Wood Duck 12 Hybrid - First Timer Help

Thought I'd try a way to stay safe and build something during this darn virus. I have the bottom and side panels stitched and looking good but when I try to install the bulkheads into the bottom and side panels, nothing is fitting. The stern bulkhead that apparently will be my back rest is way off in relation to the pre-drilled holes so I must be missing something because I don't see what I'm doing wrong, so if anyone can shed some light on this I would appreciate some feedback. Cheers.


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RE: Wood Duck 12 Hybrid - First Timer Help

Kent,

What you're missing is simply having done this before. Each piece of plywood has its own unique bending properties. That's unavoidable since each ply can come from a different part of the tree or another tree altogether. The plywood manufacturers give us a product that on the average is consistent but will show individual variations.

If your pieces don't fit correctly, try loosening the stitches until the bulkheads can slide into place, wire them in and retighten the stitches on the panels.

You may have to do a few cycles of loosen-adjust-tighten until everything fits properly, but this is normal. Eventually you'll get a good fit.

Have fun,

Laszlo

RE: Wood Duck 12 Hybrid - First Timer Help

   Thank you Laszlo,

What is the purpose of the clamped wood pieces to the bulkheads? It doesn't look like they extend to the sides of the kayak to hold it open while the bulkheads are being fitted...did you have to trim the bulkheads to get them to fit? My kit came with pre-drilled holes and that is where the bulkheads are really tough to even come close to fitting....I seem like I am disasembling the boat just trying to get the bulkheads in.

I am going to send some photos to CLC Boats and see if they can see what I am doing wrong.

Cheers!

 

RE: Wood Duck 12 Hybrid - First Timer Help

The wood pieces stiffen the bulkheads to keep them from bowing from the pressure that the sides put on them (the fit was that tight).

No trimming was needed, the bulkheads eventually lined up with the holes in the hull. I did have to drill some additional holes, but they were on the bulkhead corners. For some reason CLC didn't drill all of those on my kit even though the corresponding hull holes were there.

If you put in really tight stitches it can feel as if you're taking the whole boat apart and undoing everything you've done. That's normal and you're on the right track.

Laszlo

 

RE: Wood Duck 12 Hybrid - First Timer Help

   You might check for human error. I've made every kind of error I could make (and my boats still turned out fine after fixing things). Are you sure that each piece is in its correct position? It's easy to mix up bow-stern allignment on a kayak. Or port and starboard. A kayak is so symmetrical that you can hardly notice such errors until you find that the pre-drilled holes don't line up.

RE: Wood Duck 12 Hybrid - First Timer Help

 I will double check if I have the correct pieces in the correct places....I think I do. Having plans would be helpful because the manual photos aren't very clear for a novice. Clamping pieces of wood to stiffen the bulkhead may also help me. 

Thx to all.

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