8. STRIPPING -UP COMPLETE!!

In This posting:

1 AHHHH!
2 Why did I not think of this before?
3 Bulging (again)
4 Working with epoxy
5 The TOOLS!

6 Next
7 Thanks

1 AHHHH!

2 pm Sunday 28 March 2010

"AHHH" I shouted as I placed the last small triangular shaped "strip" on the aft deck section of the deck - completing the laying of the cedar strips.
"WHAT'S WRONG" my wife shouted as she came running, thinking that I had probably severed a finger on the band saw.

2 Why did I not think of this before?

After I lifted the hull from the strong back and started stripping-up the deck, I found I had nowhere to support the clamps etc. when clamping the strips in place.

I then consructed a "overhead" strong back that could be used to jam the clamps against. This also afforded the facility to use notched planks that could be clamped to the strong back and these notched planks could be clamped at any angle to ensure a perfect line-up of the strips. This should have been done right from the start. Would have saved alot of time.

3 Bulging (Again)


The following photograph shows the severe extent of side-ways bending required of the strips on that aft section of the deck

At this time I did not want to use narrower strips and had to taper the ends of the strips somewhat and saw "kerfs" at certain distances to accomodate the side-ways bending. These kerfs will have to be hidden with a veneer graphic afterwards.


4 Working with epoxy

A couple of weeks ago my brother-in-law , Dr Charles Crosby who is an expert in laminates/composites, aerodynamics etc, warned me about the health hazards when working with epoxy. I forgot what the names of the illnesses are but found the following quote on the web:


"I have seen symptoms occur in 2 ways. One is your throat and lungs mainly from the fumes can be sensitized. After being away from the epoxy for months I can come in contact with the fumes and get a constricted throat and windpipe almost instantly and it will last for weeks. A friend of mine has a major problem with dermatitis on his skin. He comes out in a mess of red raw rash all over. He has gradually got worse despite long breaks from epoxy but is now wearing a full air supply suite (in the tropics) to do any epoxy work, or employing someone else. When he gets really bad he goes to sea and spends as much time as possible in the sea water. He reckons this helps heal it all up ready for the next dose. You have to be dedicated to put up with, or as I prefer, be bloody stupid."

Scary stuff, indeed. I have been wearing latext loves ever since Charles spoke to me.

5 The TOOLS

What would one do without brothers-in law! My other brother-in-law (Daniel de Vos) gave me these spoke planes - ideal for planing the edges of the strips as mentioned in an earlier postng

6 Next

The cockpit area. The cockpit does seem excessively wide presently but if the viewing panel was to be utilised, one's knees need to be out the way as far as possible.

The Stealth Evolution is a fully enclosed "sit on top" kayak and therefor has a failrly low profile. I may have to raise the frame around the cockpit slightly to prevent too much water splashing over the sides

7 Thanks

It has been a long process to reach this stage and I want to thank the guys at Stealth Performance Products mainly Bruce, for their advice and allowing me to use their elegant design.

Also Mick Clarke Mick Clarke (http://www.kayakfishingsa.co.za) for his encouragment and the fact that I stole the picture of the pink Evolution from his web site

Time spent so far :115 hours

Present weight: 13 kg

7. PROGRESS

In This Posting:

1 Pay attention to the advice of experts

2 Progress

3 Curves.

4 Viewing panel

5 Cockpit

1. PAY ATTENTION TO THE ADVICE OF EXPERTS.

When I went on the kayak course presented by Mick Clarke (http://www.kayakfishingsa.co.za) last year, I heard what he said but I probably did not listen.
On 23 december 2009 my wife and lauched at Buffel's Bay (near Knysna - South Africa) in our kayaks and upon returning, and beaching I was "wiped-out" in, what I can imagine, could only could have been spectacular..
I lost my R 3 000.00 worth of glasses - which, on the other hand, maybe a good thing - one does not want to see 200 sunbathers enjoy your moment of humiliation..

2. PROGRESS:

Vissually very little progress has been made. However, a lot of time has been spent in hand-sanding the interior of the "cockpit", applying epoxy fillets, etc. Laying strips on the deck area only started last week-end. My stock of Red Cedar was depleted over the week-end. I kept one straw coloured plank for the deck and hopefully the supplier has more of these (fairly rare) coloured planks in stock.


3. CURVES

My wife and I launched at the Durban bay this morning and I noticed that six of the (only) eight vessels that had launced, were Stealths. Shortly after we beached at about 9:30am , a lady in a Kevlar Stealth "Splash" - the latest addition to the Stealth family (see Stealth Performance Products )beached. I immediately walked closer to inspect the curves (mainly on the Splash) more closely. It was clear that the tight curves between the vertical sides and the deck could never be duplicated using rigid 20mm wide redwood strips. I have to settle for a slight "chine" near the fore and aft sections of the deck.

4. VIEWING PANEL

During the recent holidays in Plettenberg Bay we saw "Canadian-stlye" canoe, fitted with a safety glass viewing panel. This is obviously the way to go but since already left a trapezium-shaped hole in the bottom, safety glass will not be practical. (As far as I know, safety glass cannot be cut?)

Having built a vacuum "plant" over the week-end (for de-gassing silicone mold material), I am considering laminating 3mm thick plate glass to perspex with "Crystal Clear" resin purchased from AMT.

5. Cockpit

The frame around the cockpit still needs some bending to have a more fair curve at the aft section. (Hair dryer?) This frame will also be laminated to form a thicker section.