I like :) I suppose if one has dead bicycle tubes those could work very well too....

Jason

: I tend to look for a cheap way to do things, and I did not wish to
: spend large dollars on clamps. I had used inner tube rubber
: effectively for clamping during guitar construction, so I
: figured that the humble inner tube should be useful in kayak
: building as well. Turns out that it is.

: The picture shows the main way I use them. For the hull, I mount a
: rail directly to the station forms beneath the sheer strips, and
: use that to anchor the rubber strips. If you try this, make sure
: that the rail is either kerfed or done in separate pieces
: between stations or the stiffness of the rails could distort the
: alignment of your forms.

: The wooden "hooks" stapled to the end do a good job of
: applying pressure nicely on the square strip edges, and since
: the rubber lies snug to the hull, the clamping pressure produces
: very little force tending to pull the strips out of fair
: alignment. If you use bead and cove, the center cedar piece
: could be shaped accordingly. I also use rubber strips without
: hooks where handy, for example while installing the first couple
: strips above the sheer strips. I just wrap the rubber around the
: two or three cedar strips involved, and this avoids pulling the
: sheer strips out of fair.

: To make the rubber strips, hie ye forth down to the local tire shop
: and beg a dead truck tube. Use a straight edge and utility knife
: to slice off rubber bands about 1 1/4" wide, then cut the
: bands into strips by cutting them through at one point. After a
: couple "rubber bands" are cut off tube, cut off a
: waste triangle to keep your cut lines going more or less through
: the center of the tube outline. One tube will make a significant
: pile of bands. I used about sixty of them.

: To make the wood hooks, I just rounded up some scrap thin plywood,
: and sandwiched a piece of scrap cedar between them. The pieces
: lend themselves nicely to making a pile of them very quickly. I
: used an air stapler to put the pieces together, but screws or
: tacks might also work. I ended up using three staples on each
: side of the "hook" (the photo shows only two, which I
: later discovered would permit the hook to pull apart under
: strong pressure), and made sure that the thickness of the pieces
: permitted the staples to penetrate the rubber from both sides.
: The rubber will rip off once in a while, so having some extra
: wood bits can be handy.

: The photo shows the main way to anchor the rubber to the clamp
: rail; one turn around the rail, and tuck the bight under the
: stretched band. Friction is your friend with this and lots of
: other configurations. The rubber in the photo is loose to show
: the "knot", but this arrangement allows more or less
: instant installation under considerable tension. Leave enough
: room for fingers between the clamp rail and the sheer strip.

: I found having a serious pile of easily installed clamps quite
: handy.