If you're going to move house while building a kayak, try to bring all the equipment with you.
It seems that during the moving, I have somehow lost the bottles of epoxy resin. I'm not sure if they were lost, or I threw them away, because from memory they were damaged and leaking from the original post from the US, but long story short - I thought I had them, and I don't.
I've emailed Pygmy to see if I can get some more sent out, awaiting their reply. It's not going to slow me down too much just yet, as I can keep working on the stitching, but hopefully I can sort something out soon with Pygmy's help.
If I did have to see a silver lining in this though, I'll be able to change the cure speed of the hardener. When I originally ordered the kit, I selected the slow speed epoxy hardener because summer in Canberra was coming, and the temps were normally in the 35-38 degrees (celsius) range, I figured I'd need the extra time. Now, in Armidale, the temps are much lower and we're going into winter, where temps are closer to 10-15 celsius daily and down to below freezing overnight.
And another (another) thing. I think I settled on a name for the Coho - 'Warrego'. The name of the street we lived on when I started the build, and also the name of a river in Queensland. I reckon it fits well. Also got me thinking about maybe some pinstriping for the join of the deck to the hull. Food for thought for later on.
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Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Lift off! The hull takes shape
So after a few years it's all action now. I've started stitching together the hull panels and it's taking shape surprisingly quickly.
Essentially, the process involves aligning the bow seam on the panels, and joining a few stitches to make sure the panels are in the right spot. After that, the holes are drilled and the panel loosely wired together in all the holes, every 6 inches.
After the first two left and right panels are wired together, it's essentially a rinse and repeat process, aligning the panels, wiring them loosely, and then tightening the wires on both sides at the time to firm up the rigidity of the hull lines. I'm halfway through the third panel at the moment, and it'd be fair to say the second wind of the construction process has arrived.
The panels within the hull are temporary support braces to make sure the profile of the hull is uniform and the chines don't bulge out or fall in. They're only wired at the keel at the moment, and are fairly annoying as they flop about and get in the way until they're wired to the rest of the hull. The wiring together doesn't happen until all 4 hull panels are in place, so until then they're just in the way.
I was going to make a comment about the bending over killing my back, but looks like I already covered that in an earlier post about Tip #5. Get a decent height workbench. In fact, as you can see from my pictures, 'workbench' is a bit of a stretch, and I'm still working on two fold out trellis tables.
Essentially, the process involves aligning the bow seam on the panels, and joining a few stitches to make sure the panels are in the right spot. After that, the holes are drilled and the panel loosely wired together in all the holes, every 6 inches.
After the first two left and right panels are wired together, it's essentially a rinse and repeat process, aligning the panels, wiring them loosely, and then tightening the wires on both sides at the time to firm up the rigidity of the hull lines. I'm halfway through the third panel at the moment, and it'd be fair to say the second wind of the construction process has arrived.
The panels within the hull are temporary support braces to make sure the profile of the hull is uniform and the chines don't bulge out or fall in. They're only wired at the keel at the moment, and are fairly annoying as they flop about and get in the way until they're wired to the rest of the hull. The wiring together doesn't happen until all 4 hull panels are in place, so until then they're just in the way.
I was going to make a comment about the bending over killing my back, but looks like I already covered that in an earlier post about Tip #5. Get a decent height workbench. In fact, as you can see from my pictures, 'workbench' is a bit of a stretch, and I'm still working on two fold out trellis tables.
Saturday, February 15, 2014
Back... Again.
After my last post, there was a fair bit of no progress on the Coho. The partially completed boat was in mediocre storage in one of our sheds while we built a new shed, complete with a roof that didn't leak and a real concrete floor.
As of last week, the Coho is out of it's stale wrapping and back on the table. Unfortunately there is a some very slight water damage, and a family of mice had set up a nest in the wrapping, staining and eating into some of the timber. It' only superficial though and the boat is back into the fore of my mind.
Progress updates will continue as I get back into the build.
First of all is the bevelling of the shear edges where the deck and hull meet, and then the drilling of the holes for the wiring in the stitch and glue process.
I'm on a deadline now. We're in the last month of summer and the epoxy I ordered back in October 2010 is the slow cure type, designed for hot climates. It won't cure below 25 degrees celsius, and hence I need to get my act together while the weather is still hot enough to cure the epoxy.
As of last week, the Coho is out of it's stale wrapping and back on the table. Unfortunately there is a some very slight water damage, and a family of mice had set up a nest in the wrapping, staining and eating into some of the timber. It' only superficial though and the boat is back into the fore of my mind.
Progress updates will continue as I get back into the build.
First of all is the bevelling of the shear edges where the deck and hull meet, and then the drilling of the holes for the wiring in the stitch and glue process.
I'm on a deadline now. We're in the last month of summer and the epoxy I ordered back in October 2010 is the slow cure type, designed for hot climates. It won't cure below 25 degrees celsius, and hence I need to get my act together while the weather is still hot enough to cure the epoxy.
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