: Hello again,

: I thought I was going to use narrow strips and pin them from the sides, with
: a few on top to hold the shell to the frame. (I see what you are
: doing....) The top fasteners would be removed. I was thinking the
: horizontal pins would stay in forever. I've heard that ss metal needs
: exposure to oxygen to maintain resistance to corrosion. Would ss pins
: totally embedded in the wood work ok?

: I've got a lot to learn I can see. My first boat might be a foxy little
: shiplap rowing skiff. But a 180 hour strip kayak is in my future.

: On kayaks, I've seen wooden cowlings. The part that makes up the inside edge
: of the main opening in the deck, that you snap your skirt onto. To my eye,
: subjectively, they look awkward and weak. It seems better to me to put a
: garden hose around the edge of the opening, and lay 4" S-glass, cut
: on the bias, under the hull and over the hose. With enough layers, and
: stiff epoxy, it would make a much stronger system, and still look elegant.

: Do all you guys use vacuum in your lay-ups?

: Roger

Hi Roger,
That's what I know as edge-nailing, how strip built hulls were made before epoxy and glass fibre arrived. It even pre-dates marine type glues.
With pre-epoxy lay-ups, the strips were edge-glued and nailed through one strip(the one being fitted) and into one more. Example would be a 1" thick strip build, the edge nails would 1 3/4".
On pre-marine-glue hulls, the edge nails would go through at least three strips, for 1" strips again, the nails would be at least 2 3/4" long, usually bronze/Monel barbed.
Don't use iron based nails in any acidic timber.

Using this technique would work for small hulls as well but the nails do add quite a lot of weight to the hull. Though with a tough wood, you could save the weight of any epoxy and glass. That type of hull was suprisingly watertight.

The cowlings, coaming risers, are fairly sturdy using wood strip and glass, we don't hear of them failing very often. There are a few strip-builds that use carbon/resin molded coaming rings, a search through the site will turn them up, using various techniques. Often enough, the wooden coaming ring is there for aesthetic reasons, either contrasting the deck or blending in with it.

Very few here use vacuum in lay-ups, it's usualy beyond the need or pocket of most kayak builders. Some have experimented but mostly on paddles.

Hope this helps,
Mike Savage
South West Cork