Kayak shear strip joint (without shear clamp)

[Jeff in Farmington, MI]

I have finally milled my bead and cove strips for building my One Ocean Expedition Sport kayak, and I am ready to start stripping the hull. However, I keep changing my mind about the joint at the shear line. The Expedition Sport design does not use a shear clamp, so I know that great care must be taken to make this joint appear seamless.

When building without a shear clamp, some sources recommend a rolling bevel joint between the hull and deck strips. Others recommend that the first hull strip begin with a coved edge (facing down on the mold) for easier alignment with a beaded strip on the edge of the deck. I would like to have a bead-to-cove joint between the hull and deck, but I am concerned that the coved edge will become damaged during the build.

I would like to hear from some of you who have built without a shear clamp. How did your your joint work out? What are your recommendations. Regardless of how you stripped along the shearline, how did you fair the surface as you transition between the hull and deck, given that the hull is glassed before the deck is stripped?

Thanks, Jeff

[pawistik]

Hi Jeff,
On my guillemot I stripped cove-up, with the bead planed/cut off of the first hull strip. Therefore a rolling bevel was planed onto the first deck strip to match when I got to that point. It worked out just fine for me. It's not perfect, but then again, that's why we always have to build another.

Cheers,
Bryan

[Rod Tait]

I also like to build with bead up so that as you push on strips the cove is not damaged. You will have a square edge on the sheer line on the hull and then as you put the first strip on the deck, you will indeed bevel the square edge of that strip to mate to the hull strip. Once all is done and you are ready to mate the two halves, you can re-plane those edges to perfect the mating surfaces. Another trick I learned from another boat builder is to take a long stiff board such as a 2 by 4. It must be long enough to span the width of the hull. Staple or glue 80 grit sandpaper to it and then use it to sand the edges of the hull with the 2 by 4 spanning the whole boat and sanding by sliding the board along the sheer. This will insure a square edge on both sides of hull. Do the same with the deck.

[Jeff in Farmington, MI]

Thanks guys. The sanding board across the width of the boat is a great idea. If I go with the rolling bevel at the shear joint, I will definitely use this tool.

Jeff

p.s. Sorry about the duplicate topic submission. I swear I clicked SUBMIT only once.
... computers!