# New Kayak deck in the works...



## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

I mentioned in another post that I ripped the deck off of my stitch and glue kayak to make some modifications to the boat, fix a few issues, and generally try my hand at some truly unique wood working in the process. 

Over the last month and half I've decided on a deck design (decoration, not the actual shape of the deck) and bought and ripped my woods into strips. I chose white cedar, black walnut and mahogany as my woods. The walnut and mahogany will just be accent strips in a semi-wave form running along the deck length-wise.

I've been ripping woods and making little projects for quite a while now, but this is the first time I've had to rip long pieces of wood. (14+ feet long) That was a new experience and I had a couple of initial issues getting my cuts even, but I built a new fingerboard and a new feed stand to help me with it. Those can be seen in my other active thread.

I've also never routed anything other than straight cuts for rabbits etc. With the stripped wood decks the easiest thing for construction is to use tongue and groove. So, I went out and bought a set of bead and flute bits at 1/4" diameter and figured out the process. A couple of lessons I learned... higher RPMs for harder woods. I had some horrible tear out on my walnut (which were significantly narrower than my cedar,) which I'm hoping won't impact use too much but likely will. Also, routers make a horrendous amount of sawdust. I already knew that, but minimizing it by making adjustments to take off the bare minimum of material took some trial and error.

Anyway, I'm enjoying this process and learning a lot. I tend to have to teach myself all the tricks through trial and error, so I really appreciate the help I receive on various boards like this one. I will keep updating this thread, though it will be slow next month since I'm going out on travel.

To make this a little more appealing, here is a picture of the boat with the old deck and a picture of the strips after I completed routing them. (You can see the pieces of the old deck laying on the floor beside the strips.) Also one of the skin on frame boat I built to paddle while I'm modifying my stitch and glue. (Yes the skin on frame is completely clear.)


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## jdixon (Nov 21, 2007)

Frank, Sounds like quite a project! It's the ones like this that test your skills, force you to learn new techniques and make you a much better woodworker. Good luck on the completion and keep us updated with lots of pics.

John


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

Man! Great project. That'll keep you busy for a while. Don't forget the pictures when you are done. Oh, by the way, just a little advice for the clear skin frame boat............be sure to wear pants!! :laughing:
Ken


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## TheRecklessOne (Jul 22, 2008)

HAHA :laughing:...Yeah definitely gotta wear pants in that bad boy... Ever hear of Donald Duckin' it? :laughing: 

Frankp...Have you built any large boats? I've had George Buehler's Backyard Boatbuilding for years and would really like to give it a shot.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

TheRecklessOne said:


> Ever hear of Donald Duckin' it? :laughing:


Nearly wet my pant when I read this. Thanks Reckless. :laughing::laughing::huh:


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## Kudzu (Dec 23, 2008)

GP paddle, Ocean cockpit and what looks like a Yost style frame under that clear skin. I think I see another addict there.

What are you going to do about a strong back for the new deck? Anxious to see how you do this. I did one like that but my strong back wasn't strong enough.


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

Kudzu,

Yes, I'm the same FrankP posting on the kayak builders bulletin board about the modified Nikumi (posts of "Nikumi comments" and "More Nikumi Comments"). 

I'm actually just putting temporary forms in the NorthBay hull as a strongback for the new deck. I've gone back and forth about the best way to do it, but I'm planning to call CLC today to find out if they can help me get the actual offsets since I'm having issues getting the forms mated well to the hull and I'd like to have as close to the original deck shape as possible.

Reckless,
My advice is get it started. I have only built kayaks so far, but keep thinking I'll step it up to a sailboat at some point. My brother is telling me he wants to do a fishing boat, 20' or so. I don't think he's started though. Either way, the techniques translate across the different boat styles pretty well. And there's not much better feeling than spending most of your day on the water in a boat you built... or explaining how you built your boat from scratch. All the boats I've built (4 now) always get a lot of attention and questions, and it's a great way to meet people. Or just a great way to have a beautiful boat for a cheap price.

Ken, pants are a definite must. I think we all think alike because that's exactly what my friends and I were saying when we started talking about building these boats. I ended up being the only one who did build one, but that's another subject entirely.

FrankP


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## Bob Willing (Jul 4, 2008)

*CLC Fan*

Hay Frank "great" Kayak! I see you are a CLC (Chesapeake Light Craft) customer as well. I built the Jimmy Skiff in 2004 and had a great time with it. I met the guy's from CLC at the Madison, WI Kayak show in 2005 and I won the door prize, Carolina Lite Kayak. I sold the Kayak and bought a digital camera, but I still have the Jimmy Skiff. I see you may want to build a sailboat. The Jimmy Skiff can be converted into a sailboat. The boat is very stable. The boat only weighs 100 lb's. It is 14 ft long with a 4 ft beam. I use it for fishing on small lakes and I have a small electric trolling motor which works just great. The floor boards are made from plastic lattice and velcroed in place. This way when you want to wash out the boat just pull up the floor boards wash, wipe and reinstall


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

Bob,

Nice looking skiff. As much as I'd like to build a sailboat, my wife is much less interested in using one. I'll probably convert two or three kayaks into a potential cat or tri-maran so that me and the kids can take it/them out occasionally. That's a few years away from now though.

FrankP


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

So this thread was dead for about a year but now I have to bring it back. After a much longer hiatus than I'd anticipated (though I should have known better) I'm back working on my kayak. I spent a couple hours this weekend cutting down the "sheer clamps" and doing some hand planing to clean up the inside of my kayak. 

For those that don't know, sheer clamps are wooden rails that run along the inside of a stitch and glue kayak (like in the very first picture) to help join the hull and deck together. With a a strip deck, like I'm adding to this boat, they are not necessary because the deck and hull get glassed together. As such, I'm cutting mine out to provide me more comfort while paddling, and reduce a little bit of weight.
Pictures soon, I swear.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

Looking forward to the update Frank. Glad to hear you're back on the job. :thumbsup:
Ken


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## Ella Menneau P. (Jun 7, 2009)

I can't wait to see this progress!:thumbsup:


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