New kayak build under way

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Glen Smith
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Joined: Sat May 08, 2004 9:08 am
Location: Baie-St-Paul, Quebec, Canada

Post by Glen Smith »

Snowman, I usually just stick with symmetry but I thought I would give this a try. I think it will look good.

Greg, I don't even know how I am going to finish this. There are several ways of accomplishing the swoops and I guess I picked the hardest way!
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Glen Smith
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Joined: Sat May 08, 2004 9:08 am
Location: Baie-St-Paul, Quebec, Canada

Post by Glen Smith »

The first swoop has been filled with Eastern White Cedar strips, still rough looking. This is a view from the stern. The ends are squared off but I will be doing something later to give them a more finished look. Now I have to cut out and strip the second swoop then move on to the cockpit.

Image
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ealger
Posts: 387
Joined: Sat Aug 14, 2004 5:14 pm

The Swoop

Post by ealger »

Mighty nice Glen!
I'm intrigued about your technique. It appears that you used 3 or 4 strips to fit the "swoop".
How wide are they? Did you use wood glue or epoxy? And are they squared edged, not C&B?
Ed...
Ed Alger
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Glen Smith
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Joined: Sat May 08, 2004 9:08 am
Location: Baie-St-Paul, Quebec, Canada

Post by Glen Smith »

Hi Ed, I used 4 strips that are 5/16" wide, square edged and I used wood glue. I used a lot of masking tape on the first two strips then wedges on the third. The fourth was pressure fit.The second swoop will be slightly narrower and I will use dark WRC strips.
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ealger
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Joined: Sat Aug 14, 2004 5:14 pm

The Swoop

Post by ealger »

Very well Glen. It's going to be very cool looking.
I should have also asked how you cut the 1 1/4" slot? Also, now that you've had some experience with this method, which would you say you'd use again: Cutting the slot, or building the "Swoop" as the planking strips are layed down?

I'm going to get back to my Prospector now that the snow has finally cleared away and I've comtemplated adding accents to the football area.
Ed...
Ed Alger
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Glen Smith
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Joined: Sat May 08, 2004 9:08 am
Location: Baie-St-Paul, Quebec, Canada

Post by Glen Smith »

I just used a box cutter knife to cut out the slot then cleaned up the line with a chisel, a lot of work! Joe Greenley at Redfish Kayak has some info on stripping swoops and he lists a few methods including his favourite. I would probably use Joe's favourite method next time:
http://www.redfishkayak.com/swoop.htm
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Doug
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Joined: Mon Nov 15, 2004 7:59 am
Location: London, Ontario, Canada

Post by Doug »

Cool idea, Looks great.
How nerve racking was it to cut out a "swoop" pattern?
What kind of saw gave you that detail?
Was the boat very stable after the cut? (prior to the inserts)

Doug


.
"Some people hear the song in the quiet mist of a cold morning..... But for other people the song is loudest in the evening when they are sitting in front of a tent, basking in the camp fire's warmth. This is when I hear it loudest ...." BM
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Glen Smith
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Joined: Sat May 08, 2004 9:08 am
Location: Baie-St-Paul, Quebec, Canada

Post by Glen Smith »

To cut out the swoops I simply used a box cutter knife (retractable blade) and cut close to the lines. Then I used a chisel to clean up to the lines just as Ted suggests for a hull centerline. I then made a simple jig with two small pieces of wood to redefine the cut width and did the final shaving, again with the chisel. I did wander off the line in a few spots and had to glue in a long thin sliver to get things back under control.

The deck was stripped with full length WRC strips to keep a continuity in the color and grain. I also built the deck without staples, just a few small nails along the centerline. Once the swoop was cut out, the individual parts of the deck were delicate to work on since they weren't anchored with staples. I resorted to using 3 small nails in strategic locations in order to keep the deck parts down against the forms as they wanted to lift away as I was stripping the swoop.

The hull is supported by 3 cradles that were cut to match the hull profile so the boat, in general, was very stable. Just the deck sections were floppy until I added the 3 nails.

Some builders have done the swoop cutting with a Dozuki saw and some have used a small "Pax" curved inlay saw. I gave a Dozuki a try but it immediately wandered off the cut line so I switched to the box cutter knife since I have previous experience using this tool to cut hull centerlines and mitering strip ends.

So far it has been a nerve wracking but successful experience.
Snowman
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Joined: Tue Jan 25, 2005 6:21 pm
Location: Gatineau, QC

Post by Snowman »

Glen, it is looking good!


Snowman
Snowman back East
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Glen Smith
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Joined: Sat May 08, 2004 9:08 am
Location: Baie-St-Paul, Quebec, Canada

Post by Glen Smith »

Today I completed sanding the deck and decided to give it an epoxy precoat, glassing will be done tomorrow. This is what it looks like so far.

Bow view:
Image

Stern View:


Image
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Denis
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Joined: Tue May 11, 2004 8:11 am
Location: Lakefield, Ontario

Post by Denis »

Looks really good Glen, but then we expect you to do good stuff :laughing

I am getting to the cockpit of my boat soon and am looking seriously at the method you are using ie the stockade effect. Are there any tips you might have for me Glenn on this process? How long is the cockpit on this particular boat?
:eyebrows

By the way my hooch collection has been refurbished by travellers to Quebec so I now have two bottles to work with and one empty.

Denis
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Glen Smith
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Joined: Sat May 08, 2004 9:08 am
Location: Baie-St-Paul, Quebec, Canada

Post by Glen Smith »

Denis, I posted my response to your question in the "Boat-Building Tips and Techniques" section.
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mtpocket
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Joined: Wed Sep 08, 2004 2:48 pm
Location: Indiana

Post by mtpocket »

Very nice work Big Guy. I really like the looks of swoops even if they are difficult to do.
canoeblderinmt
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Joined: Sat Jul 03, 2004 12:04 pm
Location: Butte, MT

Post by canoeblderinmt »

Glen,
Ho-Hum, more of your outstanding work :sleepy

I like your design, and of course your great execution of same. One of the reasons (aside from finances, life pressing in, new job, shop not set up, etc) I haven't started a Yak yet is I just don't have a clear deck design in my head yet. This gives me some good ideas. Thanks for sharing your excellent work with us.

Greg
" Choose to chance the rapids, Dare to dance the tide..."
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Glen Smith
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Location: Baie-St-Paul, Quebec, Canada

Post by Glen Smith »

My client has supplied me with a few more pics of her kayak so I will post one here.

Image
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