Kayak Bytes

No pics tonight but I’ll certainly have a few tomorrow night.

The gunwales and deck ridge are all glued and everything is taped and bungeed up for the night. There were a couple places that I had to pull the gunwales in to close a gap. I hope they don’t pull out once I release the bungees.  The Tightbond III is very thin and takes a bit of patience to work with but at least it’s easy to sand once it dries.
I also cut and glued in the fore and aft supports for the floor boards. I’m going to use some clear fir ripped down to 1/2″ thick and 3″ wide for the floor. Should the floor be glued or bolted in place? I’m concerned that a slat ight break and need to be replaced but bolts might not be as stong as glue. I’ll get a picture of it once the fir is cut and set in place.
I haven’t decided how to do the foot pegs. I have an idea that I could fabricate out of wood, just need to test it and see if it’s strong enough. I may end up settling for a block of foam. Any thoughts on this?

Got the last strip on the deck, that means no more stripping, I can now go to sanding and glassing! First strip went on on May 12th, final strip on May 31st!! I really set a new personal time record for this one. The side of the cockpit area ended up being 3 strips wide, so may not be as fragile as I previously thought. It will require care in handling though. OK, here’s the obligatory final strip picture for all of you to gaze at in abstract wonder.. And.. you can click on it to see more.

Cheers! Tony Olsen

Here’s a pic of the strip I put on this morning, it bridges between the front and back parts of the deck at the side of the cockpit.  This is going to be a very fragile area until it is glassed and the coaming riser is glassed on.  I think it will be 2 or less strips wide.

Tony

I had to shape the bow and stern a bit. I sanded the bow down and wet it slightly to see the grain, here’s a picture. The book-marked strips on either side of the center strip came out pretty nice. I book-mark matched each pair of strips I put on. About 5 more strips and I’ll have the deck done.

Tony Olsen

Finished up the bow and stern yesterday and the chines late last night. Tonight I’ll knock it all apart and finish up sanding a few rough spots before I start gluing it together. Hannah was disappointed to hear that I’d have to take it all apart again before I glue it.

I’ve decided to to use Tightbond III glue since it is easy to work with and waterproof. I’ve used Gorilla glue on some of the parts already but don’t care for how it foams up. I know I’m using too much glue but it’s not easy to judge how much is enough. Gorilla glue does sand well after just an hour or so at 95F but there will be too many difficult to reach joints in the rest of the frame.
I ordered the PVC skin and glue on Friday and will be ordering a respirator today. I’m getting this one from Amazon: AO Safety 95090 Quicklatch PRO Dual-Cartridge Respirator. If all goes well and shippments arrive in a timely manner I’ll be ready to skin it this weekend.

I did end up using a board with a knot in the gunwale but patched over it with a this piece of cedar. Click the picture to the right for more details.

It’s starting to look more like a kayak. My daughter is getting anxious to try it out. You can see Kaner in the background. He helped me all day by carrying scrap wood out in the yard and dropping a tennis ball at my feet.

I ran into my first bit of a problem. When I lofted frame 6, somehow I put the gunwales in the wrong place. Not a huge setback just had to loft it again and spend some time with my new friend the sabre saw.

I’ve now got all the frames temporarily lashed into place with bungees and zip ties. The stern is cut and all the deck ridges are in place.

Tomorrow I’m going to finish up the keel and chines. Once all the parts are dry fitted I’ll start gluing.

I did get stuck using a piece of wood with a knot in it for the gunwale. I’ll get some pictures tomorrow how I strengthened the area around the knot.

Good to see Anton got the bug, now there’s no hope for him.
I’ve put 11 Strips on the deck, it’s starting to take shape. Can start to see the lines a bit better. I put a redwood strip down for the middle, flanked by 3 red cedar and then another redwood, I’ll repeat the process until the top is closed. As usual, click on the photo if you want to see more.
Good building all..

Tony

Geetings, this is Anton, Tony’s little boy. I figured since my own blog was mostly about geeky things I’d post about kayak buildin’ over here.

I attended the Texas Kayak Builder’s Bash in Huntsville this spring and got bit by the kayak bug. Since I need to keep this on the cheap and I’m not a terribly patient person I chose to build a couple of SoFs for my daughter and me. The folders by Tom Yost have attractive lines and seem easy enough to build.

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I got the kayak turned over and have started on the deck. I had to rip some more strips this morning then mill the beads and coves. Got started on the stripping about noon and now have 7 strips full length. I’m stripping this one from the middle out and just letting the strips ‘run wild’ over the edge to be trimmed to conform to the hull later. Sure makes for easier and quicker.

Tony Olsen

Who’s up for making their own paddle? Good buddy Kurt Maurer at Ye Ole Sawdust Factory has a great how-to at his web site. Just click on the picture to go there.

Tony