Saturday, February 23, 2008

Cedar Kayak - Day 20 & 21

I've been distracted with other things for the last few days and have not been able to make much progress. However, I did get the nerve to cut out the cockpit opening.

PHOTOS COMING SOON

I will be building a horizontal rim around the opening. Then after marking out the final cockpit opening, I will cut out the hole and build the short vertical rim called the cockpit coaming.

I have also been planing and sanding the deck. I can already tell I will need to be patient with this. It will some time to get the surface to near-perfect condition.

Project Elapsed Time: 100 Hrs

Friday, February 15, 2008

Cedar Kayak - Day 18 & 19

I just keep adding strips until the hole slowly closes.


Finally the hole is closed with the last strip. It's been almost 100 hours since starting from a 2 dimensional drawing to a 3 dimensional object. There is still a lot of work to do before moving on to the next step of finishing out the cockpit.


















Project Elapsed Time: 96 Hrs


Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Cedar Kayak - Day 17

I'm still filling in the gaps. You can see how the curve shows up next to the straight strips. Also notice that the strips continue across the cockpit opening. The cockpit will be cut out later, but for now the strips just hang over the stern strips at the middle of the kayak.
Here is a view from the stern.


Project Elapsed Time: 82 Hrs

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Cedar Kayak - Day 16

All I'm doing now is filling the gaps around the curves. All the strips come to a point at the bow and stern which means I have to make a lot of angle cuts.

While I am filling in the center with strips, I am also setting strips along the curve that I put in along the side. I think I will stop at 4 curved strips and then go back up and fill in the rest from the bottom up.

This last photo shows how the deck curve continues from the center and runs to a point at the stern. I also placed a center strip made from Redwood for a highlight.

Project Elapsed Time: 76 Hrs

Monday, February 11, 2008

Cedar Kayak - Day 15

I'm working on making some curved lines on the deck. This is the time to plan out any designs that will give the kayak its distinctive look. In this photo you can see the first two strips on the deck from the bow. The curve continues along towards the stern.





Project Elapsed Time: 68.5 Hrs

Saturday, February 9, 2008

Cedar Kayak - Day 14



I had a little help today from Caleb. He was pretty impressed with the progress since last weekend. I worked on planning the bow and the stem again. I found a low spot at the bow where a strip did not bridge its neighbors very well. It's an easy fix by gluing a second strip right over the top of the strip that is recessed. By Monday I will be able to sand it down to the correct height.

I turned the boat over to revel the open deck. I modified the stands to support the delicate hull. I turned the stands 90 degrees and cut a couple 2x4's to length that the hull will rest on. I also cut an arc out of the boards and covered them with carpet padding for a soft fit. I'll be ready to strip the deck next!






Project Elapsed Time: 62 Hrs

Friday, February 8, 2008

Cedar Kayak - Day 13


I spent most of the time today cleaning up the hull surface after filling the holes. I don't think I will do much sanding right now because I anticipate some glue drippings to occur while working on the deck. I don't want to make the hull too thin with any unecessary sanding.

I planed down the stern end of the stem and did a rough sanding of the last 6 inches of the stern to see how the transition looks. I think it looks great! So far I am pleased with the surface of the hull. There is still more planing to do on the bow stem piece, but I am waiting for the glue to dry. Instead of quitting for the day, I cut some more strips for the deck.




Project Elapsed Time: 59 hrs

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Cedar Kayak - Day 12

The book says that "there are few things more satisfying than pushing a sharp plane across a section of cedar". I decided to give it a try since it sounded so appealing. My arm is tired and I got a blister on my finger, but I can see how someone with limited life enjoyment could find this process "satisfying". I have to admit, seeing the strips of wood blend together was somewhat addictive. I had to be careful not to take it too far.


After planning most of the surface, some gaps appeared that needed to be filled. I made a mixture of glue & sawdust, something I have experience with from other jobs, and filled the staple holes and minor gaps. I found a larger gap that at an angled joint that I filled with a small splinter of wood. It's best to be patient while waiting for glue to dry. I'll finish planning tomorrow.


