Best wood for crafting a ship?

[Nocturnal626]

So im lvl 6 at crafting and can finally build a ship i will use. The pickle and im wondering what wood type i should use. I tried live oak before and fir on another one. Not sure what the benifits of different wood types are.

[Delta-9]

Would this: http://forum.game-labs.net/index.php?/topic/6869-basic-guide-to-crafting-ships/ help?

[Nocturnal626]

Ty i read that also but you know how you select what wood it is built with? thats where im wondering if there are hidden traits to each woodtype

[Sohei]

Apparently there is a tradeoff in speed versus durability.

[Delta-9]

Most important timber types...

English/European Oak
Resistance to shot 7.5
Resistance to decay 8
Ease to obtain 6

Notes: European species

White Oak
Resistance to shot 8
Resistance to decay 8
Ease to obtain 6

Notes: North American species

Teak
Resistance to shot 6.5
Resistance to decay 10
Ease to obtain 8

Notes: Found only in Indian Ocean area, common there but non-existent elsewhere. Not as hard as oak but unusually resistant to decay.

Fir (Pine)
Resistance to shot 5.5
Resistance to decay 4
Ease to obtain 10

Notes: Found throughout northern hemisphere, cheap, easy to work with and common but prone to decay. Ships built of pine have around half the lifespan of oak built ships and require more maintenance.

Live Oak
Resistance to shot 10
Resistance to decay 9
Ease to obtain 1

Notes: ​Found only in North America, rare, extremely difficult to harvest and difficult to work with. Very expensive.

10 is best, all values compared to the best performing in category IE oak's resistance to decay is 8, fir (pine) is 4 so fir will decay twice as fast.

Overall notes

Ships can be built from more than one wood type, for example Constitution with live oak frames and white oak planking, or ships with english oak frames and fir planking (quite common arrangement).

No wood, not even Live Oak, will stop cannonballs at close range, for reference 18 pdr cannon with standard 6lb charge can shoot through 60in oak at point blank range and 25in oak at 1000 yards.

Use of green or unseasoned wood will reduce a ship's lifespan by approximately half compared to the same type of wood properly seasoned.

Effects of age on hardness are minor, indeed sometimes wood will harden with age (example, the original "Old Ironsides", HMS Britannia, when broken up in 1825 her oak timbers had become so hard that all axes and tools were blunted, she had to be burnt to recover iron fittings instead).


Got from here: http://forum.game-labs.net/index.php?/topic/4636-timber-types-used-in-ship-construction-request/

Still dont know if that helps..haha (not a crafter..lol)

[Syd Khaos]

First off just wanted to say great info in this thread to all who have contributed. I DO build boats and only know about 1/2 of those values lol.

Originally posted by BSCBad-Dog:

No wood, not even Live Oak, will stop cannonballs at close range, for reference 18 pdr cannon with standard 6lb charge can shoot through 60in oak at point blank range and 25in oak at 1000 yards.

If you want to SEE this example BadDog has given the MythBusters actually did an episode about this.

The myth was actually that splinter were (potentialy) more of a hazard for the crew than the actual cannon balls.
BUT you get to see the effect of a cannon ball fired from actual cannon into a VERY period correct ship hull....AND SOME PIGS!! These are dead pigs of course..

Check it out...very awesome stuff to see upclose and in slow mo!

[Nocturnal626]

Wow thank you so much for this info! Exactly what i was looking for.