I've used Malaysian BS 1088 meranti (6mm 5-ply) for two boats now, and I like it a lot. The local price is between the two grades you mention. It's substantially heavier than Okoume (25% or thereabouts?), and appears to be quite a bit stronger. There are no visible patches and eessentially no voids; the quality appears to be at least as good as the Okoume I've used. It glues and finishes well, and is IMHO a prettier color than Okoume when finished bright (dark reddish-brown rather than orangish). The surface plies can be a little splintery, but otherwise it seems to be very good stuff, and passes the 3-hour boil test on the kitchen stove. I'll let you know in 15 years how durable it is, although Okoume is no great wonder in that respect either.
I wouldn't want to use Meranti in a boat where weight is absolutely critical, a Rushton Wee Lassie or similar, but for a boat like the Penobscot 14 I think it would be excellent. I can just about guarantee that Arch Davis didn't do a stress analysis of the boat when specifying materials.
OTOH, I think I'd rather not know about the forestry practices in Malaysia that produced those perfect veneers - I don't know that any other tropical hardwood plywood is any better, however.
[ 06-27-2002, 06:11 PM: Message edited by: Keith Wilson ]
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations,
for nature cannot be fooled."