New Cedar Strip Kaholo

Finally finished my first build,  took her out for the Canada day long weekend and it worked awesome.  All the long winter hours in the shop certainly paid off.  I still have to add the deck pad but ran out of time before the weekend came.  

I guess a part of me just doesn't want to cover up the deck with a deck pad when it looks so nice.  I did use it quite a bit on the weekend but I know that I will need to put it on sooner or later. 

 

At least nothing will cover up the bottom, and it looks great too :)

 

 

Thanks to CLC, the support staff, and this forum for all the great advise along the way.  Already dreaming about my next build, althoug I don't dare tell my wife about that....

 

Mike

Lake Country, B.C. 


14 replies:

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RE: New Cedar Strip Kaholo

That is Fantastic! Great Job.

 

David

RE: New Cedar Strip Kaholo

Very nice, beautiful even. 

 

You can get clear deck "pads" from north shore, and Monster Grip is a clear traction paint.

I just put my Kaholo in the water for the first time this weekend, and not being finished, it does not have deck pads.  I was really surprised how good the footing was in Vibrum Five Finger shoes, but it still needs pads

RE: New Cedar Strip Kaholo

Someone on another forum said they make a clear deck pad material. Not sure where to find it but do a search maybe someone has it out there.

RE: New Cedar Strip Kaholo

Awesome! Are all the panels stripped, or just the top?

Great work!

Patrick

RE: New Cedar Strip Kaholo

Retract that last question- I just zoomed in on the photo and found that the entire thing _is_ stripped!

I think I remember you or another builder asking about doing this some time back. How did it go? Obviously a success- any tips? What did you glass (inside/outside) and when (before/after assembly)? Inquiring minds and all that.

Just a gorgeous build- well done.

Patrick

RE: New Cedar Strip Kaholo

Wow. Just plain wow. Really like to see more about how you built it. 

RE: New Cedar Strip Kaholo

The build went well considering it was my first try.  Definitely thought a few times that I bit off a little too much.  As to how, here it is in a nutshell.

I cut the cedar strips to 1" wide and planed to just over 1/4 inch thick. The white wood is Poplar and I used 1/4" strips of Black Walnut between the Poplar and Cedar for accents. I then glued these together into 12 inch wide panels using a 16 foot straight edge jig. I ran these panels through a thickness planer to 1/4 inch thick. From these panels I was able to glue together larger panels as needed and cut them out to the shape I needed as per the full scale plans from CLC for the top, sides and bottom panels. 

I used stitch and glue to attach the sides to the frames (which I purchased from clc). I then attached the two bottom panels to the sides - this was the biggest challenge as the wood was quite unwilling to bend as required at the front when the panels were this wide. Persistence paid off and I got it there after many trials and errors.  ie. tried steaming but glue joints let go, wood cracked on me in a few spots and had to be fixed. 

I fiberglassed the entire inside of the board after it was assembled, as per suggestions from multiple people on this site. In afterthought my filets were too thick and I had some pooling of epoxy inside that I should have put way more effort into mopping up. I also learned that cedar absorbs more epoxy than plywood.  Lastly I think I way underestimated the added weight for using Poplar and Black Walnut in place of Cedar. I also added a compartment to the front which is about 10" X 10" where the porthole is and I added the handle in the middle.  I also added a leash plug in the tail that I purchased from greenlight surf supply. This has led to a heavier board than I expected, much of which is my own error as a novice builder.

The top was fiberglassed inside first and then assembled.  I then fiberglassed the entire board as per usual. I made my own fins and my own paddle.  I got the plans for the paddle from http://www.instructables.com/id/Build-a-Stand-Up-Paddeboard-Paddle/  The paddle wasn't too hard to build this way, although I did cut the handle in half, hollowed it out, and added a strip of black walnut down the middle for accent. 

I would consider doing it this way again but I would also consider doing a plywood bottom with cedar top and sides... best of both world with a faster build, lighter weight, and still a great looking board on top. 

If anyone is considering doing this I would be more than happy to give more tips or chat about it. I hope to put together a blog in the next while with more detail but right now I am busy enjoying the sun and waves.

 

LC Mike

 

 

RE: New Cedar Strip Kaholo

A blog with all the gory details would be great- I look forward to it.

Did you mill the strips with cove and bead edges? I'm trying to decide if it's worth the added effort given this hybrid "strip and stitch" method.

Thanks,

Patrick

RE: New Cedar Strip Kaholo

Instead of a deck pad for non skid I used Awlgrip non skid sand.  Rustolium also makes a non skid sand.   First I taped off the design of the non skid area I wanted.  I had rounded corners and a nice shape to the area.  Then  I brushed on a coat of Awlgrip clear catalyized varnish (ALBRIGHT) and sprinkled on the non skid sand.  After this dried I rolled on a top coat of clear Awlgrip, Albright.  I messed up because I did not take the time to make a good salt shaker for the sand and did not practice the application.  As a result the surface is uneven.  However, the feel and grip on my feet is perfect.  

A sanded non skid surface adds a minimum of weight.  If the application of the sand is done correctly and not too thick the pattern and color of the wood shows through like looking throught frosted glass.

Be sure to practice dusting on the sand evenly.

Some non skid sands are walnut shells and others are pumis, both of which are soft and can be sanded off.  Some people use glass beads or silicon sand, both of which are as hard or harder than sand paper and can not be sanded off.

RE: New Cedar Strip Kaholo

A few more questions- you said you used 1/4" strips, though the plans call for 33mm (more like 1/8") plywood. Did this affect the ppatern at all? Any changes necessary, say, to the bulkheads? And did CLC reccomend the thicker material when going with the strips? What was the rationale there?

Thanks,

Patrick

RE: New Cedar Strip Kaholo

Patrick,

 

I had several people on this post recommend 1/4 inch thick strips, I believe that is the standard thickness for cedar strip kayaks. It definitely added to the weight for one thing.  The other thing is that the cedar absorbs a lot more epoxy than the plywood.  Sand the cedar to 220 everywhere before epoxy and that should cut down on weight.  I fiberglassed the entire inside hull and i would cut back on that next time, maybe do only 50%  

The biggest issue with the thickness was bending the nose. After the first try, several strips cracked on me.  I then belt sanded the front 18 inches down to 1/8th to help with bending and then steamed it.  However when steaming I overdid it the first time and the glue joints between the strips let go.  Can't lie, I was very frustrated with this process and it took multiple tries to get it right, but in the end it looks great. 

The only other issue was that the bottom panels should be cut out about a 1/4 inch wider on the outside edges than on the full scale plans. My bottom panels were just barely wide enough so that when they were beveled the silica joints showed through slightly in a few spots. 

Let me know if you have any other questions

 

Mike

RE: New Cedar Strip Kaholo

Aha- I was wondering about those bends. A couple other questions-

You said you might not glass the entire inside hull to another time. Which 50% would you skip?

Did you use a cove and bead edge or were the strip edges square?

Thanks,

Patrick

RE: New Cedar Strip Kaholo

Patrick, the strip edges were square.  I am no fiberglass expet but my thought is that I would do about a 6" wide strip from side to side between each bulkhead. As it can't be seen afterwards looks don't matter and I think this would give it enough strength to keep the strips together once it is fully glassed on the outside.  This should cut back on at least a couple of pounds of weight.

Mike 

RE: New Cedar Strip Kaholo

Mike,

I'm working on a stip SUP myself, currently forming the lower bow. Can you get some information out on how you worked yours? Iam currently stuck.

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