Project Elapsed Time: 52 Hrs


Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Cedar Kayak - Day 11


I pieced the last strip in the hull and forgot to take a photo. I'll try to remember when I put the last strip on the deck. I do want to show you the strip that goes from end to end down the centerline. It looks thick now, but most of it will be planed and sanded down to a little hump. This strip is called the "stem" where it curves to the top of the bow or stern. It's called the "keel" along the flat bottom length of the boat.

I took the staples out while the glue was drying on stem. It didn't take too long, maybe 2 hours.

Project Elapsed Time: 45.0 Hrs

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

TIME OUT - To Answer Some Questions

Today I had a few people stop by the shop and they all raised similar questions. I think I'll take a moment tonight to answer a few FAQ's.

1.) What's the deal with all those staples?

The staples are temporary ways to keep the strips held against the forms. I am gluing each strip to each other; twisting and bending them along the forms. When the glue dries, the strips of wood keep the shape of the forms, but until then they want to spring back to straight. The staples keep them in the right place until the glue dries. I'll pull out the staples soon and then I'll have to fill the holes with glue & sawdust. The whole boat gets planed and sanded before it gets fiberglassed.


2.) Where are you going to sit? (They see the forms and think they are part of the finished boat)

The forms will come out before the kayak is finished. There are a couple of hardwood forms at the bow & stern that will stay in the boat. They are there to give those sections with long sweeping curves extra strength. Everything else comes out before it gets fiberglassed.

3.) Do you have to steam the wood to get it to bend?

No, the strips are bending an
d twisting without doing anything to them. They are only 1/4" thick and 3/4" wide, so they are thin enough to manipulate.

4.) What are you going to do about the ends? They look pretty rough.

I will be sanding the area where the ends of the strips meet on the bow & stern pretty soon. Once I am happy with the curve and shape of the bow & stern, then I still have to glue a couple thin strips of hardwood down the centerline from end to end. This hardwood will be rounded over and sanded to a nice smooth "bump". This will protect the bottom and ends from the usual "wear and tear" of kayaking. (Maybe by Day 13 to 14).

5.) Have you ever kayaked before?

Only twice and both times were in Hawaii. One time was down a lazy river through the hills of Kaui and the other time was off the coast of Kaui where I was told the water was 8 miles deep. I have years of experience sailing, boating, snorkeling and SCUBA diving. Kayaking looks fun and easy to learn so I'm not too worried about my lack of experience.

Cedar Kayak - Day 10


After laying about 5 strips along the sheerline on both sides of the kayak, I decided to put a series of strips down the centerline. I have to shape every end of the strips to fit the angles. Our new Horizontal Belt Sander makes this easy work compared to using a block plane or pocket knife that I've seen used in the book!




These photos show the pattern that is developing. I am very happy with the way it is turning out. I think I am past the toughest angles now. The rest of the strips will lay horizontal, without the need to twist back to verticle like they did on the
ends.
Click the image to enlarge.













Project Elapsed Time:39 hrs

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Cedar Kayak - Day 8 & 9



The strips really need to bend about 3 different ways to make it lay down on the bow & stern forms. I've been clamping, gluing, and stapling to make these curves.







I added more strips of Redwood along the port and starboard of the kayak to make a long-sleek pattern. The contrast between the two woods should show up nicely when it's done. It doesn't show up great here in the photo.


Project Elapsed Time: 33 Hrs

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Cedar Kayak - Day 7

Late yesterday I tried to lay the first strip of Redwood down on the forms. I didn't have long enough staples to keep the strips in place, especially at the bow and stern. Last night I bought longer staples (9/16") so I could start this morning to give it another shot. If you remember from the last post, I had to splice two 10' strips together to make a strip long enough to span the kayak. I thought I could glue the splice together while laying the strips down on the forms. My attempt at this technique caused me and the splice a lot of stress!

I decided that I should glue and clamp the splice, then let it dry for sever hours, before attempting to lay it on the forms. This worked out much better, in fact I was able to get the first and second strip laid down on both side before calling it quites for the night.








The ends on the bow & stern are coming together good too. After the strips are down and the glue is dry, I will need to grind and sand the ends down to a nice smooth bevel..



Project Elapsed Time : 26.0 Hrs

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Cedar Kayak - Day 6



My cove & bead bits arrived on Tuesday, so I began running the strips through the router. The strips are very narrow (1/4" x 3/4") which means I have to be very precise on the router setup.





