Building SHAD

[Kudzu]

I am documenting this on my blog, http://www.kudzupatch.com/blog/, but it seems appropriate to document it here too.

DAY ONE

I gave her a name, SHAD. Actually I have a design named Shad but I never was happy with the boat and could never bring myself to build one. It is a Greenland style boat so it is only appropriate that it be replaced with a much improved Greenland style boat.

First step was to go over my plans and make a quick list of the stringers I needed to make and double check all the frames were on the plans. I had the right number of frames drawn but when I went over them I couldn’t find one. Turned out I had drawn one twice. Glad I got my one mistake out of way now.

Since I start with rough lumber I ran it thought my planner to get it to correct thickness.

Next I cut the stringers to width and set them aside. Usually the wood I buy it full of knots. To deal with the knots I cut them out with a scarf cut and glue them back together. With the economy slow it seems we are getting better wood so these were relatively clear. I only had one knot to deal with and I just set it aside to cut up or shorter pieces.

After a nasty but freak accident where a tiny piece of wood was sent at supersonic speed into my thumb, leaving it missing the nail and looking akin to hamburger, once I was able to get back in the shop I set about designing a safer scarf jig. This is what I came up with and I am pretty happy with it. I do need to make a couple of small changes. It forces you standing to the left side, out of the line of fire. The cutoffs fall on the table and with the blade against the sled it is very hard (not impossible!) for it to launch a projectile back at you.

Once the scarfs were cut I glued the joints together. Leave them over night and tomorrow they will be ready to go on the boat. I won’t be ready use them but they are ready when I start assembly.

Last project today was repair the stand. I kicked the bottom to move it and snapped the joints. I love these stands but now I know to add some braces in the corners. To much leverage on the end of those legs!

[Kudzu]

Shad day two

I started on the frames this morning. First step was to cut out the full size patterns and arrange them on the plywood. I also drew out the floor boards so I made sure I had plenty of wood.

I use a spray adhesive to adhere the paper to the plywood. I have learned that the best way to apply it is over some scraps on a garbage can. You don’t want to get this stuff on your hands. Then you pick up all the sawdust and it is hard to ever get your hands clean.

I use a plastic spreader to smooth the paper. It works better than anything else I have tried.

Next I start cutting out the parts with both the jig saw and band saw. A little sanding and they are all done.

Funny thing was I am still short one frame. Well actually I have enough frames, I have extras! Just seems that instead of printing the one that I was missing, I printed one that was on the sheet. So I am still short one. But that is easy to fix tomorrow.

[Kudzu]

Shad * Day Three

Another short day in the shop but that is starting to be the norm. First order of business was to put a new top on my ‘ladder’ strongback.. I had 2″ lumber on top but it was just to heavy and hard to move around.

Once that was done I started setting up the keel brackets. These line up the keel and create the rocker in the keel strip.

After that I started to temporarily insert the frames that get mounted and put in some stringers. I can already see the sweep of the sheer and I love it! Need to fill some orders so it is going to be a couple of days before I can get back to this one.

[P Doug (WA)]

I've been wondering if there would be an advantage to giving the parts a coat of oil prior to assembly. That way you would be sure to have good coating in the notches where the stringers are tied in. Coarse I guess you would have to do it again after assembly and trimming and adjusting is done.

[Kudzu]

Day five

Spent a lot of hours in the shop the past couple of days. While dry fitting the stringers I found some problems. This is why I like to build the prototype before releasing the plans.

This is the stern and if you look you can see the stringer bend downward. I puzzled over this for a few minutes but was pretty sure what I had done. Pulled up the drawing and found the problem pretty quickly. Changed it, printed ou the new frame and cut a new one.

Here you can see the difference. Basically I drew the slot on the wrong side of the chine just as I suspected. Not the first time I have done this.

Today I basically finished lashing the frame. There are a few joints that can not be done on the boat so I took it off the strongback. I need to install the floors and lash the joints that could not be done on the strongback.

Next it’s time to install some footrest and start skinning. My hands are sore so I will probably take a couple of days way from it and do something else.

[Kudzu]

Work has been slow the past few days. My sinuses have been bothering me and I just not been able to work on it as much as I would like. But of course there is no deadline on getting it done either.

On the bow end of the boat I cut the stringer a little short (on purpose). If you leave it that way you end up with a ugly look at the bow, so I go back and glue on filler strips. These are pieces that were cut off the stringers to make the scarf joints.

I shape mine using a SHARP block plane and follow up with with a little sanding. Here you can see the it starting to take shape.

It takes me 2 -3 minutes to shave and sand the block. I do both sides, flip it over trim the top, a light sanding, stretch some t-shirt fabric over it check the shape and it’s done.

