Diving in with a Kayak Build

[Bmac]

I've been a little quiet on here lately. Since going back to the dental office, I've had 3 months of patients backed up. This has really cut into my free time so I'm needing this project to give me some sanity.

After I finished my SUP (which I documented on here) in April, I had enough time and wood to build a second one before going back to work. They have gotten a lot of use since then, and their success got me wondering about building a Kayak (which might turn into plural in the future). So after doing the research, I decided to go the kit route. The kit will include instructions, glassing, epoxy, hardware and the wood. The kayak will have a stitched and glued plywood hull and a cedar strip deck. It's considered a hybrid build since it incorporates both types of kayak construction that is typically done now. The kit was purchased from Chesapeake Light Craft (CLC) out of Annapolis MD, (https://www.clcboats.com/shop/kayak-kits/). They offer dozens of kayak models and it's pretty impressive with the builds they offer. 

I was a little reluctant to give in to the kit route, but really the only difference would be to buy the plywood and the strips then use their patterns to cut out my parts. What CLC does is it uses a CNC to cut out the plywood parts, resulting in much more accurate pieces than I could cut. The strips for the deck with have a cove and bead edging for quick and effective construction. @pkinneb has a stitch and glue kayak post on here from a few years back, I won't be as lucky as he was though as he built most of it in lovely Maine. I'm planning to do this build in my garage, not my workshop, that way I can still do some woodworking as I'm waiting for epoxy to cure and varnish to dry. 

The model I've choose to build is their Woodduck 12. It's a beamy boat with good stability, not very long (12ft), but perfect for cruising back bays and for fishing from.

Here a some samples of Woodduck 12s built from these kits. The pattern for the strip deck is something I'll have the freedom to design, but will take more time to construct than if I went with a plywood deck.

I'll be making the trip to Annapolis today to pick up my kit, it will be a pleasant 2.5 hr round trip, giving me plenty of time to daydream about the finished product.

Thanks for looking!

 

[pkinneb]

Can't wait to see this come together Bmac!! I love the melding of the two designs (stitch and glue with strip top) the best of both worlds.

[Jonathan McCully]

 Really excited to watch this come together

[RichardA]

Will there be room for a rocking chair?

[JohnG]

I always get excited for a @Bmac build! 

[tomy josif]

keep us updated

[Chestnut]

This is going to be a great one to follow. I've wanted to do a cedar strip canoe for a long time. I keep saying next year and other stuff keeps getting in the way. Maybe this thread will finally convince me to do it next year but probably not.

I've used kyaks and canoes and I've never fully understood the draw to kyaks over canoes but that's just one person's opinion.

[Bmac]

Let's get this thing going. I made the drive to Annapolis MD to pick up my kit. Threw the few boxes in my F250 and home I went so excited to start. It's completely amazing how well the kit was packed and amazing how few pieces you start with. Most of the stuff are cans of varnish, epoxy, and other construction essentials. They really do outfit you well with this build.

So here's the "kayak" unpacked;

The 2 stacks of wood you see wrapped in plastic are not actuall part of the kayak, they will be used as forms for the strip decking.

Here's my progress on day one. After unpacking and getting organized, I start by putting together the hull. The hull will basically be 4 panels stitched together. Each one of these panels are in 2 pieces, so the first thing to do is to glue the panels together. Chesapeake Light Craft's CNC generated parts are pretty darn incredible. The joint is a puzzle piece fit;

And the fit is dead on perfect;

Another thing to notice, see the tiny holes in the bottom right of the pic, those come already drilled and those are the holes you use to stitch 

Before glueing, I did my best to pick panels that matched and made sure the best sides faced out. Then using epoxy and a fiberglass strip I glued the panels together;

I used some left over fast set epoxy left over from my SUP build, so after a few hrs I was ready to move on. Quick cleanup with a sander. Oh, and another point, you want the glassed section of the joint to the inside of the kayak, the outer side of the joint has no glassing, just some excess epoxy.

