Kayak Build, Day 8

I've got the evening off work today, so I could spend a bit more time on the kayak than usual. The only trouble is, I've run out of materials.

When I last bought timber, I only bought one length of 8mm Tassie oak for the ribs. The reason for this is, 6mm is recommended, but they didn't have 6mm, only 4mm or 8mm. So I figured I'd get the 8mm and see how easy it was to plane to the right thickness before buying more. Well I've got to the stage where I'm ready to start on the ribs. The piece of 8mm was very easy to plane to thickness, so I need to go and buy some more. Except, I don't have the car.

Anyway, here's a picture of the finished pointy end. Or at least finished to the point it's ready for the ribs to be fitted. The curve that's been cut out of the stem piece is just to reduce weight a bit, not that it'll make that much difference.



The next two pictures show the three ribs I've cut to length so far. There's twenty-one ribs all together, so I need to get about six more pieces of oak. These are the three longest, so six should be more than enough. You may remember that I originally cut enough mortises for twenty-two ribs. Well the forward most one is so close to the stem piece that I wont be able to put a rib in there, so it'll be left empty.





Once all the ribs are cut to length, they need to soak in water for three days to soften them up, then into the steamer for five minutes before bending. I've had a look round for something that's long enough to soak them in, and the only thing I can find is our bathtub. We only use the shower, so it won't be any inconvenience to leave it full of water and oak strips for three days. I might check a couple of forums first though to make sure it's not going to stain the bath.

Total on the job is now 30 hours, since I only spent two hours on it today. I've heard 60 hours mentioned as a total build time, so I've reached the half way point. Although I suspect it's not going to take me another 30 hours to finish.