I installed the foot rest on the Gunwale stringer as usual and when I stood back and looked I could see there was a problem. Laying a straight edge across the deck confirmed that the foot rests were going to touch the skin. I should have checked that first but I didn’t and it bite me.

This boat has a more pronounced ‘V’ in the hull than my other designs. After moving them and doing some measuring (which I should have done first) I could see that only my toes would have reached. So I removed them and mounted on the chine stringer. Glad I caught that now.

With that done the frame is finished except for installing the floor boards. I have been painting them and I am waiting on the shipment of sinew to come in and replace the bad shipment.

I put the frame on the scales with the floors and it weights 22-23 lbs. The Baltic Birch plywood is heavier than the Douglas fir I have been using. What surprised me was the floors added almost 3 lbs of that. Even so this is still so much better than 50 lb. Tupperware boat.

Finished frame (almost) ready to be skinned.

[P Doug (WA)]

Having never done any kayaking other than an inflatable one, how important are foot rests?

[Kudzu]

I think they are important because they keep you in place in the boat. If your paddling hard they really do help, hard to explain but I put them in everything but my canoe and I wished I had. Sometimes I will slide my feet past them and paddle but not for long. Even my friend who is a total novice commented she wished her boat had them in it. She felt like she was moving around inside the boat.

If you ever want to learn to roll you really need to be able to lock yourself in the boat.

You can use things other than adjustable footrests but I really like them. Easy to put someone else in my boat and it fit them.

[ricknriver]

Footrests also help you add the strength of your legs, hips, and torso into your paddling stroke pressing on the side you're stroking on. They help locking knees /thighs in too for better boat control. I have a footrest in my solo canoe also. Certain models can be used for rudder control as well. R

[Kudzu]

DAY 8

Started skinning yesterday.

I find that clamping the skin in place very important and leads to a better looking job. Your not fighting with the fabric and it keeps it straight on the boat. I used a clamp down the center line on the deck beam this time. I don’t normally do that but I will in the future. It made keeping the fabric snug on the frame easier.

This is where I left it. Very happy with the way it looks. There are more wrinkles in the end than I like but it’s hard not to have a few with a long pointed end. Just a lot of fabric your trying to stretch and sew. If I had seen these I could worked some of it out. But it’s not a problem, The skin will shrink so much lengthwise they will pull right out.

It is ready for the coaming but I am not finished with it. Since it will be painted black it’s taking a lot of work to make it look good. Black shows EVERY flaw in it. So I am still sanding and priming. Hoping to get it done today and maybe tomorrow I can finish up the sewing.

Mean time I will finish some night stands I am building for Christmas present.

[Hirilonde]

It is ready for the coaming but I am not finished with it. Since it will be painted black it’s taking a lot of work to make it look good. Black shows EVERY flaw in it. So I am still sanding and priming. Hoping to get it done today and maybe tomorrow I can finish up the sewing.

“There are only two colors to paint a boat - black or white. And only a fool would paint a boat black.” Nathaniel Hereshoff

I couldn't resist.

But it sure does look great the day it is finished.

[Kudzu]

I remember old Nat' saying that. Glad he is not around to see what I have in mind to go with the black......

[Kudzu]

Started this morning sewing in the coaming. Pretty simple job but you have to be careful trimming the fabric. To short and there is nothing to sew, to long and the edge will show under the coaming. I almost trimmed it to short in one place but it turned out OK.Next I started doing the whip stitch down the rear deck before I shrank the skin. I typically do this afterwards and I must admit the results have me concerned! The more I sewed the worse it looked. This photo exaggerates it but it did look bad!

I stopped sewing and grabbed the iron and started shrinking to see what I had. As you can see it started to look much better.

So I moved on to the deck. Finished everything up an d it’s ready to start putting on the color in the morning. It will take most of the week to get the painting done since I am going to two tone it. So stay tuned!

[Hirilonde]

Wow, if you can get those wrinkles out I should do fine with my Curlew. Let me guess, hot pink and white for the hull?

[Kudzu]

Today was one of those days. I got an education in paint and still have a lot more I want to learn. But I am getting ahead of myself.

I wanted the hull was painted black and for course it is easy to find black paint. I flipped the boat over on a set of saw horses, grabbed my HVLP spray gun and started spraying.

No real problems but I hate black and wonder why I use it every time! Always hard not to have some flaws in it. It shows EVERY flaw.

I also picked out a green yesterday when I picked up the black paint, but once I saw it on the fabric I hated it. I wanted a bright green, something like this and what I had was not even close. So I headed back to the paint store, actually two paint stores because I did not like the answer I got from the first one. I got educated on paint.

Usually I use an oil based porch and deck enamel. It’s reasonably priced and you can buy it at most any home building supply and of course it works well on the boats. If I want a special color they mix it for.

