> I built a stitch-n-glue kit in my second-floor apartment this past winter,
> and had great success. But already I'm looking towards building another
> kayak (sound familiar to anyone?)

> Has anyone successfully built a strip kayak in their apartment? I have
> access to many woodworking tools at my folks' place, but it's 5 hours
> away. I could spend a weekend or two cutting forms, strips, etc., at their
> place in preparation, but would be doing the acutal building in my
> apartment. In-apartment tools include cordless drill, Dremel, orbital palm
> sander, and Skil-saw.

> Possible?

> Thanks for any and all responses in advance. Dean

Considering the amount of time and attention people lavish on their stripbuilt boats I can understand why you would want to have yours constantly near you.

Lets look at the construction stages and see if there are any pitfalls:

Last things first, I'd varnish outside, and I'd do as much sanding (particularly of the epoxy) as possible outside, too. Sure you can put down dropcloths, but you are bound to get some in the heat ducts, or on the walls. Personally, I'd hate to keep breathing minute quantities of that fine dust for months afterward.

With your stitch and glue you had a lot of holes to drill, a half dozen seams, panels that were essemtially flat, or were bent into curves, and not a lot of sanding. You had some sawdust.

With a stripper you have dozens of long seams to sand, and you achieve the beautiful roundness of the hull by sanding all those flat strips into long curved ones. all those long joints make bumps that get removed by sanding. Think LOTS of dust. Strongly consider moving the boat outside for all that sanding. Otherwise, look at all the options you have for dustfree, or nearly dustfree sanding.

One idea: Get a clear plastic sheet (4 mil polyethylene would be good) in a 10 by 20 or 10 by 25 foot size. Wrap it around the entire boat -- sawhorses and all, and seal the long side with duct tape, making a huge envelope with both ends open. At one end gather the plastic material and duct tape it to the end of a vaccuum cleaner or shop vac. Put your sander and a few spare sanding disks inside this bag, along with an extension cord. At the other end gather the material and duct tape it to a disposable furnace air filter. Get the biggest you can find for a dollar or less. Lets say the thing is 20 inches square. Now start snading. The dust is going to stay inside the bag. Your hands are going to stay outside the bag, and you grap the handle of the sander right through the bag. There should be enough slack to allow you to work. Every once in a while turn on the vaccuum cleaner to suck out excess sawdust and clean up an area. At some time you'll have to open the bag to add more sandpaper or remove your tools. Before you do, run the vaccuum for a few minutes to clear out any airborne sawdust. Then you can open the bag carefully and not get a lot of sawdust floating around. Whatever settles to the bottom of the bag can be removed by just sweeping it out. You could probably just tilt the whole setup and pour it out, too. If the sawdust obscures your view by sticking to the plastic by static, use the vaccuum to clean that area, and keep working. You probably don't want ot keep the vaccuum on all the time though. It would be noisy, and probably unnecessary.

If you are going to do take your boat outside to sand it, then you must be sure the boat and strongback will be able to get out of your apartment. If you got the last boat out then you will probably know if you have the clearance, but the added weight of the strongback may make it more difficult to handle a stripper before it is glassed. Getting it out is a 4 step process: Buy beer and softdrinks. Recruit friends. Move the boat. Serve the drinks. (Be sure you do not mix up the third and fourth steps)

Putting on strips should be less trouble than drawing together the pieces of your stitch and glue, but you will want to be sure to have a large dropcloth under everything, as you should anticipate lots of glue drips. Get a doormat or a carpet square or carpet sample to wipe your feet on (frequently) so you don't track glue over the apartment floor. If you build with staples you won't make very much noise. If you build without staples you will make even less noise.

You can fit the strips in place easily with hand tools. They are quiet and cause little dust. A plane will make shavings that are easier to pick up than sawdust, and are too heavy to stay in the air.

I'd use carpenters glue for joining the strips. There are a lot of good reasons to use other adhesives, but carpenters glue doesn't have a strong or lingering smell. A small fan will provide plenty of ventilation.

Making the strongback and forms may be something you will want to do outside, too. Sure, you can probably cut the forms with a sabre saw in your livingroom, but why carry a 4 x 8 panel of wood upstairs to do that? If I did not have full size patterns, I'd make some on very heavy paper, or light cardboard. If I used cardboard I'd cut the pieces with an x-acto knife to make templates. When I got the plywood home I'd either glue the paper to the plywood with a light coat of rubber cement or trace around the cardboard templates. Either way I would have lines I could cut along. I'd go with the layout of the parts on the plywood rather than just whacking the big panels in half to make them manageable. Even if, for some reason, I could not cut all the forms right then, I'd do the layout on the plywood panel and cut the panel into pieces that were nearly the final shape of the station forms, and would be easy to carry to wherever I did the final shaping. If you have the opportunity to cut the forms elsewhere, then that might be wise.

Similar thought for the strongback. Assembling it in your apartment should be easier if you can cut the parts elsewhere, first.

Best of luck with this.

Paul G. Jacobson