Kayak Building

C

CanDo

Joined
Mar 10, 2006
Messages
913
I started building an 18' wood and fiberglass kayak, but it will take hundreds of hours to get looking the way I want it to, so I put that boat on hold and started a skin on frame kayak which goes together much more quickly.

SOF kayaks are built just like the first ones - a waterproof material is stretched over a wooden frame. Only difference is that I'm using nylon instead of seal skin, and because I have plywood available, I don't need to steam-bend dozens of ribs. Here's the progress so far. The wooden frame is just about done; I need to finish the stern and sand/oil the wood. After that, I just stitch up nylon around it and paint it with urethane. I hope to have it on the water by the end of the week.

It's based off of Brian Schulz's design, the F1 http://www.capefalconkayak.com/f1.html

I would call it the F1, but I'm using a different construction style, and Brian would probably not appreciate this kayak being attributed to his design work. At any rate, he posted a diagram of the boat for free on his website, and this is what I've come up with. It's within 1/8" in all the places that I've measured to his design according to the drawing.

Kayak057.jpg

Kayak056.jpg

Kayak053.jpg

Kayak055.jpg

Kayak052.jpg


~CanDo
 
Wow. That looks like it is gonna be awesome. Nice job bro. Keep us posted on the progress!!!
 
VERY NICE! That's a cool construction system, looks very much like a skin airplane frame!

How does the glued/plywood frame compare with the more traditional lashed skin-on-frame for feel? I'd imagine it makes a pretty stiff boat.

J-
 
j williams said:
Wow. That looks like it is gonna be awesome. Nice job bro. Keep us posted on the progress!!!
Click to expand...

Thanks! I definitely will.

HomeBru,

The construction method is not my own - apparently it was quite popular for a lot of the 1900's. Tom Yost has an excellent website showing this style being used to build his kayaks. You can find it at yostwerks.com. He also adapted it to make aluminum, folding kayaks. As far as how it feels compared to the traditional method: I'm not sure. This is my first kayak, so I don't really know. It's definitely very stiff though and I'd imagine it would be at least somewhat stiffer than a purely lashed kayak.


Another cool thing about this kayak: it's currently at 26 lbs. Even with fabric, foam seat, foot braces, and coating, it will weigh under 36 lbs. That's about half of the weight as a 900 dollar kayak I saw for sale at the local sports store of the same length.
 
I'm guessing Dacron for the skin ?
After the pontoon boat I'm working on, my buddy wants a jonboat, then there's a 17' Aleutian I want to build for myself...
I'm curious to know what resin you're using and why you chose it (I'll confess I'm a bit of an epoxy junkie)

For those not familiar, there's two methods most common to the home builder: stitch-and-glue and skin-on-frame. For comparison, my 14' S&G kayak from this hull is about 60 lbs...
 
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Deadeye,

I'm going with 8.9 oz. Ballistic Nylon from skinboats.com (http://shop.skinboats.com/product.sc?categoryId=3&productId=3)

I've been using West System Epoxy with the fast hardener for gluing all the joints. I'll use the same resin with slow hardener to seal the plywood. No real reason for the choice, it's just has a very good reputation, a good user manual, and I was able to get it very cheap since I managed to buy it at 2004 prices. The nylon won't be coated in epoxy, but in urethane; I'll either use 5-6 coats of a 1 part product called 'dura tuff' or three coats of a two part urethane such as "Corey's Goop" from skinboats.com

A note on the S&G being rather heavy: it depends on how it's done. Plywood by itself will be pretty heavy to get the necessary strength, but if you sandwich fiberglass on either side, you can use a lot less and it will end up much lighter.


For those curious, here's the kayak that I started before this one but that's now on hold. It's a Stitch and Glue plywood hull and will have cedar strips for the deck. 18 feet long. The wood will be encased on both sides by perfectly transparent fiberglass. The result should be lighter and stronger than commercially available kayaks while being gorgeous. The only problem is that it will take a while to finish. There's another 400 hours or so left to get the result I want, compared to about 50 hours total for the skin-on-frame kayak.
This one, I used actual plans, purchased from Nick Schade of guillemot-kayaks.com It's the Hybrid Night Heron.

Kayak018.jpg


Kayak016.jpg
 
That is Awesome!!!

I always wanted to build my own kayak. Looks like it's coming along nice.
 
You folks would enjoy Bark Boats and Skin Canoes...
available at Amazon. GREAT sense of the craft, and craftsmanship involved. Early techniques.

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The bark canoes of the North American Indians, particularly those of birchbark, were among the most highly developed manually propelled primitive watercraft. Built with Stone Age tools from available materials, their design, size, and appearance were varied to suit the many requirements of their users. Even today, canoes are based on these ancient designs, and this fascinating guide combines historical background with instructions for constructing one. Author Edwin Tappan Adney, born in 1868, devoted his life to studying canoes and was practically the sole scholar in his field. His papers and research have been assembled by a curator at the Smithsonian Institution, and illustrated with black-and-white line drawings, diagrams, and photos.
 
Nice job BTW. Your strongback looks simple and effective. Bookmarked the skinboat site, thanks.

On birchbark canoes: there's a great Mears video on the subject. In one ep he's talking to a guy that builds them traditionally and in the next he's paddling it on a trip in northern Ontario. Just like the rest of his vids, he makes it look easy lol.

On resins: check out Interlux's Epiglass (ht9000) if you get the chance. It's got a lower viscosity than most resins so it wets out cloth really well and it doesn't have the characteristic amber tinge when it cures. Great stuff to work with.

For anyone who's interested in learning more, the Gougeon Brothers (West System) website has a ton of great info. Their Epoxyworks magazine is worth getting as well (it's free) because they show the products in different applications, different techniques, and test results. Obviously it's all about their own products, but West is probably the most widely used epoxy out there.

Is the S&G one a Heron ?
 
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Same here except I started with more of a pirogue hull. For the deck I just ripped 1/8 plywood strips for mine but I've always loved stripper decks. Have you decided what wood to use ?
 
To be honest, that project is months away, so I'm not entirely sure. I'm planning on going with a mix of different color cedars. Part of the reason it will take so long to make that boat is that I'd like to do a really cool design out of strips - something elegant and simple but that still shows that it took a lot of time and thought to design. I'm not sure yet what that will be.


In other news, the frame of the skin boat has been completed, and I just applied two coats of epoxy to the plywood cross sections - I'm going to wait until tomorrow to varnish the stringers since it's 2:30 AM.
 
If you wouldn't mind, I'd love to see some pics as you're covering the frame. I did a very little bit of canvas work when I was in trade school (aircraft mechanic) years ago but other than that it's something I'd like to learn.
 
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