I also decided that I will start with Redwood down the sheer line on my first strip. This will make a nice deep red line where the hull and the deck meet. I spent another hour selecting and cutting strips and redwood. I only had 10 foot boards of Redwood. I will have to splice two strips together to get enough length to cover the length of the boat (17ft).






Project Elapsed Time : 22.5 Hrs



Sunday, January 27, 2008

Cedar Kayak - Day 4 & 5


I spent the weekend get the forms lined up. This wasn't too exciting but vary necessary to get right. I wasted some time figuring out the best technique until I read about a way to use string as a guide. I had confidence that short of a laser beam, this would be the best way to help sight down the forms.
Since I knew there wasn't going to be any loud noises or dust made today, I thought it would be a fun idea for Caleb to come over and watch. This lasted for about 2 hours. Caleb was watching my every move and so desperatly wanted to get down on the ground and hold the strings for me.

After several hours, I got the forms in the right position. It was time to flip the structure aound to take a look at the bottom of the kayak. I used black electrical tape to protect each form from glue. I don't want the strips to get stuck to the forms.

Project Elapsed Time: 19.0 hrs

Friday, January 25, 2008

Cedar Kayak - Day 3




Today I worked on cutting the center sections out of each form station. The bow and stern end sections took a little more work because I opted to use a separate piece of wood (southern yellow pine) for the beveled section. You can see it is attached to the forms with hot glue. Hopefully I will be able to break it off and have it become a permanent internal support of the finished kayak.





I decided to take some time out to build pair of boat stands. It looks simple enough and I had some white pine 2x4's in stock. Not only will it be a great strongback support, but after the boat is finished, it can be converted to a soft storage rack. This was a nice idea from the book.










This is what I have to show for my work today. There was a little more work involved than just threading the 2x4 through the form stations. For one, there is a straight line marked down the center and side of the 2x4 strongback. This is to aide in the alignment of each form. I am still struggling to figure out the best way to verify the alignments. There seems to be a variety of methods, including trusting your eye to sight down the lines. There are many websites, including a forum discussing the pros and cons of these methods. I'll be researching this tonight.








Project Elapsed time: 16 Hrs.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Cedar Kayak - Day 2


I finished my reading for the next step this morning and began preparing the forms. A few months ago I purchased the full size prints from the kayak designer, Nick Schade, who also authored the instructional book I am using. I will be using the prints as templets for the patterns.
I rough cut each of the 22 patterns from the prints and glued them to a 1/2" thick piece of A/C plywood. After a quick rough cut with the saber saw, I carefully cut the patterns on the band saw and cleaned up the edges with the palm sander. They all look pretty good, but I still need to cut the center holes that the 12 foot 2x4 will run through. I'll save that for tomorrow.















I have to do some more reading to get ready for the assembly of the patterns. Just a note, in the "elapsed time" below, I am not accounting for casual reading of the manual that I often do in the evening. However, I do account for any necessary reading time while at the woodshop.


Project Elapsed Time: 10.5 hrs



Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Cedar Kayak - Day 1

I started a new project today; a 17' single person kayak called the Guillemot. I spent the first part of the morning reviewing the section of the book that deals with selecting the wood. I thought we had enough Western Red Cedar to build 500 boats, but I found that it's best to start with "flat grain" lumber.

So, that means I had to spend an hour looking through the stacks for the right cuts of lumber. It was an important to do this because after ripping "flat grain" lumber on the the table saw, it becomes "vertical grain" (also known as "quarter-sawn") in its usable format. Now I can bend the strips along the grain and not against it, which means more strength and easier sanding.


Each strip is 1/4" x 3/4" and 8ft to 16ft long. I started with 5/4 x 4" Western Red Cedar, kiln dried and clear of knots. I planed the wood down to a little over 3/4" thick then ran it through the wide belt sander for a nice finish.


I estimated that I have over 25% more than the recommended amount of length needed for this boat; roughly 1,250 feet. I still have to run the material through the Cove & Bead shaper to make easier to lay the strips over the curved patterns. So far it's a good start and I have some more reading to do.


Project Elapsed Time: 5.5 hrs