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Showing results for tags 'firefly'.
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Here are several pictures of the Kudzu Firefly kayak that I just finished building. She is covered with the premium fabric and 3 coats of oil base paint. The frame is constructed with western red cedar and Baltic marine plywood. The wood was stained a medium red mahogany color followed with three coats of satin marine oil base varnish. Her finished weight is 34 pounds. This is my third Kudzu boat. The first was a Vardo kayak, followed with a Stonefly canoe!! Not sure what my next build will be.
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So the manual says (revision 5.0) for the Firefly: Gunwales are 1-1/2" x 5/8" one set of chine stringers are 1" x 5/8" the rest of the stringers are 5/8" x 5/8" But the depth of the frame slots on the Firefly kits for the keel is more like 1". Other stringers are more like 3/4" deep. So should ignore what the manually says and make the keel stringers at 1" and the rest at 3/4"? Is is generally true that stringers should be either flush or slightly proud of the frame pieces? I was a little confused when Jeff Horton answered a question about the Firefly in the "oversize notches" thread with a statement about the Short Shot. Are the stringer dimensions all the same on both models? I asked similar questions in that thread, but there was no response. It is an old thread, so maybe no one looks at old threads.
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Any advice on stitching up the fabric for the Firefly? If I do the double cord stitching with the premium polyester, I heard where you said that might be hard especially around the bifurcated bow. So could I start with making kind of like a sock with the stitching on the inside and fit over the bow to start with and work from there. Although I am not sure exactly where the "sock" would stop. Seems like doing that double cord stitch would be hard when you are doing it over the bow and stern pieces anyway since it would get hard to tuck the ends in when there is no free area underneath for the fabric. But with the bifurcated bow it would make it even harder. Do you use a different technique over the bow?