Hello Everyone,

 

My Name is Michael Sargent, a mad keen DIY enthusiast.

I have tried my hand at a few endeavors house renovations, Kart Racing, Custom Motorbikes, Stitch and Glue dinghy building, but now believe I am truly hooked on Kayak building.

 

I am lucky to have better than average drafting skills and some exposure to Marine building.  I hang around a group of guy’s, loosely referred to as a Boat Building Club.  Not a lot of building but plenty of stories.  A very practical group, who go out of their way to help anyone build any craft they choose.  

 

Although a few members are shocked at my decision to abandon 50 years of boat building evolution (their description of stitch and glue construction) to revert back to strip planking. I don’t think they understand or appreciate the beauty and craftsmanship involved. I don’t dislike stitch and glue, I still believe it is a good quick way to hit the water.  I am still concidering using vinyl sheets to take the shapes from my forms and quickly build a S&G proto-type to be sure the craft will be stable in the water.

 

After doing a lot of web based research on what to build stitch and glue, strip plank, get a kit or purchase plans? I have decided why purchase a pre cut kit when I can build my own designed strip plank Kayak from first principles.  Obviously I have drawn heavily from designs and looks I like, there are a few key elements that must be maintained to be a Kayak so all will have some features in common.  I will post a plan of my design, all are welcome, however I would suggest waiting until I get a bit further along to prove the design.  I am sure there will be many minor alterations along the way. I will document all of these as building notes that I will also make available.

 

People that know me understand I often aim quite high. So far I have progressed to a point of making stands, cutting out the ribs and dry assembling the Kayak form to get a feel for how it will look.

 

I am struggling to decide if I should use a local Laser cutting company to re-cut the forms or stay with what I have and sand away the imperfections. I printed he forms on to A3 paper and traced through the outline with a pin punch at 10mm steps.   I then cut them out with a hand held jigsaw.  Perhaps some one out there has been down this road, does a 1mm deflection show up in the finished build? Or perhaps I am being too much of a perfectionist?

 

BFN

 

 

MikeS