Action Tiger Posted April 4, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2016 Well, I sewed the bow up, but I ain't cut and trimmed it yet. I got sidetracked by a foot race. The next few days are dog days, then back to the boat. Dog days, by the by, are lived by a simple adage. Sitting is better than standing, lying is better than sitting, and sleeping is better than lying. See if I can't wear out that hammock... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Action Tiger Posted April 9, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 9, 2016 The bow is all sewn up. It took on some odd puckers, but it's tight, so, no worries. There are some pull holes, but nothing major. I think I may sew a small patch over rather than seal with any goop or extra thick paint. Plus, a patch right in the crook of the jaw won't be so bad. It might actually look cool. Maybe I WILL sew some random little patches on, and a few false double cord seams. Hmmm... I painted the curve because the fabric seemed to want to open up with the necessarily short selvege. I guess I really, really need to get a coaming done now, huh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Action Tiger Posted May 5, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2016 I still haven't found a real nice piece of coaming stock, but that's okay because I've been... otherwise occupied. I am, however, putting a few patches over the couple largish pull holes, and others randomly, to hide the mistakes, as it were. If you take a darning needle, and some round nose pliers, you can put giant sutures in your boat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Action Tiger Posted May 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2016 Take that, pull holes! The patch actually looks so cool, to me, I'm going to do a few of them around the "mouth" and incorporate them into the graphical treatment. I may do a ring of them around the cockpit, too, whenever I make it and sew it in. I also got some paint, so it won't be pink. Blue is weird, but I couldn't beat the price... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Action Tiger Posted May 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2016 Well. I'm thinking I'm just going to line the "mouth" now, add a few more patches. Why not? It's raining anyway, so no painting, yard work, or wood hunting today anyhow... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Action Tiger Posted May 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2016 Well. I guess that's done, then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Action Tiger Posted May 7, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2016 I was farting around looking at the boat, and I noticed all those little patches I sewed on the bow took up all the slack in the area. I was pretty afraid to pull this econo fabric too super tight, and really couldn't, anyway, without opening huge pull holes, so I figured to get it snug and iron it. These patches pulled out all the slack, though, so I'm going to try a few in some slackish spots I planned to iron and see if they pull out the slack there, too. It makes sense, really, but still... Of course, I don't mind having little blobs of fabric all over my boat. It's not like any drag could make me any slower... And, I MAAAY have found a nice piece of ash for the coaming. I gotta go look at it today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodman Posted May 9, 2016 Report Share Posted May 9, 2016 Wow that fabric is a loose weave , it's translucent. ....I wonder if that is the same fabric I got a while back and reminded me of fiberglass cloth......I got some of the 11oz to do my last boat....still have the other fabric was going to use it on a S&G hull with a skin deck..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Action Tiger Posted May 9, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2016 Yeah, this stuff reminds me of 6oz fiberglass, except the way if feels. It is weird, sorta hard to sew, but it is super light... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Action Tiger Posted June 11, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2016 Nobody panic. I cut the wood for my coaming today, and I'm building a form. I know. It. Just. Might. Happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Action Tiger Posted June 27, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2016 Nobody panic, but I am laying out the coaming form after second lunch. It will be cut out and assembled this evening, and then I'm going to try and steam this coaming. I went thick on this one, so I hunk I need to use a backing strap, too. I got a little distracted by another boat, again, but the coaming is here, cut, and ready to steam, so I think I may be able to finally paddle this boat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Action Tiger Posted July 2, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2016 Heh. When I went to plug in my steamer, guess what? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Action Tiger Posted July 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2016 Just so y'all know, too, last summer it was building a new sailing canoe. This summer it's been a new 20 foot sailboat... One of these days soon, I'm going to get this kayak done. If I didn't already have 4 other canoes and kayaks, I might be in more of a hurry. Oh, my other excuse is I've been waiting for my rough paddle blank to really dry out before I finish carving it. Can't have a new boat with an old paddle! Yuck. I'm afraid to test it, so I'll assume it needs a few more days to dry. I AM taking the firefly on the fall camping trip, though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Action Tiger Posted July 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2016 Oh, now you know someone hacked my account... