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Re: Material: Hardwood kayak?
By:Paul G. Jacobson
Date: 2/5/2009, 12:17 am
In Response To: Material: Hardwood kayak? (Paul Lueders)

Go for it.

You can get good strength from very thin strips of hardwood, so using 3/16 strips iscrtainly possible. Go down to 1/8 if you wish, or split the difference and use a thickness of 5/32 for the strips.
The bead and cove bits designed for 1/4 inch strips will probably work better on these thinner strips than they do on 1/4 inch stock. (I think the radius is too small for 1/4 inch strips anyhow. )

Don't worry excessively about the weight. The boat will be a lot lighter than a dugout canoe. If you are a large, or heavy paddler, just use a design with a suitable displacement . For average or small paddlers, use the sandard plans. The additional few pounds of the boat will be in the range of a typical gearbag, and thus no matter to worry about.

I haven't worked with the woods you are thinking of using, but with thin strips the bending and twisting should not be difficult.

I'd suggest a test to see how well your epoxy adheres to a freshly sanded piece of those woods. Sometimes sanding releases oils which might interfere with a good bond. If so, then find a sealer--shellac is pretty good, others might be better--and use that instead of a first coat of epoxy to seal the wood before 'glassing.

Use your best woods on the deck. The only reason we see so much of the hull is because we build these things upside down. Sometimes we think everyone is going to see a much of that hull as we do. Not so.

Good luck with your project.

PGJ

Messages In This Thread

Material: Hardwood kayak?
Paul Lueders -- 2/4/2009, 2:57 pm
Re: Material: Hardwood kayak? *NM*
Paul Lueders -- 2/9/2009, 12:00 pm
Re: Material: Hardwood kayak? *LINK* *Pic*
Andy Waddington -- 2/9/2009, 11:21 am
Re: Material: Hardwood kayak?
Paul Lueders -- 2/9/2009, 12:04 pm
Re: Material: Hardwood kayak?
wwfloyd -- 2/5/2009, 3:51 pm
Re: Material: Hardwood kayak?
Paul G. Jacobson -- 2/6/2009, 2:08 am
Re: Material: Hardwood kayak?
Don Lucas -- 2/6/2009, 10:00 am
Re: Material: Hardwood kayak?
Glen Smith -- 2/5/2009, 7:44 pm
Re: Material: Hardwood kayak?
Ted Henry------WebKitFormBoundaryizgkDj+25Ku9k5c1 -- 2/5/2009, 12:18 pm
Re: Material: Hardwood kayak?
Paul Lueders -- 2/5/2009, 8:29 am
Re: Material: Hardwood kayak? *Pic*
Andy Waddington -- 2/9/2009, 11:37 am
Re:rolling bevel *Pic*
Chris Sperry -- 2/6/2009, 10:04 am
Re:rolling bevel
Etienne Muller -- 2/8/2009, 4:46 pm
Re:rolling bevel
Chris Sperry -- 2/9/2009, 7:20 am
Re:rolling bevel
Andy Waddington -- 2/9/2009, 11:49 am
Re:rolling bevel
Bill Hamm -- 2/9/2009, 1:15 am
Re:rolling bevel *Pic*
John Monroe -- 2/8/2009, 4:25 am
Re:rolling bevel
Roy Morford -- 2/8/2009, 12:28 pm
Re:rolling bevel
John Monroe -- 2/9/2009, 2:43 am
Re:rolling bevel
Chris Sperry -- 2/8/2009, 11:32 pm
Re:rolling bevel
Roy Morford -- 2/9/2009, 12:18 am
Re:rolling bevel
Chris Sperry -- 2/9/2009, 6:43 am
Re:rolling bevel
Roy Morford -- 2/9/2009, 9:57 am
Re:rolling bevel
Chris Sperry -- 2/9/2009, 9:46 pm
Re:rolling bevel
Paul Lueders -- 2/6/2009, 1:30 pm
Re:rolling bevel
Paul Lueders -- 2/6/2009, 3:52 pm
Re:rolling bevel
Bill Hamm -- 2/8/2009, 12:36 am
Re:rolling bevel
Chris Sperry -- 2/6/2009, 3:10 pm
Re:rolling bevel *NM* *Pic*
Chris Sperry -- 2/6/2009, 10:07 am
Re:rolling bevel
Bill Hamm -- 2/6/2009, 1:13 pm
Re:rolling bevel
Chris Sperry -- 2/6/2009, 3:17 pm
Re: Material: Hardwood kayak?
Paul Lueders -- 2/5/2009, 6:23 pm
Re: Material: Hardwood kayak?
Bill Hamm -- 2/6/2009, 9:57 am
Re: Material: Hardwood kayak?
Paul Lueders -- 2/6/2009, 1:21 pm
Re: Material: Hardwood kayak?
Paul G. Jacobson -- 2/5/2009, 1:19 pm
Re: Material: Hardwood kayak? *LINK*
Sam McFadden -- 2/5/2009, 12:28 pm
Re: Material: Hardwood kayak?
Bill Hamm -- 2/5/2009, 1:55 am
Re: Material: Hardwood kayak?
Rich K -- 2/5/2009, 12:34 am
Re: Material: Hardwood kayak?
Paul G. Jacobson -- 2/5/2009, 12:17 am
Re: Material: Hardwood kayak?
Brian Nystrom -- 2/5/2009, 7:41 am
Re: Material: Hardwood kayak?
Donovan -- 2/4/2009, 4:14 pm