Scroll down for information on: Wood Gunwales Royalex vs. R-84

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Should my next canoe have wood gunwales?

PRO: When new and freshly oiled, wood gunwales and decks can be very beautiful. In limited number, we make many of our canoes with Northern White Ash gunwales, "Deks Olje" oil finish, wood decks and drain slots in the inwale. We think this looks as good or better than most wood gunwale available, however, before you consider wood gunwales, give serious consideration to the cons.

CONS: Cold weather may crack the Royalex hull on canoes that have wood gunwale. If the canoe is to be subject to freezing temperature, all screws on inside gunwale should be loosened several turns. Screws on outside of the decks should be completely removed. With the deck still attached to inside gunwale, lift deck out of the canoe.

NEW: Oil gunwales with Deks Olje #1 matte finish before use.

ROUTINE MAINTENANCE: Sand, oil with oil, wipe, let set for 24 hours. Repeat up to five times. Oil under wood deck. If canoe has plastic decks, remove and oil underneath. If your canoe has heavy use, refinish each winter and again in spring. Information source is from owner's manuals of major manufacturers of Royalex canoes with wood gunwales. Look at the appearance of the wood gunwales on a number of canoes of varying age. Do you still like the appearance of wood?

ROT: It is not unusual for wood gunwales to need replacing because of rot since it is difficult to keep the area between the hull and gunwale oiled and moisture-free.

SAVE A TREE: It takes a very old, tall and beautiful white ash tree to furnish the long (18 FT) wood gunwale necessary to trim a long 17 FT or even 16 FT canoe. Many generations will be needed to replace this tree. Do you still want wood gunwales? Call Mohawk for more information on cost and availability of our beautiful (Northern White Ash) wood gunwale canoes.

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Royalex and R-84

Royalex and R-84 is a thermoplastic laminate manufactured by Spartech. It consists of a foam center core, sandwiched between two solid ABS substrate layers, which are covered by vinyl or R-84 skins to protect the ABS substrate from the harmful UV rays of the sun. This composite is strong, lightweight and buoyant. It is one of the toughest materials available for canoes.

  Mohawk started molding whitewater playboats from R84 Royalite in 1992. Different techniques are needed to successfully mold R84 canoes. Since we have developed proprietary methods for molding R84 we have sold thousands of R84 Royalite canoes to satisfied paddlers.

  After years of experience building lightweight Royalex canoes and R84 canoes, we believe R84 Royalite is the better choice in light weight canoes. The only difference between Royalex and R84 Royalite is that the exterior vinyl skin is replaced with R84 skin and the exterior substrate is thinner. (see chart) Because of the superior stiffness of R84 skin, these changes can be made without compromising the durability and stiffness of the canoe as much as using lightweight Royalex.

As all Royalex canoe builders do, we buy the flat Royalex sheets directly from Spartech. We have selectively added additional layers of foam core for rigidity to minimize bottom flexing. Additional layers of substrate are added to stress and wear areas. These sheets are specially designed by us for each of our canoe models and custom made by Spartech to our specifications. These sheets are then pre-dried, heated and vacuum formed into seamless canoe hulls in our custom designed and built sophisticated molding equipment.

  Most manufactures of Royalex and R-84 Royalite canoes do not disclose the construction of their sheets. However, we feel the below chart will aid you in determining which construction or model Mohawk canoe best meets your requirements. 

Model	Vinyl Exterior Skin	R84 Exterior skin	ABS Substrate next to Exterior Skin in Boat Bottom	# of Core Layers in the Center of Boat	Extra ABS substrate in End of Boat	ABS Substrate next to Interior Skin	Vinyl Interior Skin
Nova 16 Royalex	.025		.075	7	.050	.050	.020
Nova 16 R84		.025	.050	7	.050	.045	.020
Nova 17 Royalex	.025		.075	7	.050	.050	.020
Nova 17 R84		.025	.060	7	.050	.050	.020
Intrepid 16 Royalex	.025		.075	7	.050	.050	.020
Intrepid 16 R84		.025	.060	7	.050	.045	.020
Intrepid 17	.025		.075	7	.050	.050	.020
Odyssey Royalex	.025		.075	6	.050	.050	.020
Odyssey R84		.025	.060	6	.025	.050	.020
Sport		.025	.055	7	.025	.045	.020
Solo 13		.025	.050	6	.025	.045	.020
Solo 14		.025	.050	6	.025	.045	.020

Thickness of the skin and ABS substrate are shown in thousandths of an inch. Measurements were taken prior to the sheet being molded into a canoe hull. Construction is that presently used - but subject to change without notice.

The thicker the ABS substrate, under the exterior skin, the more dent resistant and the heavier the canoe.

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