Boron would be a good material for paddle shafts, but I'd have reservations about using it as a hull material. Boron fiber is roughly 3 times stiffer than steel, has a tensile strength of about 400,000 lbs per square inch, and weighs about as much as a comparable amount of carbon fiber. It also shatters like glass when it encounters a right angle impact. You can shatter a square inch bundle with your hands that is capable of lifting a railroad car. The solution is to mix it in a matrix of resin and other fibers like kevlar that are more resilient, but you will still encounter failure of individual fibers if the hull flexes much, or if you smack a rock. Carbon is more forgiving, IMO. Wayne (Who used to work with boron in the early '80's) Patrick Maun <patrick_at_patrickmaun.com> wrote: Good points. I know nothing about boron (or any materials other than kevlar and fg) so couldn't say. I store one of my boats at a local rowing club so have talked with the various rowers about materials and boron has come up as one the things that rowing oar shafts are getting made out of. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Wayne Smith wsmith16_at_snet.net Check out my website! http://pages.cthome.net/wsmith16/home.html *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Fri Oct 10 2003 - 13:03:58 PDT
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