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Action Tiger Posted July 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2016 I also came to the conclusion I need to make another new paddle. The blank I started for this boat is cool, should make a great paddle, but it's a Greenland style paddle. For this baidarka style boat, I think I need an Aleutian style paddle. I'm thinking a fancy bowed paddle like I saw once. The power face is on one side of the paddle, the other face carries a ridge. The flat, power faces of the paddle curve gently forward, sort of like a bent canoe paddle. Earlier entry, flatter paddle face, longer contact, less lift, you know, all the bent paddle line. Mostly, though, it will just look "righter". And I get to carve another paddle. One I made for nothing because a board with the perfect bow in it should be cheap... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Action Tiger Posted July 7, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2016 Well. Coaming time. In the background is the paddle blank stuff. I had an already slightly bowed piece of 1x. The paddle style I am roughly emulating is asymmetric, having only one power face. The power face is flat, and the back side carries a ridge nearly the entire length. I thought to utilize material wisely, and to its best strengths, by laminating up a blank. The weights are to help pre-bend the otherwise straight piece on top. It sounds good in my head... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Action Tiger Posted July 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2016 Well. I had some doubts about my coaming wood after I ripped it all to size, but I proceeded anyway. I now have three broken sticks. I was unable to get the grain oriented perfectly and they all split out, in various places. The last one made it all the way around the form before bursting with gusto at the hard bend. I MAAAY cave and laminate one, but ripping all those strips makes me itchy and sneezy. I would be tempted by the ply coaming too, but that uses up,a lot of stuff... Well, good news is I need to hit the wood lot. Bad news is, it's real hot... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Action Tiger Posted July 9, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2016 Okay, sometimes things happen for a reason. In trying to figure out how to best comb my boat, I started doing a little research. I have these bundles of paper in my house, racks of them, and most all of them are grouped around the ideas of boats or ancient cultures. You see, these subversive packets of paper are what made me rethink my paddle, to make it more appropriate for a baidarka-style boat. Done, and done, because I like making paddles, anyway. The scribbles on the sheafs also depicted the coamings of baidarkas often had the skin pulled OVER the coaming, instead of UNDER it, which apparently, is more generically Greenland-style. These are all GROSS generalizations, to make it easier for us to discuss. The lines clearly blurred. Anywho, now I'm thinking I may go with the plywood coaming, which would allow me to replicate the look of a traditional coaming, in the fuselage-style, of course. Because, if most of it is going to be covered by cloth, no reason to use pretty wood, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Action Tiger Posted July 10, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 10, 2016 Decided. I am going to use a method I have seen to sew in a baidarka coamings where the skin is sewn over the coaming, as opposed to under it. Since the entire coaming will be covered, I see no reason to use anything other than Jeff's plywood coaming, slightly modified. Instead of the sandwich, the layers will all be assembled as one big coaming, then sewn in. Am I worried about sewing through the plywood? Not really, too much, as this fabric will give way before any hole in edge grain. And the whole thing will be well painted and kept pretty darn dry. Whatever. I don't think I'll need the coaming "knees", but I cut them out anyway with all the other pieces, so I have them if need be. Really, I'm finally getting super antsy to paddle this darn boat, finally. Other boat is getting to a hurry up and wait phase, too, so it's time to juggle these suckers and get them done! I've also been adding more faux patches. I am definitely using patches in the graphical treatment, but I really don't want it to be spoiled. I think it will look neat, but then, what do I know? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Action Tiger Posted July 12, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2016 No I ain't take a picture, but I cut out a bunch of bent plywood basketball hoops. A bunch because I'm using 1/4 inch. I happen to have happened upon some marine ply chunks in a pals pile. Not a lot, but enough to get a few whole rings and enough pieces to fill in the rest. 6 layers of ply should be stiff! Anywho, it all a gluing, a layer at a time, because I'm slow, if you ain't been following along. If you have enough projects going, you never have to be idle while you wait for glue... Unfortunately, one of my projects is weeding corn, and squash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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