempt as surfman suggested and squirt some epoxy slightly thickened to fill the void, this I had to do in about 2 dozen times for this boat.
I could probably go on for hours, but I’ll refrain for now, but if you want to see the boat I live over on the east coast and we could possibly arrange a meeting someplace, but it probably should be soon as the Sabalo is a bit to big for my living room/shop and I need to make room for another boat.
One last bit of worthless information, there is a place over here, World Panel Products, http://www.worldpanel.com/ that sells Okoume, don’t know what they charge for shipping as I can get it delivered locally for free and have never needed to inquire about shipping, the nice thing is they also usually stock the 5’x10’ sheets in 3 & 4 mm.
With the hopes of not getting to long winded about this, I will say that I used some plywood from Home Depot that they call Sandiply. I probably won’t build another boat with this wood, just use it for templates. I can give you a suggestion or two though. Look at the laminations, it the outside layers are noticeably thinner than the inside you wild probably find that it will not bend very easily. Next, and this might really be a moot point, take a small sample and boil in water for several minutes to see if the laminations separate, hopefully you will be coating all surfaces with at least 1 coat or epoxy, preferably at least 2, so this isn’t really to much of a issue, but if you hit an oyster shell and it slices through the glass and into the wood it might give you the confidence that the wood won’t start delaminating before you get home.
When selecting your wood, look for bubbles in the ply or voids, try to slightly torture the ply by twisting and bending to see if it does anything strange. When cutting your parts be careful to examine the edges to see if there are voids or there is a lack of glue on the laminations, if so attempt as surfman suggested and squirt some epoxy slightly thickened to fill the void, this I had to do in about 2 dozen times for this boat.
I could probably go on for hours, but I’ll refrain for now, but if you want to see the boat I live over on the east coast and we could possibly arrange a meeting someplace, but it probably should be soon as the Sabalo is a bit to big for my living room/shop and I need to make room for another boat.
One last bit of worthless information, there is a place over here, World Panel Products, http://www.worldpanel.com/ that sells Okoume, don’t know what they charge for shipping as I can get it delivered locally for free and have never needed to inquire about shipping, the nice thing is they also usually stock the 5’x10’ sheets in 3 & 4 mm.
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paddling4sharks
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Excited
Mornin';
I'm very excited about the possibility of this SOT being produced in "Kit" Form. I've had my eye on the "Sabalo" for sometime now. I've got a "Custom idea" or two to add to the mix. One is:Turning the Bow area into a "Fish Hold". I've seen the addition of the "A" Hatch But would like to have something more on the lines of SOT called a "Dorado". To achieve this I would like to change the Bow . I invision it being "Arched" as opposed to being "Flat". This should add a little more capacity to the space, add a little flair to the overall look, and enable a larger opening for moving "Keepers" into a hold(maybe even an "Insulated Hold"). One Question: "Is this "Yak" as fast as it looks" (...as fast as it's bother[I'm assuming] the WS 160i)? Oh by the way, "Great looking boat Dave"
I'm very excited about the possibility of this SOT being produced in "Kit" Form. I've had my eye on the "Sabalo" for sometime now. I've got a "Custom idea" or two to add to the mix. One is:Turning the Bow area into a "Fish Hold". I've seen the addition of the "A" Hatch But would like to have something more on the lines of SOT called a "Dorado". To achieve this I would like to change the Bow . I invision it being "Arched" as opposed to being "Flat". This should add a little more capacity to the space, add a little flair to the overall look, and enable a larger opening for moving "Keepers" into a hold(maybe even an "Insulated Hold"). One Question: "Is this "Yak" as fast as it looks" (...as fast as it's bother[I'm assuming] the WS 160i)? Oh by the way, "Great looking boat Dave"
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jem
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You must be refering to http://www.kayak.co.za/kaskazi/dorado.htm
Hang on just a couple more days. I think I have something you'll like.
Hey Mick...whaddaya think? Should I post some teaser pics of the new SOT?
Hang on just a couple more days. I think I have something you'll like.
Hey Mick...whaddaya think? Should I post some teaser pics of the new SOT?
-Matt. Designer.
Sabolo
Great looking boat Dave, I especially like the Cedar strips, it adds a nice touch to it. I noticed a sit in kayak in the background on one of the pics what kind is it? how was the building process? Was there any hard areas or hick ups you care to discuss. Seeing the pics is getting me pumped up to start building. Matt, you need to stop teasing us 
if this new design is as good as the Sabalo design we need to see some pics. and stop making us wait like a teenage boy on prom night waiting for his date I am stilll interested in a kit (would that include the epoxy or is it just the panels).
if this new design is as good as the Sabalo design we need to see some pics. and stop making us wait like a teenage boy on prom night waiting for his date I am stilll interested in a kit (would that include the epoxy or is it just the panels).