Bcone1381 Posted December 29, 2013 Report Share Posted December 29, 2013 I started building a Kudzu Craft Ravenswood Kayak today. I will try recording the build process with photos along the way. Total time so far : 1.0 hours Total Cost so far: $80 for plans, one spool of waxed Sinew, plus shipping Material on hand : 1/2 marine plywood Next step: glue the plans to the plywood, finish the jig for the coaming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JReed Posted December 30, 2013 Report Share Posted December 30, 2013 I look forward to seeing your progres Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P Doug (WA) Posted December 30, 2013 Report Share Posted December 30, 2013 Well be watching also. You have started a fun adventure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kudzu Posted December 30, 2013 Report Share Posted December 30, 2013 By all means post photos! We love them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bcone1381 Posted December 31, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2013 This will be the first coaming I have ever made. I have spent a couple hours experimenting, and expect some failure....I mean some educational by experience along the way. The jig for the coaming was made from MDF. . I am a novice woodworker. Re-sawing an oak board into strips using a band saw resulted in wavy cuts. I soaked them last night in preparation to bending them around the jig. But I woke up this morning realizing a need for more exciting tolerances on the oak strips thickness. Will work on that today. Time spent: Re sawing oak: 1.0 hours Coaming Jig : 2.0 hours Total time so far : 4.0 hours Cost: One clear Oak 1x4x8': $13.74 Total cost to date: $93.74 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
labrat Posted January 1, 2014 Report Share Posted January 1, 2014 The jig looks good - very neat. How thick are the strips you cut for the coaming? I can't remember exactly how thick mine were but the curve at the front is difficult to get around without snapping some strips so they need to be fairly thin. Apart from the water a heat gun can be a big help if you are having trouble. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bcone1381 Posted January 1, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 1, 2014 Labrat, the strips of wood are 1/8" thick....well, it's thickness is not uniform, but after yesterday's post I trimmed them so the max thickness went from 1/4 down to an 1/8". I will have four wraps of 1.5 inch oak strips, then four more with 1/2 wide oak strips for the top lip of the coaming. I think my coaming will have some rustic elegant character to it....if you know what I mean. My parents got this roaster as a wedding gift in 1949. Today it fulfills the need as my steam generator. My wife invoked the "no open flames inside the house rule" when considering the use of the gas Coleman camping stove. The long pipe is a clothes dryer duct...ask your wife's permission before taking yours down for a project like this. Again, I call on the wisdom of The Lord in hopes that this works!! I've never bent wood before, and here I go, blabbing to all of His Creation like I am an expert! Post edited due to dyslectic author fixing grammar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P Doug (WA) Posted January 1, 2014 Report Share Posted January 1, 2014 I soaked mine where the bend was tight. Use a heat gun and bent/clamped them around the mold, without gluing. Let it sit a couple days to completely dry then put it back together with glue. That way I didn't have to use a heat gut with the glue. It worked much better than my first attempt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bcone1381 Posted January 1, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 1, 2014 P. Douglas, I am glad you spoke about the pre-bending/disassemble, the assemble-glueing procedure! I was wondering about the wet wood, glue, heat gun issues that I might have. Up to now, I was just going to wipe the hot steamy wood off with a cloth and slither on the glue and go for it. I will seriously reconsider. What happened with the failed method? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P Doug (WA) Posted January 2, 2014 Report Share Posted January 2, 2014 The first attempt, did not fail, it is on my kayak. However I worried about the fact I used a heat gun and glued it at the same time. Some of the glue turned dark and some boiled up while I was putting it together. So far it is still holding together. I purchased to supplies to build a second kayak and the first and only thing I have built for it is the coaming. It is the one I used water and pre-bent the wood as I described in my post above. It went together much easier and looks better then my first one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodman Posted January 2, 2014 Report Share Posted January 2, 2014 Why use a band saw to rip the strips? Looks like you have a table saw in the pic.... On my table saw I did this for ripping strips to keep thin pieces from lodging between the blade and the insert... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bcone1381 Posted January 2, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2014 Why use the band saw? 1) I am a rookie with more book knowledge that practical application and believe the band saw is a good tool for re-sawing. 2) I invested in a re sawing band saw blade so "I gotta put it to use." 2) the band saw kirf is at most .015" thick. 3) The table saw kirf is .125" thick and would have doubled my lumber cost. 4) I was able to resaw a 4" inch board. But with my results, the table saw would have given tighter tolerances. A weakness of mine is being a human being therefore "Am unwilling to admit my error." A strong point is that I recognize my own ignorance. In the hands of a skilled woodworker, I still think that the band saw properly adjusted with the right blade is a better tool for re-sawing, and that my skill level is the issue. However, am have an open mind, am willing to be influenced, and appreciate the question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hirilonde Posted January 2, 2014 Report Share Posted January 2, 2014 Why use a band saw to rip the strips? Looks like you have a table saw in the pic.... Less sawdust/less waste. But it does require a resaw blade, the saw well tuned/adjusted and a good fence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodman Posted January 3, 2014 Report Share Posted January 3, 2014 I use a thin kerf 0.063" blade when necessary. And I would only resaw lumber that is too thick for a tablesaw.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CapecodJohn Posted January 3, 2014 Report Share Posted January 3, 2014 This is interesting especially for us newbies The physics of band saw re-sawing 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kudzu Posted January 3, 2014 Report Share Posted January 3, 2014 EXCELLENT! I can not believe I have never seen this video before. I have learned to set up my saw to where it works, but I am not sure I knew the physics of why. I just knew what it took to make it saw like I wanted. This is great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bcone1381 Posted January 6, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2014 Edited due to double entry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bcone1381 Posted January 6, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2014 I have watched a lot of his videos. He is a great teacher! I just have time to learn but less so to refine skills. Anyway, if anyone is interested, I use a blade made by Highland, called the Wood Slicer Resawing blade. I cannot compare it to others as it is the first resaw blade I have owned. I resawed 4" oak with it. ! I have the main coaming glued up and will add its lip over the next few days. Quit honestly, initially it looked unacceptable to me, but I thought I would try to save it. I sanded it down and this helped the cosmetics a great deal. On this side you see gaps between the strips of oak. Some might say its clamping pressure issues or uneven Resawing issues, but lets just call it a skill and experience issue. . This is what it looks like on the other side where I filled in the gaps with mixture of saw dust and wood glue. I think it made a big difference and is nice enough to use it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mks Posted January 13, 2014 Report Share Posted January 13, 2014 Thanks for these pictures. I just purchased a ravenswood plans set as well. I look forward to your pictures of the lip installation. I am having problems visualizing the process. Does it involve laying lots of little pieces side by side in a radial pattern? How much over hang on the lip is required? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bcone1381 Posted January 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2014 MKS, The process I am using wraps thin (1/8" thin) strips of oak around a mold. The strips are up to 7 feet long. I built up the about four layers to 1/2 " thick with the wide stuff (1 1/2" wide) then went to the narrower (1/2) wide for the lip. Here is a photo of a narrow strip I am using to build up the lip. I wish I had a few more clamps! The lip is almost built up. I will have three layers for about 3/8". 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.