Once the panels are glued you prepare for the stitching of the hull. The mating surfaces are beveled. This went quickly with a rasp, again take note of the holes for the stitches;

Cut my copper wire, 4 rolls included in the kit, way more than I'll need;

Then the lower two pieces of the hul are laid together, inside face to inside face and you start threading wires through the holes. I was amazed that all the holes matched perfectly with each other. After stitching the hull you open it up like an envelop and wire in forms to create the shape. Here it is after those steps;

Once I get the next panels on I'll tighten up the wires to close the seams, make sure everything to square and level. I will say the bow and stern were very difficult to bring to gether. The above pic is the stern, was able to get one of these holes stitched, but not the top one yet. Left it that way until the next day hoping the wood fibers will have "adapted". If not then they recommend wetting the plywood.

Thanks for looking.

 

[Jonathan McCully]

Wow, looks like a really well made kit. Not something I’ve ever thought about building but if I do, I’ll definitely have to remember that company 

[SawDustB]

I'll be very interested to see how it turns out. My dad and I built a pair of Chesapeake 17 boats from them back in 1999. We went from the plans, rather than the kit. We actually just ended up selling them to extended family, since it will be at least another 10 years before my daughters would be able to use them with me. Definitely a worthwhile build - the Wood duck looks like a perfect little boat for exploring around in.

[wtnhighlander]

I've wanted to build a boat for a while, and these are quite inspiring. The design I want is called a "Stump-Jumper", developed for fishing the shallow, tree-filled Reelfoot lake, here in West TN. Photos of the classic design can be seen here.

[Bmac]

For today I now have what looks like a kayak. On tap was to finish stitching, working and getting alighment of the panels correct, and tacking the panels together with epoxy.

Here's the kayak after stitching;

Checking out to make sure there is no twist in the kayak;

It's amazing how simple it was to get to this stage. There is a lot of stress on the wires in some areas, but it still is not too hard to coax the panels together. Here is the tacking of the joints with epoxy. I was told to mix it with wood flour until it was the consistency of ketchup. It seems like they use a lot of condiment references in the manual;

Then the bow and stern will filled in with a peanut butter consistency of wood flour and epoxy;

After 24 hrs I'll take out the wires and do my fillets. This will be the glue mixture that "holds the kayak together. If this seems wierd or you think I just like making food refernces, you'll have to look at my next post to see what I'm talking about.

Thanks for looking.

 

[Dave H]

Looking good Bmac your moving at break neck speed once again. 

[Tom King]

That's impressive how fast it's going!!!

[Woodenskye]

Bmac at this rate it will be sea worthy by tomorrow night!  Really cool project and nice work so far.

[Chip Sawdust]

Lets see the mess o' fish you already caught with it!  

Looks really beautiful. I love boats but have never built one. One of these days that will be part of my woodworking repertoire.

[Bmac]

Let's keep this thing moving forward. Important steps today, did the filleting and glassing of the inside of the hull. It takes 4 steps pretty much in succession. I mixed a lot of epoxy. No mess of fish yet @Chip Sawdust!

So I started with removing all the wires and fitting some blocks to the stern area. These will be imbedding in epoxy. You can just do and end pour after the construction and fill this area with epoxy, adding rigidity and allowing for a hole to be drilled thru the stern for a rope handle. I'm accomplishing this with these blocks, it does save some weight;

Next it the filleting of the seams. This is pronounce fill-it, and basically that's what you are doing to the seams. You mix epoxy to peanut butter consistency by adding wood flour and load it into a bag and squirt it along the seams like a baker puts icing on a cake. Seems like a lot of food references doesn't it. Well you have to work fast on this step because the mass of epoxy will start to heat up and kick into hardening mode. Spreading it out allows for the heat to dissapate and it doesn't set as fast once you get it into the seams. So no pics of the process, just the finished product, you want just enough to fill the seams, any more doesn't add strength, just extra weight;

