Re: (TFT) Pirates! ships

[Margaret Tapley <barnswallow@sbcglobal.net>]

On Oct 30, 2010, at 4:15 PM, Jay Carlisle wrote:
>
> Determining wood type is a bit more problematic and seems to depend  
> heavily on the location the ship was constructed in, not to mention  
> the time period and information tends to be a bit general.
> I've found reference to white oak and yellow pine being used for  
> framing larger ships.

I don't know if you allow New World species in your campaign, but  
while you're building ships you might consider live oak as an  
alternative to white. Live oak requires a slightly warmer climate to  
grow, but its wood was very much in demand for shipbuilding, "possibly  
second only to teak for the best maritime wood worldwide". (quote:  
Remarkable Plants of Texas, Turner). It's said to last up to five  
times longer than white oak. A famous example of how tough it is: The  
USS Constitution earned its nickname Old Ironsides when British  
cannonballs reportedly *bounced off* the hull, which was made of live  
oak planks. The Constitution, as you probably know, is still afloat  
and being sailed around occasionally (impressive, given that wood  
likes to rot in contact with water).

> 	As you also mention, any fantasy wood that has a number of desirous  
> properties is likely to go the way of the Dodo.
> If the wood in elf trees is soooo much better in every measure than  
> anything else then unless elf wood trees are by far the most common  
> trees in the world the elves better be VERY protective of their  
> groves.
> Kindda like, when there are potions out there that require  
> components from human bodies the human graveyard keeper better be  
> very tough the elves will pretty much need a fixed perimeter and  
> that requires a large population for a large area.
> You can't get Burma teak for shipbuilding anymore.

Interesting point. With respect to live oaks, one possible reason why  
there are still huge live oaks around (they're pretty slow growing,  
with the oldest being 500+ years old) is that there wasn't a very long  
interval, relatively speaking, between the time they were discovered  
as shipbuilding timber and the time when wooden warships became  
obsolete. It also helped that, during most of this period, their  
natural range (the southern US) was backwoods territory with little or  
no infrastructure for getting the timber out.

Another reason live oaks weren't completely logged out might be the  
extreme hardness of their wood (one of the toughest woods in  
existence). This is one of the things that makes it such a desirable  
wood for shipbuilding, but also makes it very difficult to work. If  
the best wood around takes two or three times as long to cut into the  
right shape pieces, plus you have to replace your tools more  
frequently because the harder wood makes them wear out faster, you  
might well settle for second best.

Maybe the elf wood trees work great once they're made into ships, but  
the wood is so hard only elves know how to work it, and they're not  
telling...
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