Moving the Strongback while stripping the hull.

[mvettori]

I have limited space in my garage so I built my stronback on wheels so that I could move it out to the driveway to work on it, then roll it back in the garage during dormant periods. My question is this - I'm concerned that the strongback will twist and shift whenever I roll it from place to place and will compromise the strength of the hull. Should I be worried about this or is it OK to relevel and reallign the molds anytime I move hte strongback? Is there a better way to do this?

[WarpedBoard]

This will depend upon several things. What method are you using to attach the strips to the forms? What size is the boat? What stage of stripping are you at? How much play is there in the strongback?

Ideally your strongback will be stiff enough in itself to be stable in such a scenario. However, you should have a means of realigning the strong back and all attached items (forms, braces, clamps, strips, etcc...) to their original positions. The further you are in the stripping process, the more hull rigidity you will have; thus less likelyhood of tweaking something out of place. Perhaps someone else with greater experience than my own will also have additional observations. Much success!

[Alan WI]

Once you have the glass on, there is no problem, but of course there's a lot of work before that. The bare wood is flexible enough that you are not likely to break it from the distortion of moving the strongback, and the strongback should be quite rigid, but I would check it carefully after each move to make sure you don't build in distortion. If you have center lines drawn on each form, and you don't put a wood strip down the center until near the end of stripping, you can sight down the boat to check that it has not twisted. It might also be a good idea to put level cross braces on the ends so that you can use a spirit level on them to adjust the feet with wedges or a more elaborate setup. The best way to correct distortion would be to prevent it by making sure the strongback is rigid, and evenly supported in a level position. You go to a lot of trouble to get everything lined up, so it's worth the effort to make sure it stays that way.

[Denis]

I built two kayaks in my woodshed and was able to move them outside on the strongback for sanding etc after the hulls were completed in the shed. I built the strong back as per Kayakcraft instructions and had no problems with twisting or warping. My wife and i simply carried it out and in as required :D

Denis from Lakefield Ontario