Once the fillets start to set you move on to glassing the seams, Here is the glass prior to wetting with epoxy;

The smoother your fillets the better you glassing looks. After you place the glass you wet it with epoxy and coat the inside of the boat with epoxy;

Soon after this step you move on to glassing a sheet of glass in the floor of the hull where you sit. This just adds some rigidity and strength to this area. Here it is with the glass in place and wetted with epoxy, it's hard to see but if you look close you'll see the glassing;

Oh, and here's a pic of the stern where the blocks are imbedded in epoxy and wood flour;

So one more step today, I need to fill the weave of the glass in the seating area of the hull, this is done with a coat of epoxy. A lot of steps but it went fast, this project is much easier than I thought it would be so far. My experince glassing surf boards really helps here. 

On tap this week is to flip the boat over, sand and shape the exterior surface of the hull. Not a lot of sanding and shaping, rounding over sharp angles and sanding epoxy drips. Once the hull is sanded it's on to glassing the outside of the hull. 

Thanks for looking!

[pkinneb]

Looks great Bmac!! 

[Coop]

Looks good and you have a lot at steak! 

[Bmac]

Well I didn't forget about this. Went away this weekend, but did some work on it during the week and today after we got home. Here's my progress so far.

The hull of the boat is pretty much done, last step was to glass the outside, after a quick sanding. This went smoothly and all my experience glassing boards really paid off. Here's the glassing laid out;

Now with the epoxy;

Time to move to the top deck. First forms for the strips were hot glued in place. this was a little bit of a headache, but it worked out;

The top of the forms were covered with packing tape;

First strip went around the outside. The strips have a bead on one side and a cove on the other. The bead needs to face out, cove facing in, and you want the first strip to slightly overhang the hull. This first strip needed to be glued together with a scarf joint to get one long enough. The curvature is rather extreme, esp from the sitting area to the stern. The first strip was nailed in place onto the forms and once the second strip is glued on it starts to hold it's shape:

I ended up with 3 strips of walnut glued together to form the outer perimeter. Then I ripped the cove off two strips, glued them together and they will form the center strip, bead facing out so I have everything lined up in the right direction, bead and cove wise, here you can see the center strip in place;

Now it's a matter of filling the space between the outside perimeter and the center strip, using creative license to mix and match different woods;

So I hope to get the deck put together this week, then it will be carefully removed from the hull. Right now some nails are holding it in place. I sure hope it comes off in one piece!

Thanks for looking.

[Tom King]

Looks fabulous!

Do you know why they call for wood dust, and not colloidal silica?  I know the CS is very hazardous for breathing, but seems like it would save a lot of weight over epoxy saturated wood dust.  The Colloidal Silica basically weighs nothing.  

[Coop]

Great job. It’s going to be interesting to see how you cut the man hole out. I’m sure there is another name for it. 

[Bmac]

49 minutes ago, Tom King said:

Looks fabulous!

Do you know why they call for wood dust, and not colloidal silica?  I know the CS is very hazardous for breathing, but seems like it would save a lot of weight over epoxy saturated wood dust.  The Colloidal Silica basically weighs nothing.  

I'm not sure, but the container of wood dust is pretty darn light also. I think the weight difference is minimal. The nice thing about wood dust is if you need extra it's pretty much free.

44 minutes ago, Coop said:

Great job. It’s going to be interesting to see how you cut the man hole out. I’m sure there is another name for it. 

There is a form on the deck that will be the cockpit. I just put the strips up against it to form the man hole.

[Coop]

I almost said cockpit. 

[Chip Sawdust]

Bmac when I watch your projects progress I get a little envy that you get after it till it's done, while i have stuff on my bench that's waiting waiting waiting for me to get back out there. I have too many dang hobbies....

That said, I really enjoy watching these things take shape, and so far it looks fantastic!