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Nichols Lutra II build


Abyssdncr

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While shopping for one more kayak to build, I got distracted by the romantic lines of David Nichols line of Lutra decked canoes and decided to go for it.  Bought his book, Tom Hill's book & video and started putting things together.  This will be my second build with plywood and first attempt at lapstrake.  The Lutra II is the 16' version, and I'm punching the forward bulkhead one station forward for extra leg room to sleep in on the camping trips and legroom for when I have an extra kiddo along for the ride.  I'm blending some of Tom's approach to tool construction to David's assembly instructions. 

 

So far, this is everything I enjoyed with SOF building combined with all the fun of woodworking, and no stitches, stapes, or lashings to contend with, and only a marginal amount of epoxy.  Plan is 6mm ply bottom, 4mm ply sides, and 3mm ply decks, WRC for the hardwood bits, Xynole for the bottom outside panels & kevlar on the inside.  I'm also keeping a daily build log of dates, activities, time, and *gasp* costs so when I get all those, "How long did that take?" or "What's something like that cost to build?" I can actually have some semi-factual information to respond with.  

 

I'm struggling with lighting, as you will see.  I added some nice LED shop lights and can't find a balance of the right amount of light - it's either so bright that the wood goes white, or I kill the lights and let the flash take over for a smidge of detail in the pics.  I'll work on it...  Pics of the progress so far (about 38 hrs into it...):

 

Strongback.jpg

 

Mold 1.jpg

 

mold 2.jpg

 

Mold 3.jpg

 

Bottom skin.jpg

 

Plane mods.jpg

 

Plane results.jpg

 

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Why did you chose Xynol for the outside and Kevlar for the inside?  Not a criticism, I'm just curious.  It's interesting that you've sheathed the bottom prior to attaching the strakes.  Will you cut the gains through the xynol?  That's a pretty boat design.  Can't wait to see her finished.

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Xynol for abrasion resistance on the outside, with Kevlar on the inside for best location of penatration resistance. Xynol is a lot of weight to add to a small boat, but very effective. Kevlar is always best if on the side fartherest from intial impact. On lapstrake boats I always cover the bottom up to the garboard/broad lap joint with fabric. It's the onlt way to effectivly protect the bottom and garboartds. Wrapping the laps further up, is exstremely difficult and not practical.

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Yup, what PAR said.  I wanted to build something I could get out and use on the Arkansas River, which means occasionally getting stuck on low water sand a bouncing off a log and/or rock along the way. From what I researched, this combo seemed to get the most votes for toughness and durability.  Cutting through the xynole hasn't slow my plane down at all to speak of on the lengthwise bevels prepping for the next plank, so I hope the gain cuts follow suit. For now though, I'm stuck in the sand and fill do-loop that seems to never end.... I'm hoping this morning's filler skim coat will be sufficient to get back to the fun stuff.  The double scarfed 17' panel is just waiting patiently.

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99% done with sand and fill.  I wasn't really sure what the proper protocol was for the inevitable low spots, so I just spot skimmed with micro-balloons.  I really didn't want to coat the whole thing just to turn around and sand almost all of it back off.  Is there a better way at this stage?  Graphite powder in the epoxy - neat, huh?  

 

Next plank getting fitted.  Overlap is finished to final size and faired with a long board.  Time to cut gains for the first time.  ?  Still need to check fit on the other side to see if it's a good enough to just use as a pattern to make a copy.

 

Also thinking of perhaps wrestling the hull off the mold to see if I have any major sticking spots.  I waxed all the battans quite well, but I'm sure it will require persuasion still.  

 

 

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Much of that (low spots) appear to be still susceptible to more sanding. Take the long board to it again and see how much more you can get, before needing to apply more filler. Also consider a box fan, strategically placed downstream of your work area. It'll remove much of what you're wearing and if ducted, can vent it outside. I have a dedicated fan with a 20" corrugated tube for just this type of thing. Place it as close to the work as possible. I usually hit the duct with the sander, as I'm working, that's how close I rig it up.

 

Novices performing fairing operations, often try to make a career out of the process. You can go up and down the hull several times and still find spots that need attention. At some point, you'll just have to accept what you're elbows are willing to tolerate. I'm aggressive with the first long board pass, really knocking down highs and flattening areas. The next pass is made to knock down the filler, over the just filled lows. The last pass usually has the lows filled and leveled and is a fine tuning of the whole surface, with some special emphasis on the chine radius and other special areas. It's not unusual to need some pinhole filling after this stage, but this is generally local work on specific spots.

 

You'll get it, just keep stroking (literally).

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Managed to wrestle the first layer off the tool last night and get it repostioned back in the same spot. Rather glad I didn't wait till it was all built for that. Definitely need to do a better job of cleaning up epoxy for the next few planks.  

 

First couple gains are cut, but I'm awaiting a bull nose plane for the rest. Should arrive tomorrow.  My freehand chisel skills aren't the greatest and the Shinto rasp is taking a toll on my fingers.

 

Test fit the plank to the other side, looked good and traced a copy. Should get them both on over the weekend.

 

 

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Some like a "quick" gain, which means the taper is done over a fairly short distance. I prefer a longer gain over several inches, gradually tapering down to flush with the stem or transom. They can also be done a few different ways too. The traditional method is a rabbeted lap, but I like to just use a straight scarf style of gain. It's simply a tapered rolling bevel, to the stem on the lap. Yours looks pretty good and I'll assume rabbited.

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Off the mold yesterday morning, and still in one piece! :D  Carbon scraper fun time now, and then back on the mold to fill the lap gaps with epoxy and fair the low spots.  Will be working on ripping and scarfing gunwale stock in the down time.

 

If I were feeling so ambitious as to cedar strip the fore & aft deck, what would be a good thickness for the strips?  Plans call for 1/8" ply, but since they're so small and aren't complex geometrically, relatively speaking, I thought it might be a good spot to try my hand at strips.  Since the decks and gunwales will be the only parts of the boat not painted, it should make for a nice visual accent as well.

 

Pretty nice feeling of accomplishment to have the shell off the tool in 6 weeks from starting from nothing but a spreadsheet in the back of a book to now, but then I made my list of next steps...and it's still a LONG list of to-dos - almost took the wind right out of my sails...

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