Well I have been putting this of for awhile, not the blogging but the building of a double kayak. My wife finally won out. So here I am building my 5th skin on frame Kayak. and I must say it fills my shed, barely enough room to get around either end. It keeps me fit all the walking around the kayak. I started by building the coaming, my main load of timber hand’t arrived yet so using up what I have laying around. I am trying to use PAULOWNIA for the main frame and bamboo for the ribs. so far the combination has worked well on the 2 F1’s
With the coamings I use 4mm x 37mm thin laminations 6 of them and laminate them together with Epoxy resin bit fiddly but it seems to work. I steam bend the laminations first let them set then glue them. next image you can see them laminated and curing.
Laminations drying after steam bending
Laminations clamped together glued with epoxy resin, steel band helps to stop breakout of timberFinished Coaming ready for cleaning up with belt sander and then cutting the lip with a dome shaped router bit
Bamboo ribs laid out ready for measuring
Ribs cut to length and ready for soaking, I use bamboo so I find that soaking overnight makes them easier to bend
Using rib measuring stick to determine rib length
Ribs numbered and cut to length ready to soak overnight, I do this as I use bamboo and found it steams much better once soaked.Ribs in position and not looking to bad at all, they say practice makes perfect being my 5th I should have picked up a bit of experience.Keel in position and sitting rather well only had to tweak a few ribsLooking down the the F2 with pull cords fitted for float bags / cant seem to rotate image sorry.Showing a few of the pieces that I have added to the kayak and how things are mountedI use minicell foam to create our sites ( called close cell foam in australia) by using the foam it helps support as you drop your backside onto the rear deck beam to get in. I don’t use hard wood so it helps with support of the beamif your wondering what it is? It’s a 5 amp Reed Switch being encased in epoxy this I activate with a magnet also encased in epoxy to work the pump.This image shows the deck beams between the front and rear cockpit. I kept a more rounder shape to allow for easier placement of maps and compass and anything else.start of skinning process using 820 Primo, rubbish bin holding tools .Cutting excess fabric using a gas soldering iron with a shape bit that has a cutting edge a bit slow but works well.Sewing the fabric, using the 820 primo and temperature being in the mid 20c, needed to keep the fabric thoroughly wet this was done with the help of my wife.All stiched and out in the sun drying had to do very little shrinking with the iron keeping it wet made a tremendous differenceImage showing deck lines in place and other fittings.For the deck lines I decided to try the more conventional method of holding line on deck. With the number of deck beams on the F2 it worked really well. S/S countersunk head bolts and a domed nut underneath with washer.Showing the domed nut underneath holding deck line in place. Also a small wedge that stops the leaver falling out of position in a capsize event. in the F1 when I am rollingF2 on my old Landrover ready for its christening at our local reservoirPaddling on the reservoir as soon as I can get a pic or video of us paddling it Ill put it up have been out about for times so far only on flat water but what a fantastic double.with all the extra bits in it and hanging on it including float bags it comes in at 25.5kg. very impressed with that. Makes it very manageable as your getting Older. My wife loves it just took a bit of time to get our act together so to speak. Fantastic Kayak Brain.
Hi I am Peter a energetic young 70 year old that has come back to kayaking after an absence of about 45 years. I enjoy working with my hands and always making or creating something. Building skin on frame kayaks fills both of my needs. Have worked in the building industry most of my life, about ten years ago turned to photography for my semi-retirement job. I want to be able to work as long as possible and kayaking is keeping me fit. I already own a west greenland kayak in which I am learning to roll.
Hi Peter.
I’m keen to build a K1 but don’t want to buy the CFK course until I have a reasonable idea I can find the necessary timber in Perth. I have been looking around and can’t find either bamboo (which you have used for the ribs) or American white oak that Brian recommends. The stringers are also a problem.
Can you possibly tell me where you oxide the bamboo ribs and what you used for the stringers?
Hi Mark
Yes sourcing materials in Australia ia a bit of an issue but it is out there.
