Page 10 - The Hull is Complete!  Stripping the Deck Begins!

It has been awhile since my last post.  I got the hull finished a couple of weeks ago, but work has slowed since then.
 
Here is the hull with no more holes.  The last few  strips were pretty tricky, and I was left with some sliver-sized gaps, into which I had to put, well, slivers.  I didn't take a close up of that, because it's pretty funky.

Here is another picture.


This isn't quite close enough to show the slivers.  The wet looking spot is just that - a wet spot.  I keep a wet towel handy to wipe up the glue drips before they harden.  It was sitting here are few seconds ago.


Starting the Deck

I'm not going to try anything too fancy in the way of a deck pattern on this first boat.  I'm having enough trouble trying to learn this process and not mess up too badly, without adding to my difficulties.

I opted for a some accent strips - one on each sheerline, and one down the center of the hull.  I'm using thin strips of walnut and spruce.  I'll fill the rest of the deck with redwood.  Milling the strips was a hassle.  I had to rip some previously milled strips.  It was hard to hold the narrow strips against the rip fences on both the table saw and the router table.  I ended up with some chatter.  The result is that the edges of the strips are sometimes a bit wavy.  Some of the narrow walnut strips didn't get a full cove cut into them.  I've had to add the cove later by hand with a 1/4" rasp.  It's slow going in the hard wood.

I'm going to have to refine my milling techniques before I attempt another boat.  I have some ideas which, I hope, will work.

Here's a closeup of the side accent strips.  At the top is a full strip of redwood.  Below that are narrow strips of walnut, spruce, and walnut.  The light "strip" below that is masking tape protecting the top edge of the hull.  I don't want any glue to get in there, because I'm going to have to pull the top and bottom shells apart eventually so I can take the strongback out.
 
 

This view shows the side accent strips curving up to the prow.  These curves are difficult, especially with the hard walnut.  The narrowness of the strips make them easier to bend, but there wasn't much room for a staple.  When I got a staple in the wrong place it was a struggle to pull it out of the walnut.  During all the machinations I went through to get things right, I rubbed of some of the masking tape, so I added the piece of blue masking tape.

I'm getting a bit paranoid about being able to pull the two halves of the kayak away from the forms.  That is the type of thing that would typically happen to me - accidently gluing everything together so I can't get the strongback out.  What would I do then?  Cross your fingers.


Here's a picture of the front of the boat, with my assistant waiting for her chance to lend a paw.


It's starting to look like a boat!

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