Hi Dan,

Send your wife on a shopping trip and use the iron !!!  Use the steem button with the heat on full high. Go very slow and let the wood get very hot.  I am not using staples at all.  And the Guillemot and Petrel have much more twist than the Auk.  Don't be afraid to over twist the wood while using the iron.  Twist the wood twice as much as you need it to bend while applying the heat.

The only way to get good with a plane is to use it.  I never used a plane before in my life.  Now I can't imagane life without one.  I use a small plane about two inches long for getting around the hard chines and curves. You just need to use it more to get good results.

I work on a very tight budget.  I got a pair of used routers off of craigslist and made a pair of router tables out of 1x6 pine. I found the router bits on line for about $50.  It has made life so much easier.

Don't get discouraged. The more you do, the easier it gets. After seeing your other kayaks, I know the Auk will be a masterpiece.

Lou

Dan,

This is a photo of one of my router fixtures.  Very simple to make and it does a great job.  If you need to make narrow strips and you want to keep the bead or cove.  This will work.

Lou

My advice.  Watch the video's of Nick building a stripper,  Lots of good ideas, neat way of using U shaped blocks and clamps to hold strips where they belong and you can see how efficient he is in where he keeps clamps so he can grab as needed.  For a hard chine, he cuts the strip at a bevel at the break, then planes the needed angles to get them to line up.  On one build (a petrel) he puts a thin strip of constrasting wood along the break to define it visually. 

The links are in tips for boatbuilders on the CLC site.

ED

Cheap steam iron = successful bending! This is one great tip. I was even able to bend the strips I had already glued down so that they are now flush with the forms.

I also go a cheap router table and expensive set of bead and cove bits. Now I can get all artsy-craftsy!

Thanks all, esp Joey for talking me off the ledge

Dan 

Dan,

I planed a rolling bevel on the hard chines of the Petrel.  The chine starts soft , then hard and back to soft, all in the length of one strip.

It was not as hard to do as it looks.  It took me about one hour to do the one side of the kayak and a little less for the other side.  It's not perfect but I think that it looks pretty good.

I got busted by my wife.  She said that I scratched the teflon coating off of her iron.  So now it's my iron. 

How is your Auk coming ? Any photo's ?

Lou

Here's one from yesterday...

I'm pretty happy with the way things are going at this point. I ripped some thin strips of red oak that I will use for the outer stem. 

a couple from today...

LOOKS GREAT  Dan !!!  Keep up the great work. 

I just did the outer stems on the Guillemot last week. I used Ash.  The thin strips bent very easy without breaking.  Stems for the petrel will be next weekend.

Outer stem photo's are on my blog.  www.louskayakworks2.blogspot.com

Lou

Those boats look really great Lou!

You're making fast progress! Maybe you'll have them done and make the trek to Okoumefest?

We'll be there with the Shearwaters but once again we will miss the Friday event as my wife has work issues. (I think we could both get a lot more done if we didn't have to work ;-)  ). We'll be staying into the next week so we can do some paddling around the the Annapolis area.

 Dan 

Dan,

If I get them finished in time I will go to Okoumefest. But I have some other things I need to do in the spring that will limit my building time. It's about a 50/50 chance right now.

Lou

Great looking boats guys.

My plans/manual for WD12 HB and epoxy will be here this week so it's time go start ripping strips.  This may be explained in the manual but I don't have it yet so I need to ask here.  What is the preferred method of joining short strips to make long strips.  Scarf them before you put them on the boat?  Butt joint on the boat?

I'm mostly concerned with the chine pieces that go on first as it seems to me that it would not be possible to join them on the boat.

Thanks

I first scarfed the sheer strip and then did butt joints for the next 2 courses. They were butt ugly, so I have been scarfing all the rest. I rigged up a fence on my bench mount belt sander to do 8 to 1 joints (similar to the setup in Nicks vid) and that works fine.

Dan

I have been scarfing the strips before laying them up until now. But the more I work at it the more I learn and now I have found a better way.

I was scarfing two strips first. Then I would fit one end to a tight fit. Then the trick would be to fit the other end without makeing the strip to short.  This left me with some joints that I am not proud of.

Now I have found a faster better way with perfect joints at both ends. Now I fit one end of a strip and cut a scarf on the other end.  Then I glue the strip in. Then I fit a strip for the other end.  I draw a line where on the second strip where the scarf needs to be and then cut to that line.

Now I am getting perfect joints at both ends and it takes less time to do than the old way.

I cut all my scarf cuts on a 10 inch miter saw and they always cut to a perfect fit.  If you can match the color of the two strips you will never see the joint after sanding.

On the sheer strips I would still make one long strip first to set up the foundation for the rest of the deck.

I would post a photo but I am running late for work.

Lou

Thanks guys. 

Lou, I'd like to see a picture when you find the time.  Also a pic of your miter saw scarfing jig if it's not too much trouble.

Dan,  Do you recall what video that was in?  I've gone through a few that I though might contain it but can't find it.  My internet speed, or lack there of, would make it an all day chore going through all of them.

This is the vid

This is the scarf joint that I cut on my miter saw.  It's not 8 to 1 but it works for me. With all the bending and twisting I do when laying the strip, I have never had a scarf joint break. After you glass both sides you would need an axe to seperate it.

It is a perfect match with no gaps, so you can sand it all the way through and never see a gap.  Now that I have the Guillemot sanded, I have scarf joints that I can't even find any more.

I do not have a jig. I just turn the miter saw as far as it goes and lock it down.  It's about 55 deg.

Lou

Thanks guys.

Can't wait to start making saw dust!

BTW Lou, Harbor Fest in South Haven Mi is Fathers Day weekend.  Hope you can make it out.

Andy

Dan, Just caught up on the forum and had similar concerns as you did with the particle board forms for the Great Auk with the staples not holding. I used everything from packing tape to bungees  and was able to get the strips to hold the shape, My first Auk I used a cabinet grade particle board for the forms and it held the staple much better.

You are absolutely correct about the cockpit template. I transfered the template to poster board one the first Auk and saved it for the second craft. I accually increased the lenght by 3 inched because I'm getting older and need the room for easy of getting in and out. I did keep the back demension of the cockpit as per plan as this would effect the center of gravity.  

 I have attached a couple of  photos of how the stem was attached. I used 5 strips of black walnut cut to 1/8" and cold molded it using strapping tape and time. I first taped the parts onto the hull and let it sit a few days. Then taped off the hull with blue tape to reduce any mess. Then epoxed the parts to the hull, once again useing packing tape.

Here's the latest pic...

I thought I was going to do a side herringbone pattern on the bottom but realized that since I had run the keel strips with bead side out I would have to be cutting a bunch of coves. This turned out to be more work than it's worth. Especially since I think I am going to use graphite on the bottom and no one will see it. 

Dan,

Your kayak is looking great !!!  Why cover it with graphite ?

This is how I put a cove in the taperd end of a strip.  I use a 1/4 dia. ball nose router bit.  You can get one for about $15.  I just hold the strip with the taper down flat and pull it through the router fixture.  In just seconds you get a perfect cove.

I just started glassing the deck on the guillemot.  www.louskayakworks2.blogspot.com

Keep up the good work Dan.  It looks great.

Lou

Why cover it with graphite ?

This will most likely be the loaner boat and one for my grandson to learn to paddle in. I suspect it will get a lot of abuse. And I plan on using it in the local swamps where it is shallow and winding.

Dan 

Now to work on the outer stems