This time it seems I chose a color that people don’t use on their houses. No one could mix anything anywhere close to this color. Even if they could they said it would probably fade out really quick. The problem is the base color paint they start with. I can’t explain it but I did grasp what they were saying and that they just couldn’t get to where I wanted with house paints.

Both places suggested I go to the automotive paint supply and they could mix any color I wanted. But I don’t much about automotive paints and they are expensive too! Before I walked in I wanted to educate myself a little bit about what it available. For now I wanted to stick to something I knew. Time to pick another color but what? I already had the black on the bottom.

To keep this short I picked up a quart of Hunter Green and I knew I had two more quarts in the shop. I painted some scraps, placed them on the boat and stared at them for while. None of them impressed me honestly, but I had to make a choice.

I narrowed it down the Hunter Green and the Almond. I decided to use the green, at least it was green as I had planned. But I kept going back and forth…… I couldn’t make up my mind.

The almond won out.

It doesn’t look that good in the photo but I am impressed and almost glad I couldn’t get my green I wanted. I expect to get two coats on tomorrow and then I can take the tape off and see what it really looks like. If all goes well, should launch it this weekend.

[P Doug (WA)]

Really looks nice. I think you made the right choice on color. Hunter Green is one of my favorite colors, but I prefer it with white trim. People don't name there kayaks like they do other boats. Guess they don't name canoes either.

[Hirilonde]

That is a nice color combination. I went to the paint stores today and also chose an almond like color for the deck, but with a teal hull. White does go well with just about anything, but especially green. But I want colors that don't look dirty the first time I use my boat. I named my canoe, but it is not the norm it seems.

[Kudzu]

Day 11

You have to love the fact that you can build a boat from start to finish in two weeks just taking your time! I don’t have the hours in front of me but I before I wrap this up I will give you the total time. and weight the boat.

As you can see I finished up the cream on top. All that is left it put a little black on the coaming and the fabric inside the coaming so it looks better and add the deck rigging. I had to order the perimeter line. I didn’t have enough on hand. Tomorrow afternoon I will make the fittings and install them along with the bungee and backband. When the cord comes in I will just have to tie it on the boat. It will still be ready for the water Saturday without the lines.

This photo makes the hull look really funny but it has a deeper V shape than it appears here.

[River Bend]

I like the darker color for the hull because it sets off the wood frame inside the boat. I wonder if you use a black stain for the coaming instead of paint if it would'nt accentuate the flaws as bad?

[Kudzu]

Day 12 Finished (for now)

Still not had a chance to go the water but I wanted to wrap this up and show you the finished boat. This is going to be rather long post, but I have a bit of surprise to tell you about.

All the rigging is done, the back band installed. Nothing left to do. I kept track of the hours and I was very surprised that I came in just under 60 hours. That doesn’t include the coaming though. There is probably 6-8 hours in a coaming, but those hours are spread over several days work.

This photo (below) is Shad sitting on the scales! I was surprised by this. 31 pounds on the nose.

Now for some photos of the rigging. I like to keep this simple. I don’t carry much with me so I don’t need much on the deck. I did realize when I was taking these that I don’t have a forward loop to stow a paddle under so I will need to make a change for that.

Now, for the surprise. As I said from the beginning, this is a prototype boat. Building prototypes give me a chance to find any problems and make any changes before I release the plans. This boat has some problems and I have decided to change it so it is not going to water any time soon.

If you look really close notice how the curve of the sheer line changes. Up to the arrow it has a nice up-sweeping angle and just about the arrow it starts to flatten out. Look at this image and you will see how it is supposed to look.

The sheer should curve upwards all the way to the ends. Instead, it starts to flatten out on both ends of the boat. I had problems putting the frame together but I convinced myself it was OK. I had to force the boat into shape and thought it would look fine once it was skinned. Well it didn’t and the boat has started to ‘hog’ a little. Meaning the ends are lower than the middle, just a little but it doesn’t look like the drawing and I am certain it is not going to paddle like I want either. I don’t have to go to the water to test it, I know I am not going to like it.

I read about people pre-bending the stringers before assembling to prevent this problem. Seems to be an issue certain boats from another designer. I have never had faith in this method, it just asking for the boat to distort because wood will often try go back to its original shape.

I have been looking at a way to solve this for a while now. I have been toying with an idea and this boat has shown me I was on the right track and I know why it did what it did. BEst of all I know how to fix it.

The fix will require ripping the skin off the boat and replacing some of the existing frames But that is why I will not release a new design without building it first. I want to find any problems and fix them now. You don’t want to build a bad boat and I don’t want a reputation for designing bad boats.

So Shad is finished but Shad is going to be taken apart too. I may wait till after Christmas but I will document it all till she is on the water and I am happy with it.