Boat Building Forum

Find advice on all aspects of building your own kayak, canoe or any lightweight boats

A few observations
By:Richard Smyth
Date: 9/30/1998, 8:47 pm

I am in the process of building my first strip kayak, the planning stage of which will probably be as long as the building stage. I have a small workshop so have to do most of the work outside therefore have had to wait for summer. I have been reading most listings on this bulletin board with great interest and have gleamed many usefull ideas and tips. So thank you very much to those of you who have relayed your sucesses and failures. I have a couple of comments regarding old messages, firstly setting up a table saw for cutting strips. I have been surprised at how easy this is, particularly after reading about the difficulties some people have had and the elaborate jigs built to overcome the problems. I have attached a link to the Triton site. I have a Triton 2000 workcentre which has been brilliant for cutting strips. The gate is adjustable and has 2 rules, therefore to cut 6mm (sorry we work in metric in New Zealand) strips from a board, the gate is moved in 8mm increments closer to the blade with each pass (the blade has a 2mm kerf). Secondly I read with interest the comments on which glue to use and GR's opposition to carpenters glue. I haven't yet glued up my strips but I have used yellow carpenters glue to make a butchers block chopping board. This board is used in the kitchen and consistes of small wood cubes held together with only carpenters glue. This board is washed several times a day in near boiling yet the glue shows no sign of degrading. I therefore feel pretty confident that it will hold my boat together even if the fibreglass is damaged. Finally I have one question, has anyone used carbon fibre & would it offer any benefit if the inside of a kayak is glassed with it??

Messages In This Thread

A few observations
Richard Smyth -- 9/30/1998, 8:47 pm
Re: A few observations
David Dick -- 10/1/1998, 8:44 am
Re: A few observations
Nick Schade -- 10/1/1998, 9:09 pm