Looking for kayak deck design inspirations

[rabblerouser]

Not sure where to look other than the books. I'm looking for inspiration pics of decorative inlways and decorative strips that i can do on the deck

[canoeblderinmt]

Try here:

http://www.bearmountainboats.com/phpbb2 ... php?t=2266

Pretty inspirational, I think. Glen and many others have posted examples of their fine work also, just do a search on kayaks and enjoy the journey.

Greg

[Glen Smith]

I'm looking for inspiration pics of decorative inlways and decorative strips that i can do on the deck

To start with, I think Ron McElroy's kayak deck is very inspirational! Here are a few links to inspire you even more:
http://redfishkayak.com/r2k5/line/
http://www.geocities.com/kentsyaks/index.html
http://users.moscow.com/bprice/
http://www.outdoorplace.org/paddling/
http://www.cedar-strip.com/
http://www.fastq.com/~jrschroeder/r2k3/index.html
http://home.online.no/~tobastia/Bildeli ... nker_e.htm
http://www.redfishkayak.com/kayaks.htm

That should keep you busy for a while and also check out the photos of kayaks built by our Forum members through the photo links on the kayak plans page: http://www.bearmountainboats.com/plansKayaksindex.htm

[rabblerouser]

I really like these simple pinstripes

http://www.fastq.com/~jrschroeder/r2k3/bg_p8080038.jpg

Does anyone know how they are done?

[pawistik]

I drew out a few designs when I was going through the same considerations for my own boat. You can see what I drew up here in my blog. Some of the designs are taken directly from the Action Fish website.
Bryan

[Bryan Hansel]

Plain decks are classy with a stripe down the side of the hull.

Here's mine:



I've also always like Shawn Baker's Cormorant 16. http://www.geocities.com/shawnkayak/cor ... index.html

[Bryan Hansel]

I really like these simple pinstripes

http://www.fastq.com/~jrschroeder/r2k3/bg_p8080038.jpg

Does anyone know how they are done?

Not for sure, but it looks like 1/4" walnut (?) strips between pine or basswood or something.

[rabblerouser]

I really like these simple pinstripes

http://www.fastq.com/~jrschroeder/r2k3/bg_p8080038.jpg

Does anyone know how they are done?

Not for sure, but it looks like 1/4" walnut (?) strips between pine or basswood or something.

I would guess walnut between alaskan yellow. So does this mean the top did not have beads and coves cut into the plans?


Also, since something like alaskan yellow is a PITA to find, is pine OK to use for the deck? Or will it make the kayak more tippy?

[Glen Smith]

You could use basswood, pine, spruce or any light-toned wood you can find for the wider strips. The narrow ones can be Walnut or a dark (chocolate brown) Western Red Cedar if you can find it.

The narrow strips are probably only about 1/8" wide so you would have to use a square edge instead of bead & cove for the pinstriped deck. You hand-plane a rolling bevel on the strips so the edges mate well and use a lot of masking tape to hold the narrow strips in place as the glue sets.

That is the procedure I used for some narrow, but not straight-lined, pinstriping on some kayaks.

[RonMc1954]

Wow thanks Glen and Greg thats quite a compliment. I saw that you were talking about a walnut strip, if you go to my site my first kayak has a simple walnut strip on the center line and around the cockpit with cedar as the main deck wood.
Here's the link
http://groups.msn.com/Buildingstripcano ... PhotoID=93
Rabblerouser I am sure you can find what you need here the builders here are an inspiration in themselves. I did.
Ron

[Glen Smith]

Let's not forget mtpocket's patriotic deck design.

[John K]

I really like these simple pinstripes

http://www.fastq.com/~jrschroeder/r2k3/bg_p8080038.jpg

Does anyone know how they are done?

I can't say how this one was done, but you could always laminate a 5/8 inch plank and a 1/8 plank, then rip your strips off that and bead and cove normally.
JohnK

[Ray Irons]

Hi All,
I built this deck by cutting eighth inch walnut strips and three-quarter inch yellow cedar strips and gluing one of each together to make a striped plank seven-eigths inch wide. Peruvian walnut. No bead and cove, all hand beveled.
I then laid up the deck starting in the middle and let the strips end up wild and slightly proud of the desired perimeter. I hot glued a temporary guide strip around inside the perimeter for a router guide and Joe Greenley came over and helped me cut off the waste. I think he used a quarter inch straight bit set to cut through the planks TO the forms.
I then surrounded this with another eighth inch strip for a border and carried on with the rest of the deck which is WRC. Take a little care to make sure the planking running along the sides of the cockpit is the same on both sides. The wide stripe in John's picture to the right of the cockpit is a grab rope, not a wide strip.
Thanks for all the kind words.
Ray

[Rod Tait]

More photos on our gallery. LInk below.

[Erik, Belgium]

You might have a look at http://www.qajaq.be in section "WOODSTRIP / Stich & Glue method - Canoe & Kayak BUILDERS" as well.

Erik, Belgium.