Just want to reach out to the Montana peeps! I'm willing to drive anywhere for a source of Okoume in Bozeman, Billings, Helena or Missoula..even Idaho Falls
Thanks

Not that I know of. I'll watch this thread. It would be great if there was.
There is a hardwood specialty place in Belgrade Montana that might be able to order it. They do not have it in stock.

I do think it's worth questioning Okoume as an appropriate choice. It is super light which makes it a good choice for racing hulls of any kind.

It is perhaps not as strong as for instance, Meranti Hydrotech. Sapele is the most beautiful but the most dense too (heavy) and the most expensive.

For bottom panels on river dories I would not choose plywood of any kind. I like honeycomb core for the bottom, good plywood and boat building boards (ash, white oak, fir, port orford cedar, maybe spruce) above the bottom, sometimes with and sometimes without a fiberglass skin. But for me, for the bottom panel, always honeycomb core fiberglass. I'm just sayin. I don't write no rules or laws.

Thanks Sandy
I'm set on carbon-core for the bottom which I believe is a plascore knockoff.
Im debating on material for side panels
Pretty sure I can get Meranti locally in Helena. You think 6mm is a good thickness for Meranti? Covered with glass of course
Thanks again

For most of my boat building career I used 1/4" inch AA Fir, which would be 6.25mm, so yes 6mm is good for side panels--if and only if you are going to glass it both sides. I bought a roll of 3.5oz 38" inches wide because it was discontinued and cheap. I use it for everything. I've used lots of 10oz in the past. I used to buy 60" wide fabric so there would be no seams but it is expensive and seams don't matter. They disappear in the finishing process.


I wanted to do something new so I'm bullding with 9mm Meranti side panels now, but I will not glass them. That's why I went thicker. That boat has a 3/4" Plascore bottom. I had many sheets of 3/4 on hand so I used them. If I had it to do from scratch I would use 1" Plascore, which makes considerably more stiffness with not much extra weight gain.