msaxton Posted April 25, 2014 Author Posted April 25, 2014 I did some of the final deck stitching last night and connected the skin to one of the hatch openings (no pics yet). Keep in mind this is my first, so I'm not sure if it is because i did such a fine job, or if it is the fabric i used, or just plain dumb beginners luck, but the damn thing is drum tight without a ripple at all! I could do a Def Leppard drum solo on it! (wee bit of exaggeration, haven't played the drums since high school) any ways, loving how it is coming out! Quote
msaxton Posted April 26, 2014 Author Posted April 26, 2014 Well, tonight I got most of the deck sewing done (not the best job of sewing and keeping it straight, but I can live with it) and instead of stapling the fabric at the hatches I decided to dress it up a little and used some small brass nails. Quote
Mr Gingerbread Posted April 26, 2014 Posted April 26, 2014 Will the lip on the underside of the hatch ring still fit in the hole with the fabric and nails? I only ask as I ran into a small problem fitting mine as I forgot about the underside lip. Quote
Richard Peter Posted April 29, 2014 Posted April 29, 2014 The fabric is a precolored royal blue 11 ounce nylon with the inside coated with poly, making it around 12 oz per yard. I'm impressed with the build so far and want to know more about your skin. I've never seen anyone skin a boat with this type of fabric before. What properties does it have? How does it stretch? With the poly coating is it waterproof? Will you have to coat it with something? If coated, with what and will it adhere to the fabric (I'm thinking that the coating may not be able to flow around the fibres)? I'm open to the idea of coloured fabric as an option. Richard Quote
msaxton Posted April 29, 2014 Author Posted April 29, 2014 Will the lip on the underside of the hatch ring still fit in the hole with the fabric and nails? I only ask as I ran into a small problem fitting mine as I forgot about the underside lip. These hatches arent the two part kind and don't have the underside lip, just get screwed down over some sealant. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote
msaxton Posted April 29, 2014 Author Posted April 29, 2014 The fabric is a precolored royal blue 11 ounce nylon with the inside coated with poly, making it around 12 oz per yard. I'm impressed with the build so far and want to know more about your skin. I've never seen anyone skin a boat with this type of fabric before. What properties does it have? How does it stretch? With the poly coating is it waterproof? Will you have to coat it with something? If coated, with what and will it adhere to the fabric (I'm thinking that the coating may not be able to flow around the fibres)? I'm open to the idea of coloured fabric as an option. Richard The fabric is basically the same nylon as any other, it just has the flexible poly inside like sprayskirt material, although I am not considering it waterproof or water tight and will be putting 2 coats of Corey's goop on it(the poly that the skin boats sells) I think it will actually seal real well and mate with the inner poly just fine, but time will tell. As far as tightness and stretch, it all sewed drum tight and beautiful without any ripples. Hoping to start coating next weekend if time allows, will definitely update with my findings. Oh, and the fabric I bought from an eBay seller I have purchased material from in the past for tents, backpacks, and misc camping gear, really good prices and always pleased with the product Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote
Kudzu Posted April 29, 2014 Posted April 29, 2014 I have been wondering about your fabric choices too. That is probably 2-3 oz. per yard? If so andI am pretty sure it is, that is really light weight and will not stand up to a lot of abuse. That is about what aircraft fabric is and while you can use it, you really do have to baby it.  Also, while I have never tried a precoated fabric, I have always been told to avoid them because the coating would interfere with a proper coating.  This may hold up fine and time will tell but I have some serious doubts about this fabric. Quote
Richard Peter Posted April 29, 2014 Posted April 29, 2014 I'll be interested to hear about the performance of that skin. Did it come in many colours? Quote
msaxton Posted May 1, 2014 Author Posted May 1, 2014 I have been wondering about your fabric choices too. That is probably 2-3 oz. per yard? If so andI am pretty sure it is, that is really light weight and will not stand up to a lot of abuse. That is about what aircraft fabric is and while you can use it, you really do have to baby it.  Also, while I have never tried a precoated fabric, I have always been told to avoid them because the coating would interfere with a proper coating.  This may hold up fine and time will tell but I have some serious doubts about this fabric. No, it is 11 oz per yard material, plus about 1 oz for the poly coating, I should have expanded on my statement that it is LIKE the spray skirt material but heavier. Just thought I would try it since it was a good price and I have never been disappointed with his other materials in the past. Also figured I would make myself the experimenter with this type of fabric, The poly coating is on the inside and I will be applying the goop with the squeegee method as seen on their videos, so im thinking it will push the goop down into the fibers just fine and mate up with the inner poly coating and hopefully seal well, like I said, time will tell Quote
