Projects to keep me off the streets - Fire Department Table, Kayak
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$&*#^ solid water, anyway. I don't mind winter, except for heating bills and crunchy rivers.3
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13JAN17
Several hours work, final (did I say final) sanding of complete exterior before first of three varnish coats.
Sanded, then washed, let dry, final rub down with tack cloth before varnishing.
Varnishing is tricky business. You need to apply lightly, don't let it drip or drool, and keep moving before the 'wet edge' starts to dry up. I use the method explained by the guru of boat building, Nick Schlade.
http://www.guillemot-kayaks.com/guillemot/blog/admin/getting_smooth_dripfree_varnish_finish
first varnish coat
first varnish coat
my trusty Dewalt ROS is starting to fail. It has hundreds of hours on it now.
All the other boys have one of these. They're making fun of me on the kayak builder discussion boards.
I'm sure SWMBO would want me to have one of these.
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I have the same DeWalt random orbital sander...
Your kayak is looking smooth and slick... wonderful!!2 -
14JAN17
Couple hours planning and designing another project, and a hour or so on the boat prepping and applying the second varnish coat.
Prep surface with scotch-bright pad for grip and tack cloth clean
Filtered varnish and 4" foam brush
Second varnish coat applied.
The finish is much deeper than the guy who built the boat.
One more varnish coat to go, the deck lines and seat install and this project will be wrapped up. So... for my next trick I'm building SWMBO two bedroom end tables. We've just had hardwood floor installed, and the painters and cabinet guy for the new wall to wall closet module happen in the next few weeks. SWMBO considered buying these,
but they're just press board crap at $200 each. I can make them from oak at 1/4 of the cost, I have a supply of rough-cut I can mill to size, and the pine for the drawer boxes and hardware won't cost much. This has the additional benefit of keeping me away from the main floor where the civilized folks what isn't covered in sawdust mill about.
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A buddy of mine in Colorado retired (high school teacher) and has taken to building cabinets, furniture and making wooden signs using a CNC router. He is having fun and the furniture will end up being heirlooms unlike most of today's IKEA specials...
Maybe I should consider woodworking as a second career? It does look like fun!
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That table shows some pride in your craft, and is a great project. The kayak is completely awesome!
Though I haven't really done a lot of it, I enjoy working with wood. For a period I did boat/yacht work including some work on white boats. I always enjoyed learning from the real wood working masters in the trade. But I've also worked a decent bit in automotive and other finishing, so what I lacked in the woodworking skills to build certain things I could somewhat overcome in the finishing.
Even on the large yachts, it becomes very apparent how few straight lines exist in any type of boat. I'm sure on that kayak they really don't even exist at all!3 -
The only straight line for this baby will be straight to Kejimkujic National Park for a solo week in the back country the week I retire in June.4
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15JAN17
Third and final coat of varnish applied.
The view from the cockpit.
Three coats of varnish makes a nice deep finish.
Full speed ahead Mr. Sawfish!
Six different woods in this boat.
Eastern White Cedar
Western Red Cedar
Basswood
Walnut
Purpleheart
Ebony
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Have you done your final weigh-in yet? What do you figure it will be?
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I haven't weighed it yet, but I'm thinking about 35 pounds. I'll do a weigh in after the rigging and seat install.2
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Not that I'm any kind of expert on kayaks but that seems fairly light.1
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The cedar makes up most of the shell, and it is very light. The end weight depends a lot on how much epoxy gets added.2
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Pure awesomeness!0
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Not that I'm any kind of expert on kayaks but that seems fairly light.
Those cedar strip boats, when well made as Farback's is, can combine amazing lightness with excellent performance characteristics (you can build a sophisticated hull design). And that's ignoring their beauty, which we're witnessing here.
I don't know whether you're a small-boats person in general, UncleMac. In case not, as a couple of reference points, my 15'6" commercial kayak (i.e. couple feet shorter than Farback's) weighs around 41 pounds in Kevlar (among the lighter common commercial materials). Single racing shell for rowing, at 26' (but only around 12" wide at the waterline) runs about 31 pounds including metal riggers, because of competition limits (composite materials typically - mine is - though some are wood). My lightest canoe at 16'6 (an outdated racing model, so stripped-down & not super-strong) is 25 pounds (no deck makes a huge weight difference).
Well-made wood boats are kind of the cream of wonderfulness in a lot of ways. This one we're seeing here is a beauty! (I'm drooling - can you tell?
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I grew up on the water, @AnnPT77, as my father was a commercial fisherman. Plenty of time in a canoe and small sailboats but I've never sat in a kayak... but I left the east coast at age 17 when I went to college and I've not really been much involved with boating since then.
So +30 years ago, the canoes were heavy enough, it normally took two people to portage them. They were made of fibreglass rather than kevlar. I've seen wooden ones but never sat in one. I have a few friends over the years who kayaked but I've never pursued the opportunity.
Over the years, I've struggled with work/recreation balance... rather heavily on the work side (literally heavy!). Although I'm doing better now, it's still a struggle.4 -
16JAN17
Deck lines, bungee webs fore and aft of cockpit, bungee paddle retainer at bow, carry handles fore and aft.
I'll let it hang for a couple days to cure the varnish before the final step, setting it down and getting the seat placement right and secured.
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Final weigh-in 37.8 pounds. Very pleased.3
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Final weigh-in 37.8 pounds. Very pleased.
Wow, that's amazing light for a craft that size! I'm now even more impressed!
BTW, my heaviest paddleboard is about 35 pounds (at 12'6"), my lightest is a 'heavy' 24 pounds (really wanted it under 20 lbs since it's my race board, but I bought it for the advanced design and stability).
Oh, and nice Werner paddle
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