I cut a piece 6" long and about 5 inches wide from each board and then resawed them to the thickness of the thinnest, the Yellow Cedar, at half an inch. The Sitka Spruce is a much narrower plank than the rest but I think I can account for that in this next stage of testing.
I wanted to find out which split the least when nailing planks together. I started by drilling pilot holes and then hammering in progressively larger nails. Its good to know that this resulted in almost no splitting and eventually I had used my biggest nails.
To get a result I then tried hammering nails in without pilot holes close to the end of the planks. I started at 20mm from the end and 20mm from the nearest edge.
Western Red Cedar was the only board to split.
Then I moved the nails further into the board and closer to the end.
Sitka Spruce and Douglas Fir went next at 10mm from the end of the board.
Yellow Cedar and Khaya Mahogany didnt split even at 5mm from the end of the board though the Yellow Cedar did produce a lot of tear out.
The Douglas Fir and Sitka Spruce seemed the easiest to hammer into and pull nails out of. Next was the Western Red Cedar and then the Yellow Cedar. However to say these were "harder" to nail into is not to say they were "hard". It was all very relaxing.
The Khaya took a bit more effort on the way in but clung on for grim death on the way out. The only nails that bent on exit left this board.
Yellow Cedar is definitely winning. I was trying not to admit to myself that I liked the idea of using Sitka Spruce. Its a very pale colour, which is my preference, and the strength to weight ratio would make a very light boat. Now that Ive done some testing Im sold on the Yellow Cedar.
When I get some Oak Ill compare it with the Khaya. Gartside shows it as an alternative choice and I can certainly get enough domestic oak to salve my conscience.
The mahogany is so good to use the thought of building the whole boat from it has crossed my mind.
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