Re: Knee brace help

Posted by LeeG on Jun 11, 2005

Sit in the kayak with the seat and back band in the proper position, about a wide fist distance between your spine and the back of the coaming. With foot pegs in the proper position rotate your bent knees to the underside of the deck where the keyhole portion of the coming intrudes. Place minicell wedges under the deck in whatever orientation contacts your thighs/knees the best. Most likely it will be with the wide portion of the wedge at the inside edge of the coaming resulting in sections of the wedge protruding fore/aft of the thigh brace portion of the coaming. Draw a line on the minicell along the inside edge of the coaming, this will help you orient the brace while it's got contact cement on it then you'll cut off the excess with a bread knife or similar blade,,hacksaw blade handheld for example. Draw an outline under the deck around the minicell brace.

With the two mirrored braces marked with the curve of the coaming slather contact cement on the thigh brace and the underside of the deck where marked, it's not a bad idea to slather 1/2" wider just in case you miss on the installation. If the side of the minicell being glued is the smooth uncut side then you have to rough it up with some heavy grit sand paper before applying glue. If the under side of the deck where the braces are being glued is especially thick with fill coats or smooth then give it a light sanding but most likely it's not needed there. After glue is tack free apply another coat and let it dry. NOW is when you get ONE chance to position the thigh braces and why you drew a line on the minicell. Orienting the line on the inside edge of the coaming press the thigh brace on firmly. It's important to let the contact cement dry tack free before pressing it on. Using the hack saw blade cut the intruding thick portions off. Then carve knee/thigh indents with a scraper. A 4" 24grit sanding disc HANDHELD works great, 60 grit ROS sanding disc will smooth it up. Flat sureforms and sharkskin don't work very well for concave surfaces. If you get a tuna can and punch nail big holes from the inside out along the edge that should make a good concave carver.

In Response to: Knee brace help by Jason Vanderport on Jun 10, 2005

Replies:

No Replies.