: Holy smokes! That was quite a bit of advice. It's a little late for me to use
: most of it, but there are definitely some things I'll do different on my
: 2nd boat if I build it (like I could resist). My boat is definitely less
: than perfect, but it has 4 types of wood (2 are hardwood) and strip
: patterns that have strips running in just about every direction and was
: nearly impossible to achieve a fair surface. I stripped my nickname in
: pine and filled in the irregular shapes with walnut to fill it in. There
: was no cove and bead so just a block-planed bevel was employed to mate the
: neighboring strips. The 2x4 strongback I used ended up being bent on all 3
: axis and was twisted also, making form alignment very difficult and
: iterative. The cut of the forms had a few blemishes as a result of
: beginner-jigsawing and plywood delamination and chipping. The plywood
: wasn't 100% straight and hence the end forms required strings and pulleys
: and all sorts of homemade devices to try and force and hold it straight,
: and the stern is still a little out. Despite all this adversity, the boat
: has turned out better than I had hoped, although I'm sure the true test
: will come to when it is glassed and finished. I'm confident that none of
: the imperfections are going to significantly affect the performance, and
: I'll have a beautiful boat that will require a close look to find the
: faults.
: I wish I had discovered this discussion board months ago when I was tackling
: the big and little issues, even as simple as figuring out the terminology
: like shearline, and chines (still don't know what chines are). Sounds like
: there are decades of experience in the people who discuss issues here. The
: response to my question and all the knowlegde and tips I've gained was
: amazing. It has inspired more ideas than I have time to test out. Thanks
: to everyone who responded, I think I'll be a regular here at least until
: I'm done my first boat.

Sounds like you are having fun. That's the bottom line.

Always ask questions if you have someone who'll answer.
I often have people say, "I know this is a dumb question, but....".
There are no dumb questions. Most of the deeply probing questions
are overlooked because they seemed obvious and yet few people
really understand the simple questions.

Be like a kid and ask, “why? why? why?"

To answer your question about "chines", chines are the transition from
the side surface of the hull to the bottom surface of the hull.

Traditional Greenland designs have "hard chines" because this transition
takes the form of a sharp edge. Many modern kayaks have "soft chines"
because the transition is a rounded one.

My advise is just that, advise. I'm not suggesting I know "The Way".

I have a method that has evolved over a lot of years and works great for me.

My wish is to offer a choice of another why to novice and old hands out there
so you can avoid some of the pitfalls and have fun.

I guess I'm always worried about someone out there who is having trouble and
will give up. Perhaps most of us who pick up a board and a saw are pretty stubborn
characters.

Have fun.

If you're not having fun, don't give up. Ask some questions
Try some different methods.

All the best,
Rob Macks
Laughing Loon CC&K
www.laughingloon.com