Timber i used is paulownia available out of Queensland lighter than cedar and very similar qualities I also make my greenland paddles from it
the bamboo is a plywood sheet only one thickness of veneer 5mm thick and strips of 20mm glued to gether but it needs to be “CARBONISED” stands up better to water trying to find good bending stock is difficult. I have one that is 4 years old and have had no issues. The F1 I have thoroughly used and abused and have had no issues. i I sourced mine from Victoria and had them cut it into 4 pieces one down the long side and then across the width cheaper shipping.
here is the link to the paulownia https://paulowniatimber.com.au/index.php
I have just placed an order for 4pieces of 4’x2′ @2.4 and 2 pieces of 4’x2′ 3meteres and shipping to SA was $60 so most thinks are available bur we pay a little bit more for them
But that said I would trade my F1 for anything light weight and a great performer I also have the F2 for touring with my wife and again light fast fantastic boat
I hope this helps here is my contact number if you wish to chat further 0407795125
Cheers peter
Hi Peter,
I am completing a F1 and thinking about floorboards. I noticed you installed them at the foot areas, with one suspended from the ribs and one on top of the ribs. Which worked better? Do the lashings to the ribs keep the floor board slats from sliding down the slope of the ribs?
Hello morris sorry for taking awhile to reply get a bit busy with other things at times
the slates under the ribs are there for my wife that finds pushing on the ribs with her heel easier to get out as she lacks a bit of muscle strength to lift her body up to the comming
for me I preffer the slates on top so I can slide my feet out easier the only thing you need to be aware of is to make sure that you have enough toe space with your kayaking shoes on.
what i ended up doing with mine I bent the end of the boards so that they actully hung down to touch the skin between the ribs where my heels sit. Works fine
the lashings hold it all tight no slippage at all
Cheers peter
Hi Peter,
Thanks for your blog. Inspiring stuff. Could you share what timber you used for your coamings? Also any more tips about your technique? Did you bend each lamination separately around the form in your photo? Perhaps you bent each one around the previous one to give each one a larger inner radius than the one before? How have they held up? Did you use any nails or other means of fixing them together or did you fully rely on the epoxy?
August 12, 2020
Hi Peter.
I’m keen to build a K1 but don’t want to buy the CFK course until I have a reasonable idea I can find the necessary timber in Perth. I have been looking around and can’t find either bamboo (which you have used for the ribs) or American white oak that Brian recommends. The stringers are also a problem.
Can you possibly tell me where you oxide the bamboo ribs and what you used for the stringers?
Many thanks
Mark
August 12, 2020
Hi Mark
Yes sourcing materials in Australia ia a bit of an issue but it is out there.
Timber i used is paulownia available out of Queensland lighter than cedar and very similar qualities I also make my greenland paddles from it
the bamboo is a plywood sheet only one thickness of veneer 5mm thick and strips of 20mm glued to gether but it needs to be “CARBONISED” stands up better to water trying to find good bending stock is difficult. I have one that is 4 years old and have had no issues. The F1 I have thoroughly used and abused and have had no issues. i I sourced mine from Victoria and had them cut it into 4 pieces one down the long side and then across the width cheaper shipping.
here is the link to the paulownia https://paulowniatimber.com.au/index.php
I have just placed an order for 4pieces of 4’x2′ @2.4 and 2 pieces of 4’x2′ 3meteres and shipping to SA was $60 so most thinks are available bur we pay a little bit more for them
But that said I would trade my F1 for anything light weight and a great performer I also have the F2 for touring with my wife and again light fast fantastic boat
I hope this helps here is my contact number if you wish to chat further 0407795125
Cheers peter
February 7, 2021
Hi Peter,
I am completing a F1 and thinking about floorboards. I noticed you installed them at the foot areas, with one suspended from the ribs and one on top of the ribs. Which worked better? Do the lashings to the ribs keep the floor board slats from sliding down the slope of the ribs?
February 8, 2021
Hello morris sorry for taking awhile to reply get a bit busy with other things at times
the slates under the ribs are there for my wife that finds pushing on the ribs with her heel easier to get out as she lacks a bit of muscle strength to lift her body up to the comming
for me I preffer the slates on top so I can slide my feet out easier the only thing you need to be aware of is to make sure that you have enough toe space with your kayaking shoes on.
what i ended up doing with mine I bent the end of the boards so that they actully hung down to touch the skin between the ribs where my heels sit. Works fine
the lashings hold it all tight no slippage at all
Cheers peter
February 8, 2021
Peter, thanks for the quick response. Your double kayak incorporates lots of innovative techniques.
January 4, 2023
Hi Peter,
Thanks for your blog. Inspiring stuff. Could you share what timber you used for your coamings? Also any more tips about your technique? Did you bend each lamination separately around the form in your photo? Perhaps you bent each one around the previous one to give each one a larger inner radius than the one before? How have they held up? Did you use any nails or other means of fixing them together or did you fully rely on the epoxy?