Working with Okoume
With a slight rise in temps over the weekend, I hit the shop for a few 30 minute crafting sessions. I recently received some Okoume plywood and wanted to test it out for making boomerangs.
I received some 3/16 Okoume in five ply from Kendall Davis. I was very skeptical about this wood when I first received it. Iy has three thicker center layers and two think face veneers. It warps easily, has some voids, and some places the plies were separating. However, I found the wood worked easily and was very easy to tune (remove warp). I was surprised that the inner plies do not appear to be all okoume, There are two lighter color layers which are not Okoume, but look very attractive when the airfoils are shaped.
From 3/16 inch Okoume I made 2 Mong, 1 Bullseye omega, and 1 Tern. The Bullseye is great, and similar to a Bellen. The Mongs, a Jerri Leu design, are a favorite of mine. On the Tern I neglected to add undercuts like the original and it appears this does affect the flight. It is not working well at all. I also made a Wyche Hook. The original from 3/16 3 ply came from Rich Harrison a few years ago and it was so light I was afraid to try it. I remembered it and tried it in the 3/16 Okoume. I ended up with the ply splitting at one place but fixed that and when I tested it against the original, both flew very much the same. They are both reasonably short flights (20M) but had really nice hover, which surprised me. I still have a few more boomerangs traced out, but need to cut and shape them.
The 6mm wood I received from a place that sells boat building kits and supplies. They create a lot off offcuts that could be used for boomerangs. This the best quality I have seen in Okoume so far. I need to report back to the supplier and see what kind of deal we can work out so that he will sell offcuts to boomerang builders. I really like this stuff.
From 6mm okoume I got 1 Skippy, 1 Ogakor (Pat Steigman design), 1 Adder, and 1 Bob's Hook (both Bob Burwell designs). After adding undercuts the Skippy works great. Both the Adder (a scrunched up version) and Bob's Hook perform better than I had hoped, considering the change in plywood from the original. Pat's Ogako shape also worked well. I did a few coats of clear finish on them and the Okoume looks very nice this way. I am really pleased with the scraps from the boatmaker!
I also started a cherry lap joint Skippy (for David #14). I got to test it and it is a real winner. David will be pleased!
It has warmed up some more and the fields are wet from rain, and crappy from thawing.
Photo: Skippy, Bobs Hook, Adder, Ogakor (unfinished)
I received some 3/16 Okoume in five ply from Kendall Davis. I was very skeptical about this wood when I first received it. Iy has three thicker center layers and two think face veneers. It warps easily, has some voids, and some places the plies were separating. However, I found the wood worked easily and was very easy to tune (remove warp). I was surprised that the inner plies do not appear to be all okoume, There are two lighter color layers which are not Okoume, but look very attractive when the airfoils are shaped.
From 3/16 inch Okoume I made 2 Mong, 1 Bullseye omega, and 1 Tern. The Bullseye is great, and similar to a Bellen. The Mongs, a Jerri Leu design, are a favorite of mine. On the Tern I neglected to add undercuts like the original and it appears this does affect the flight. It is not working well at all. I also made a Wyche Hook. The original from 3/16 3 ply came from Rich Harrison a few years ago and it was so light I was afraid to try it. I remembered it and tried it in the 3/16 Okoume. I ended up with the ply splitting at one place but fixed that and when I tested it against the original, both flew very much the same. They are both reasonably short flights (20M) but had really nice hover, which surprised me. I still have a few more boomerangs traced out, but need to cut and shape them.
The 6mm wood I received from a place that sells boat building kits and supplies. They create a lot off offcuts that could be used for boomerangs. This the best quality I have seen in Okoume so far. I need to report back to the supplier and see what kind of deal we can work out so that he will sell offcuts to boomerang builders. I really like this stuff.
From 6mm okoume I got 1 Skippy, 1 Ogakor (Pat Steigman design), 1 Adder, and 1 Bob's Hook (both Bob Burwell designs). After adding undercuts the Skippy works great. Both the Adder (a scrunched up version) and Bob's Hook perform better than I had hoped, considering the change in plywood from the original. Pat's Ogako shape also worked well. I did a few coats of clear finish on them and the Okoume looks very nice this way. I am really pleased with the scraps from the boatmaker!
I also started a cherry lap joint Skippy (for David #14). I got to test it and it is a real winner. David will be pleased!
It has warmed up some more and the fields are wet from rain, and crappy from thawing.
Photo: Skippy, Bobs Hook, Adder, Ogakor (unfinished)
Added on March 12, 2007 by bvdrangs
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