When talking about Luan and similar materials for boat construction, one has to consider the cost savings of the Luan over Marine Gaboon Plywood in contexts of the complete hull construction. It is easy to dismiss the true cost and say if it breaks I’ll just build another one…but let’s look a little closer.

You have the expense of:
1) Plywood
2) Stringers if any
3) Bulkheads
4) Epoxy resin for glue sealer and fairing
5) Fiberglass tape for Stitch and Glue
6) Cabosil for glue and glass bubbles for fairing.
7) Brushes for applying the fiberglass cloth
8) Sand paper
9) Primer & Paint
10) Gloves/mask


The labor of:
1) Laying out/cutting/fitting the plywood panels
2) Stitching the panels together
3) Applying the cloth tape
4) The fillets
5) Cutting/fitting/installing the stringer/bulkheads
6) Cutting/fitting/installing reinforcement for the beams
7) Cutting/fitting/installing the decks
8) Fairing the hull for paint
9) Priming/painting
10) Assembling the boat ready for use.

In the grand scheme of things, the cost of quality marine plywood (which is going to provide stronger, longer lasting, lighter, fairer hulls) is money well spent.
How much is your time worth?
How is the child going to feel when the boat they spent so much time and effort on starts falling apart because dad/mom saved a couple hundred bucks by using cheap plywood? Remember that kids tease unmercifully.
What are we teaching the kids when we take “short cuts”?
What are the chances they will want anything to do with making a replacement for that delaminated hull?
Never enough time or money to do it right the first time but always enough to do it a second time….?

My dad taught me…”Do it right or don’t do it at all”... it has served me well.

Regards,
Bob