A bit of a miscellaneous day

In the absence of enough rib stock I thought I'd do a few miscellaneous jobs on the kayak, stuff that I don't really count as being part of the build, so I won't add to the total time, except for a bit of sanding and cleaning up the ends of dowels.

Below is my steam box that'll be used for bending the ribs. It's made from a piece of 2.4m by 1.2m half inch ply and probably took me no more than two hours to make. Underneath that popcorn tin is a gas, camping stove, one of those you can buy in just about any supermarket. The tin is filled with water, and the steam goes up through a two inch hole in the bottom of the steamer.



The ribs will be placed on the two dowels, allowing the steam to circulate to all surfaces. Yes, I know they aren't square, that's because I measured from the bottom of the steamer and the steamer isn't square. It was a cheap piece of ply that'd sat in the bottom of someone's trailer for months and got wet.



I mentioned yesterday that the only thing I had to soak the ribs in was our bath tub, then I had a proper look around the house. As well as a fish tank and a wheelbarrow that were big enough, I also had three huge photographic developing trays that are just the right size. I decided to start soaking the ribs that I already have so I can steam them on Sunday. I'll buy the rest of the rib stock tonight after I finish work as it's late night shopping tonight. I can then cut them to size and start soaking them tomorrow.



Since it's such a nice winter's day outside today, I thought I'd take some pictures of the frame out in the sun. Finding a spot in the garden without chook or dog poo isn't easy, but I managed.







One problem I have every morning when I start working on the kayak is that the chooks want to come in the shed and explore. Invariably they'll leave a calling card right where I'll step in it, so it comes in handy having Chino, my step-daughter's dog, handy. She likes to lie in the shed doorway, in the sun, which keeps the chooks out.



With the half hour spent today sanding, I'm now up to 30 1/2 hours total. Leather for the seat and deck lines was bought on eBay yesterday. It all still looks like coming in at well under $400. Some of the material I've bought for it will be left over, so it'll be used on Donna's boat. So I won't be able to work out the exact costing till it's all finished.