Action Tiger Posted April 6, 2016 Report Share Posted April 6, 2016 Soaking always helps. I would have recommended it before, but it is often incompatible with the gluing of things. Best of luck, with the coaming and the fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hirilonde Posted April 6, 2016 Report Share Posted April 6, 2016 Back to my question..what is your experience of bending air dried vs. kiln dried lumber How a wood is dried has little to do with bending. As a generality,any dried wood does not bend as well as green. But the genus/species of wood matters even more. As a rule, hardwoods steam bend better than softwoods, but again, a generality. The thinner the wood, the easier it bends. Any wood will bend, if thin enough. Green White Oak when steamed can be tortured into a pretzel if that is of any value. Of all the easily available woods, kiln dried Maple bends well if approx. 1/8" thick, and even better if also steamed. I have been using Maple for combings. Fir, and most softwoods bend poorly, but again, will bend if thin enough. Hope this doesn't just confuse things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flynfysh Posted April 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2016 thanks for the all comments, around here softwoods are about all we have. The one lumber yard in town gets the dregs sent up to it (down south companies know it's too expensive to barge it back) and there is little to no specialty lumbers. If I'd planned ahead I could have gotten some green wood. Oh well, next time, after all this was planned as a learning project as much as anything and it sure has been that :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hirilonde Posted April 8, 2016 Report Share Posted April 8, 2016 I must be really fortunate. From reading these forums I have concluded no one has as much access to the varieties of woods and other forest products as I do. I found it almost (key word is almost) unbelievable to read the stories of the troubles people, mostly in the south have finding lumber. Then I spent 11 days in Georgia (Brunswick/St. Simons area) helping my daughter and son-in-law house hunt. I couldn't find a single full service lumber yard during the whole time. Just "big box stores". What a sad impact big corporations are having on finding the things we want and providing real service to go with them. I also did not find any really full service hardware stores either. These are closing up north too, faster than lumber yards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flynfysh Posted April 9, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 9, 2016 it's really frustrating here, there are trees everywhere (it's a rainforest after all) and yet the only lumber store in town has to import everything from Seattle and most of what is sent up is crap. Also it's too expensive to have small quantities shipped up as everything gets here by barge or airplane....oh well, first world problems. I'm still painting my first kayak, it seems to be taking lots of coats...all of it has 4 coats, some has 5 and I still am going to need at least one more, is that normal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abyssdncr Posted April 9, 2016 Report Share Posted April 9, 2016 That looks pretty cool! Can you take a pic of just the coaming area? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flynfysh Posted April 10, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2016 I will when the painting is done..there is painters tape on it now hiding the real design Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abyssdncr Posted April 10, 2016 Report Share Posted April 10, 2016 I'm still painting my first kayak, it seems to be taking lots of coats...all of it has 4 coats, some has 5 and I still am going to need at least one more, is that normal? I know what you mean here. I had the exact same problem on my FreeB, particularly where the fabric touched the frame. I think some portions got 10+ coats trying to get all the pinholes finally sealed. This was with the economy 6 oz though. I'm hoping the weave on the premium stuff doesn't exhibit this same problem. What cloth are you using? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flynfysh Posted April 13, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2016 I purchased the original 8 oz poly fabric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flynfysh Posted April 14, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2016 here are pics of painted coaming area of my first kayak and new coaming for the second one...not done yet but getting closer 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Action Tiger Posted April 14, 2016 Report Share Posted April 14, 2016 Oh, that's a very nice effect. Was it just random artistry, or did you have some inspiration? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flynfysh Posted April 15, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2016 just a product of an addled brain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abyssdncr Posted April 15, 2016 Report Share Posted April 15, 2016 That's a clever transition. Even if some of the paint bleeds around the maskings, you'd never really know - I like it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flynfysh Posted April 26, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2016 last night my kayak past the "pinhole light test" for the first time...celebration!!! I was afraid I had used too much paint and that the boat would be too heavy....with all the gear, minus the spray skirt it's 31 lbs. I also finished carving my Greenland type paddle. With the paddle I decided to burn my initials into one of the blades. When I got done with that I wondered if the burner could be used to cut the fabric, it says that it heats to 950 degrees F and comes with multiple points. I tried it on some scrap pieces from my first boat and it seemed to do a good job...if it works cutting the fabric on the second kayak I'll try to report back. The burner was hugely expensive at $14.00 at a local store (just saw it at Amazon for $10.00) BTW I am smiling in this picture, it's just hard to tell from the outside Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Action Tiger Posted April 27, 2016 Report Share Posted April 27, 2016 I use a cheap soldering iron with the tip ground to a blade like shape to cut uncoated synthetic fabric. Works great. My one life long buddy (we're talking greybeard childhood friends) smiles just like that. Well, maybe not that wide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flynfysh Posted May 4, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2016 I just finished skinning the second Vardo..it's a better job than the first one but, there are still some holes to cover that are too big for just paint (about three around the coaming). On the last boat I used lexel to fill in but in our very humid climate it took about two weeks to fully gas off so I could paint it. Any suggestions for something that will work more quickly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kudzu Posted May 4, 2016 Report Share Posted May 4, 2016 Double check the label but I was thinking you could paint in 24 hours? But I too would like something that cures faster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flynfysh Posted May 4, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2016 I'm using oil based paint and I'm pretty sure the label said to wait a week before painting with an oil based paint, I waited a week and painted..... after 3 days the paint was still tacky..I went to my paint guy and he claims it's due to the cool weather( 40s and low 50s) and high humidity and suggested I use heat on it which I did (plus brought it into my livingroom)...it still took 3 more days to completely dry. I was thinking of using a dab of fast cure 5200, do you know how it takes paint? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich D Posted May 4, 2016 Report Share Posted May 4, 2016 I have used construction adhesive. I would have to look for sure but I think it was PL 300. I found it much easier to use than Lexel. It cures hard but flexible (if that makes sense). Cures quickly and is paintable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hirilonde Posted May 5, 2016 Report Share Posted May 5, 2016 I used BoatLife LifeCaulk to fill a few holes along the seam and to bed all screw attached items like lifeline tabs and keel chafe strips. The 3M version is 101. Both are polysulfides, mildly adhesive, pliable and paintable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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