Wooden Bathtub

[jfisher]

Any recommendations on the type of wood to use for a wooden bath tub, I've read that Teak and Redwood are a couple of the top choices. Are there any plans available that I can purchase or download that any of you folks may be aware of?

Thanks in advanced.

[Hax Planx]

I would think you could choose from a variety of woods that have the characteristics of durability (good resistance to decay), hardness, and low movement when exposed to humidity changes. Teak fits the bill, but at $10-$20/BF, you could save some serious money going with something else. With redwood being one of the softest woods available, you may want to think twice about that. In general, most tropical species fare better than domestic American species in all of the above categories with a few exceptions. Walnut and cherry are durable, reasonably hard, and have average movement. White oak is durable and hard, but moves more than cherry and walnut. You could choose from a variety of tropicals that have all of the characteristics you want and would be less expensive than teak including bubinga ($$), canarywood, goncalo alves ($$), ipe, jarrah, jatoba, Honduras mahogany (NOT African), padouk, Spanish cedar (kinda soft), and Brazilian Walnut. I'll post a copy of my wood species spreadsheet on alt.binaries.pictures.woodworking. Most of the data is taken from the Forest Service web site at

with some other sources thrown in to round it out. It gives common names, botanical name, specific gravity, hardness and shrinkage in drying, which should give a good idea of comparative movement in use.

[fredfighter]

Depending on where you are located, sassafrass may be a good choice. Looks a lot like oak or chestnut, not as hard, resists rot, smells nice (like root beer, which was made from sassafrass root bark) and is dirt cheap near where that it grows.

[Dave W]

I saw one once made from pine. My advise would be to save your time and money by selecting a different project. The nice thing about a bathtub is that there is almost no maintenance! Combine wood and water and you have a boat; in this case an inside out boat but nevertheless a boat. Maintenance will be considerable if it is to be kept in good looking condition. Dave

[dadiOH]

It used to be common to make large photo darkroom sinks out of cypress. ______________

Probably but I know of none. I would think that any would need to incorporate a joint between the strakes so that when swollen it will not leak (gotta keep it wet and swollen). Sort of like a carvel planked boat.

-- dadiOH ____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06... ...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that. Get it at

[Knotbob]

[bronzzy]