Building a kayak!
This is one of my biggest and longest projects to date. I started thinking about this in August 2019 and finished the first prototype in March 2020. At the time of this writing (July 2020), I'm working on the 4th prototype. This post is about the 1st prototype.
Like most of my projects, this one began life in SolidWorks. I printed a scale model and built a full-size mockup of the cockpit area to get a better feel for how it would work.
I'm building this boat using a fuselage frame building technique. The main elements of the frame are cross sections and stringers. Cross sections are plywood pieces that define the shape of the boat. Solid wood stringers join the cross sections at the correct intervals to form the shape of the boat. Finally, a waterproof skin is wrapped around the frame. You can read more about this building technique on Tom Yost's website: yostwerks.org
I used a CNC router to cut the plywood sections and ripped some poplar for the stringers. Assembly goes quickly when all the parts are ready and pre-finished. Hardwood dowels reinforce the joints between the plywood sections and the stringers.
These photos show how the dowels work. I thought it would be a good idea to lash in a floor to sit on (this turned out to be great idea, as I had to later remove the floor). I also thought it would be a good idea to paint the frame, but perhaps I should have left it as is.
I used a 12 oz. polyester cloth for the skin. Sewing it on was long and tedious, and it would have been a lot harder if I hadn't gotten help from an awesome friend. Ultimately we got it done.
In my infinite wisdom, I thought it would be a good idea to fiberglass the bottom to make it even tougher. So I ordered some lightweight fiberglass and clear epoxy and convinced another awesome friend to help me with this part. Turns out fiberglassing soft surfaces is a bad idea as they become impossible to sand and smooth out. I soon discovered that fiberglass was not needed at all, but it was still a good learning experience - I am now much more confident in my fiberglass repairs.
After some testing and improvement, I sold this kayak to start working on a new one. Overall, this was an amazing learning opportunity.
Huge thanks to my friends for helping me with the project (and getting me into kayaking in the first place) and to Sears think[box] for providing the space to build the boat!
