Today I picked up some 3mm dowel made from Japanese cypress and some from bamboo. I was sure the bamboo doweling would be lighter but was surprised to discover that the cypress dowel was about 25% lighter than the bamboo. The bamboo is virtually shatter proof though. I also picked up some 3mm aluminum tubing that I could use for curved top formers. I'd like to be able to find some 3mm steel tubing that I could silver solder/braze into a framework forward of the CG.

PS. What IS ramin?