Congrats on getting started. You are correct, the taped inside of the joint will be glassed over again, so just sand the edges of the glass smooth. This way the next layer of glass will make a smooth transition from the wood with no glass to the the area with the glass tape.

Keep biulding!

Joel

the most important element is that the non-taped side of the joint is flush/smooth.  this way when you prep that side for its covering, you will not sand through the veneer to get a smooth joint.   

on the inside, there will be a slight bump representing where the tape is.  as joe indicated, its good practice to sand the edge of the tape so the layer of glass that goes over it makes a smooth transition from the un-taped to the taped surface.   

sounds like you are moving along.....have fun

h

   Just received my Chesapeake 17LT kit and was surprised that puzzle joints are now part of the hull panel assembly (as opposed to scarf).  

Meanwhile, adding fiberglass tape to the inside-joint sounds like a good idea, but is not part of the build description in my assembly manual.   Does anyone know if this missing step is by design for Chesapeake kayaks?  I have not started yet, and if suggested, will not hesitate to add tape to puzzle joints.

Thanks,

Larry Mundy

Newbie

If the joints are tight enough, the wood thick enough and the surface will be glassed anyway, the glass strip is not necessary. "Thick enough", BTW, doesn't necesarily mean thick wood, just wood that provides enough gluing area to handle the stress at that particular joint.

The hull curves on the Chessies are much less extreme than on the newer designs, so the joints have much less stress. It'd be reasonable not to tape them.

Here you can see where the bulkhead joint on my 18-ft. schooner is taped but the puzzle joint isn't. It's a much bigger and heavier boat than a Chessie, but the hull curve is even less so the tape wasn't nexessary at the puzzle joint. The boat's survived just fine for 3 years now.

Have fun,

Laszlo

Thatz helpful.  Thanks

LTM