To permanently secure shape of the boat and to provide stability and shape of the hull, fiberglass tape was epoxied to the inside seams of the boat. The beauty of the mahogany plywood is finally brought out by the application of the epoxy. The dark, wet color of the wood looks awesome. Can hardly wait for the cedar strip top to come to life.
Monday, December 31, 2007
Fillet and Fiberglassing of inside seams
Great tip that works from CLC
I really didn't think that I was going to be able completely remove all of the copper wires that were used to hold the hull in shape after the epoxy was applied to the inside seams 0f the panels. However, after careful snipping and application of a soldering iron to the short nub of the protuding wire, I was able to pull all of the wires out of the boat.
Tacking up inside seams
Ketchup consistency epoxy applied to inside seams trying to avoid the copper wires as much as possible in order to be able to more easily remove the wires when the epoxy had dried.
All wiring completed for final hull shape!
Using 2 to 3" inch copper wire, the complete hull including two permanent bulkheads and two temporary bulkheads are wired together to create the final hull shape. Finally beginning to look like something that will float!
Rough trim of ends of sheer strips
Guestimated the angle of cut for the ends of the sheer strips after attached to the side panels. These will be precisely trimmed later when the panels are stitched up and the ends are closer to their final positioning to attain the proper measurements for the final fitting. The Japanese hand saw you see is indispensable. I ordered an assortment of blades and they all interchange with the handles which. So you can order many different blades and just a couple of handles and have many different tools for different jobs at a fraction of the cost of a couple different brand saws. You can call and talk to this little old Asian man personally that sells these in fact he has a lot of experience being that he is 86 years old. He is quite a character and it was a pleasure to talk with him at length. Just type in " Tashiro Hardware" in your web browser. I'm sure he would appreciate the business.
Hull taking shape
Here the bottom panels are wired together, then the bulkheads are wired in to provide the basic shape of the hull.
Attaching sheer strips to side panels
The bottom panels and side are panels fiberglassed together, and sheer strips are successfully epoxied together to their full 17' length. The sheer strips are then epoxied to the side panels in preparation for the full wiring/stitching up of the hull.
Update, been workin hard
Showing the sheer strips glued together with the scarf joints precut in the kit. Excuse my ignorance, but I did not know what sheer strips were till I started building this boat. Basically, the sheer strips provide a means of attachment of the top of the boat to the bottom of the boat.
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Preparing Bottom, Side Panels
Before wiring the bottom and side panels together to form the hull, it is necessary to join the panels lengthwise to arrive at the full length of the kayak. Since the panels have been machine cut with puzzle shaped connection points, it was merely a matter of finding the best sides to be facing outwards and then epoxying together with fiberglass tape. Will have to let this sit overnight before going any further.
Completed Work Stand
Attached work surface consisting of 4'x8' sheet of 1/2" plywood ripped down the middle by Lowes secured to 16' long 2"x4",s to the top of the bases. Made for a very solid and stable work surface. Now I can get started on the actual kayak! Yea!!!
Workstand
While waiting for the delivery of my kit, I began building my own custom designed work stand inspired by different sightings seen on the internet. I ended up with a work surface 24" by 16' and 40" tall with provisions for shelf underneath as a catch all for tools, supplies, etc. accessible from both sides of the work table. After waiting approximately 6 weeks for my kit to arrive, I kinda lost interest since it took so long and the holidays were so near. Finished the construction of the work surface with the help of my Dad and then was able to lay out all the pieces of the three boxes of the kit in preparation of the actual building of the kayak.
Shearwater 17 Hybrid
Steps of construction beginning with work stand to completion of kayak. Ordered the kit from Chesapeake Light Craft out of Annapolis,MD at the end of October 2007. If all goes well, mine will look something like this example.
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