: Hi, Don

: I built the S&G NH a couple of years ago. I taped the plans to
: three sheets of plywood stapled together end to end. I used a
: simple paper stapler to hold the sheets together. I cut each
: length of paper panel out and laid it out on the plywood such
: that I could maximize use of the plywood with a minimum of
: waste. I used a fabric cutting wheel designed to make
: perforations only. I then used my router to cut each panel out
: of the plywood sheets, being careful to mark each section of
: panel cut from each sheet of plywood. I then glued each section
: of panel together to get the full length panel. Next, I sanded
: each panel as closely as I could get to the transferred imprint.
: I then laid out each full length panel onto more plywood sheets
: (use whatever is left of the original sheets) to trace out the
: panel opposites. Remember that the drawings you have are for one
: side of the kayak only. Once the copies of the full length
: panels were traced out (using the panels already made), I then
: cut the opposing panels out, glued the sections together and
: then began the copying procedure to make certain that the
: opposing panels were exactly the same shape. I did this by
: clamping opposing panels together and sanded the edges of both
: to make certain that they were the exact same shape. I did this
: will all opposing panels. When I say opposing panels you should
: realize that the panels on the right side of the kayak are the
: mirror image of the panels on the left side: as such, they are
: opposing. Once you have all the panels mated and sanded, you are
: then ready to move forward. It is critical to shape the panels
: as the drawings indicate or you will have some concave
: depressions or convex bulging wherever the poor shaping occurs.
: When you use the jigsaw to cut out the panels from the plywood
: sheets, leave a little extra wood around the edges about 1/8
: " or 1 mm from the traced lines...this assures you that you
: can sand carefully and get the exact shape that Nick intended
: for your kayak. I followed this method for my kayak and got a
: perfect shape with no visible imperfections. That said, my first
: kayak from plans was not quite perfect but it still works well.
: I hope this helps you work it out. By using scotch tape to hold
: the panel drawings to the plywood you won't mess up the wood and
: have to clean it afterward.

: Robert N Pruden

Blue painter's masking tape, holds the patterns well enough to the plywood and then can be pulled off the paper without damaging it either.

Bill H.