While the
hull and deck were off the forms, I kept sticks at the form points
along the sheer. The sticks were the width of the form.
The halves lined up pretty well, and only required a little tap here and there to line up. (Thanks to the Kayak Building Forum.)
I did have a gap along the sheer, and I used a ratchet strap to close the gap.
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After the fit was
good,(some small gaps to fill with schmutz) I epoxied the ends then
taped things together. The epoxy in the end joint ensures a good bond.
I will do an end pour after the joining is done. I used un-reinforced
packing tape to secure the halves. It stretched to give good clamping
pressure, and released well with no residue.
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To get a good bond, I sanded and scraped the mating seams while the halves were apart. |
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It looks like a real kayak!!
I rigged a strap to keep the boat from moving while working inside.
I applied 2 layers of Raka 6oz tape. I measured the tape in halves so I could work from the cockpit in both directions. |
The joint with 2 layers of 6oz glass.
There
were some white areas in the glass. I don't know the cause, maybe poor
clean up after the sanding. The joint will be in the boat, mostly
hidden by the seat and in the cargo compartments. |
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The left photo shows the wet out. The one at the right shows the seam after some feathering and a fill coat of epoxy.
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I sanded the sheer seam with my ROS and a block. One more fill coat, and the seam is ready for finish sanding and varnish. |
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I cut out the bulkheads
from panels that I made earlier. I used tha pattern from the next
larger mold station, traced on a piece of cardboard. After trimming to
get a good fit, I traced the final shape onto the strip panels.
I sealed the edges with epoxy.
|
.
The end pour is next. I
made this dumper shown in Nick's book. I'll take the kayak outside to
do the pour. The weather is supposed to be good tommorow, so the boat
will see it's first glimpse of daylight!!!
About 200 hours over 8 months to this point. |
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After about 200 hours, the Guillemot sees sunlight for the first time. Wow! What a feeling to see the boat in daylight.
Notice the window is big enough for the boat to exit !! |
The boat looks pretty long against the side of the house!
I secured it to the rain gutter with spring clamps and bungee cords.
Did a pour of epoxy, microballons and saw dust.
I
should have placed the end in some water to dissipate the heat. the
epoxy cured with some small cracks. I don't think they will weaken the
end though. |
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A shot of the kayak before returning to the shop for some fill coats and sanding of the sheer joint. |
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Still
wet, and , hopfully, the last fill coat at the sheer seam. Will flip
the boat over and do the other side tommorrow, along with one side's
footrest bolts and hatch hold-downs. |
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Before
installing the bulkheads, I drilled and filled with epoxy, a hole in
the top of the panel. This will allow me to drill a pressure relief
hole if needed later. |
The
bulkheads were glued in place with a putty of: epoxy, fumed silica and
sawdust for color.
The silica helped to keep the epoxy from sagging.
Thanks Kayak Building Board
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These shots show the hidden bungie attachment points on the lid, |
| ...and the hull. |
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At the left is the seat, carved from a 3" block of minicell foam. I used an angle grinder to get to this stage.
At right is a 1" thick piece of foam glued to the seat back made earlier.
The finished seat ready to install in the kayak.
The bottom shape is from the forms, The shape used to cut the bulkheads. |
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I epoxied the footrest studs with a putty, covered with a layer of 5oz glass.
The studs are e-z points from Aircraft Spruce and Supply. They are meant to serve as hardpoints on aircraft, so, they will surely take the stress of paddling. |
I added an extra layer
of glass to the keel at the bow and stern. I should have done this
while on the hull glassing task, But only just decided. It will still
work.
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I
also decided, at the last moment, that I should sign my work. I printed
the graphic on some "shoebox" tissue taped to some cardstock on my HP
inkjet printer. Then I sealed it "under glass". |
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I needed to get the boat ready to go to the Newfound Rendezvous, so I rigged this setup to enable me to get to the whole boat at once (Thanks Rehd )
I
applied 3 coats of Minwax Helmsman spar urethane with old teeshirts,
This method, done in the sun yielded a good finish quickly. Everything
took about 2 hours.
After curing overnight, I took the kayak back to
the shop, sanded with 225 and a foam block, Then coated the hull,
waited 24 hours, then the deck.
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The final product!
She first hit water at the 2002 Newfound Rendezvous.
Handles well tracks great! |
| Thanks for looking! |
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Text and Images Copyright 2004-2008, Steve Frederick, All rights reserved.
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Page created
Mar 30, 2005, Last update, Jan 01, 2008
