26-02-2012: Foot braces and wie for the skeg II

Just reinforced the mountings for the foot braces with glasfibre. To protect the threads i placed a screw in each hole and then placed the fiberglass over the screw.

The new block for the tubing for the skeg wire is now in place.

19-02-2012: Wire for the skeg / name inlay

Aaaargh - @#$!!**@#$ !!
I just wanted to check how the skeg wirering was to operate so I put the deck on the hull and hooked a bungee cord and wire to the skeg in the skeg box. From the skeg box to the wire cleat I placed the plastic tube in wich the wire should run. When trying to mount the tubing I realized that I have mounted the wrong tube bushing. I have 8mm tube and I had glued a 6mm bushing ti the wood block. I took my drill and "dismounted" the 6mm bushing. Then I tried again and found that the wire was almost impossible to operate. The near 90 degrees bend on the tubing made the wire slide very poorly. I need the tubing to meet the deck in a very narrow angle so there is no bend.

"Dismounting" the wood block

Repairing the hole. This will not be visible because it will be underneath the wire cleat. 

I placed the name inlay on the deck and glued it in place. The I wrapped the whole thing in tape very tight. (got no pictures of the tape wrapping)

17-02-2012: Mounting foot braces

I have made four small pieces of plywood for mounting the foot brace rails. A M6 bushing is countersunk into the backside of the plywood.

I used epoxy and wood dust to make a thick glue. Clamps are holding the rails while the glues hardenens. 

For securing the hatches I made small wooden pad eyes.  The idea is to tie the hatch to the boat with a string so I dont loose the hatches.

15-02-2012: Holes in the end pour.

I have just made the holes in the end pour for the carrying handles.

Again a scary feeling to do anything so drastic to the kayak.

But it went OK. First I drilled a small hole from both sides.

 Then I drilled straight through with a larger drill and and chamfered the rim.

 After that I gave the inside of the hole and the edges of the wood a coat of epoxy to seal it off.

 The small piece of wood for the skeg line control also had a coat of epoxy.

14-02-2012: End Pour

Today I got my microspheres and I have made the end pours. I made several batches of epoxy with microspheres and poured this in the ends.

I was a bit surprised when I realized that the epoxy started to expand. But I had covered the kayak side with masking tape so it was not a disaster. 

I used some of the epoxy to glue the underside of the skeg wire control in place.

Here is a picture of the upper side.

The end pour hardened quite quickly and got quite hot, but the result looks OK. I will wait until tomorrow to remove the cardboard partition. 

12-02-2012: Name inlay etc.

Today I made the name inlay for my kayak. I used the planer to make a bunch of shavings. After few sec in boiling water I could straighten out the shavings and place them to dry on a paper.

I carefully cut out small pieces of the shaving to form the letters.

Its not easy to see, but on top of the paper template is a piece overhead foil. I glued the small pieces of wood in place on the foil.

I have ordered 400g of micro balloons to use in the end pours. I have still not received the microballons but I am doing the preparations. I have made partitions of cardboard covered with packing tape.

Here I am testing the position of the foot braces. The foot braces are held in place by a couple of clamps.

The hoops for the bungee cord are coated with epoxy.

It has been a very productive weekend :-) I have even had time to make bread. Coarse rye bred with cheese and a glas of Amarone... (and yes I know I should have picked a proper glass..)

05-02-2012: Under deck bungee cord hatch hold down

To attach the bungee cords to the hull I glued 4 pieces of wood in place at each hatch.

I used a mix of epoxy and  wood dust.

To hold the pieces in place while the glue is setting the ever important clamps are in use again

The foot braces had an extra coat of black.

The hatch flanges had a coat of black on the upper side as well.