Cutting the mortises was the last thing to be done before the gunwales were seperated. Next step was to chamfer the ends. I started off using the electric planer, but because I was only doing a small area I wasn't really happy with the amount of control I had, even with it set to its lowest blade setting. So, I got out the old Stanley 130 block plane I bought at the boatie's market on Sunday and used it for the first time. I was really pleased with the result and how easy the plane was to use. I wish I'd had it when I built the paddles last week.
Once the ends were done it was time to join them together, well, temporarily to start with. I put a couple of turns of rope around each end, around about where the risers start. Then I cut a temporary spreader to length (more about that later) and wedged it in at the centre line. That was actually quite a scary job, since there's a fair bit of tension on the gunwales. If I'd slipped, there's no telling where the spreader would've ended up. I nailed it in place using the nails I'd previously used to hold the gunwales together. No point throwing away perfectly good, perfectly straight nails just because they've been used for a day or two.
It's now starting to really look boat shaped.
As an added precaution, a windlass was used to keep it all tight.
Next, spreaders were added at the bow and stern. The instructions say the stern one should be 65" from the centre, and the bow one 60" from the centre. There's no way that was going to happen. I think the stern one ended up about 57" from centre and the bow one considerably less than that. When it comes right down to it though, they're only there to shape the boat. As long as the stern is slightly rounder than the bow it'll be okay. After all, when the Inuit were making their kayaks from bits of driftwood they'd found on the beach, I'm sure they weren't too particular about measurements. I'm pretty sure they would have used a screwdriver too if they didn't have a 1/4" chisel handy.
Speaking of measurements, going by the instructions my kayak should be about 21" at the widest point. In fact, I'm so skinny I could probably get away with something even narrower, but then it would start to get a bit too tippy. It wasn't till after I'd attached the bow and stern spreaders that I decided to measure the beam. It turns out to be closer to 23" wide, so it'll probably be even more stable than expected. It'll still be narrower than any other kayak I've paddled, with the possible exception of a Seabird Expedition that I had a quick 5 minute paddle in a few weeks ago.
The last picture shows the bow spreader in place. It looks a little crooked in this picture, but I can assure you it's just the camera angle. I hope.
The last step for the day was to run a saw between the two ends to make sure they fit together nice and flush. Before I did this I couldn't help thinking that the tension on the two sides would squeeze the saw blade once you got part of the way through. I was right. I'm not sure this step is necessary, but if you do go ahead and do it, try to continue all the way through, otherwise if you pull the blade out and start again you'll be removing more wood before the sticking point and you'll find the ends of your gunwales will start to flare out.
Next step is to peg the ends. I'm not sure if I'll get to do that tomorrow as I've got a couple of things to do. I'm picking my step-daughter up from the airport, as she gets back from her Thailand holiday, tomorrow. Then I have to pick up those two missing pieces of timber, and I need to get some more timber for the deck beams. On the plus side, I'm not working tomorrow, so I may get some work done in the evening.
Time on the job today, three and a half hours, that's nine and a half total. Time spent studying, oops. Actually, I'm about two weeks ahead with my reading for uni, but I don't want to get slack and end up two weeks behind.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.