msaxton Posted May 1, 2014 Author Posted May 1, 2014 I'll be interested to hear about the performance of that skin. Did it come in many colours? Will definitely keep the thread updated throughout the finishing process and once it is put into service. yes, all different colors and even camo material for the duck hunters out there. Quote
Kudzu Posted May 1, 2014 Posted May 1, 2014 Glad to hear it is a  heavier fabric than I thought. Don't want to be critical but I was afraid it was the lightweight stuff. Quote
Richard Peter Posted May 1, 2014 Posted May 1, 2014 What is it called and how much was it? Can you share your source? Maybe they will ship to Canada. I'm guessing it might be out of my price range for my firs boat it may be something to consider for future builds. Quote
msaxton Posted May 2, 2014 Author Posted May 2, 2014 What is it called and how much was it? Can you share your source? Maybe they will ship to Canada. I'm guessing it might be out of my price range for my firs boat it may be something to consider for future builds. It is 11oz 1000D cordura nylon coated with urethane inside (adds about an oz) surprisingly it was only $5.99 a yard plus shipping. I hesitate to put the source up here publicly as I definitely don't want to steer anyone away from Jeff's materials, and, I think I would rather be the test monkey and see how it all goes before i were to recommend it. Hoping to get to gooping the shell this weekend and then I will have a better idea whether the coating is compatible with it. 1 Quote
Richard Peter Posted May 2, 2014 Posted May 2, 2014 Thanks, My first boats will be using Jeff's recycled polyester. As I develop my boat building skills I may want to try something new and this sounds very interesting. I will befollowing this closely. Good luck this weekend. Richard Quote
msaxton Posted May 4, 2014 Author Posted May 4, 2014 Doesn't look like i will get to coating the shell this weekend, had some more work to do on the coaming first, and a lot of useless distractions like spring yard clean up at home. Quote
msaxton Posted May 5, 2014 Author Posted May 5, 2014 Got the West Greenland paddle done today with six coats of tung oil on it. also got the coaming all shaped with the lip for spray skirt and put 3 coats of tung oil on it. Now trying to decide if I should sew the fabric to it or use the small brass nails I used on the hatches, really like the look of those against the blue fabric. 1 Quote
msaxton Posted May 10, 2014 Author Posted May 10, 2014 I got the coaming attached tonight, but forgot to take a picture. I ended up using the small brass nails instead of sewing, but i dd have to do a little stapling to keep it tight and then removed the staples after nailing it. will get a picture next time I get to the shop. Quote
msaxton Posted May 12, 2014 Author Posted May 12, 2014 Progress coming much slower then I had hoped for due to other things that needed tending to, But, it will be done soon. First coat of polyurethane on the top of the kayak, looks a little blotchy, but I understand that is normal for the first coat as it soaks into the fabric. also a picture of the cockpit and a closeup of the fabric mounted to the cockpit coaming with the brass nails. The nails actually held a lot better then staples did, but I was only using the staples temporarily to keep the tension on the fabric till it got nailed. I ironed the fabric some, but it was already sewed so tight and without any wrinkles or creases, that the ironing really made no difference. Really hoping to be done prior to next weekend for a water tryout, but will have to see how things go. 1 Quote
JReed Posted May 13, 2014 Posted May 13, 2014 That has really come together nicely. Looking forward to seeing how she sits in the water. Quote
msaxton Posted June 4, 2014 Author Posted June 4, 2014 I kinda dropped off the face of the earth for a bit due to heavy workload and moving, but the nimrod is done. Now just need to find time to try it out. I am not real happy with the finish using Corey's goop, came out kinda rough not smooth and glassy like i hoped, maybe due to the poly coating inside? But it did bond really well and I believe it will be quite watertight. Attached pics but not sure it will work from my phone. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote
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