I live in Spring Creek, Nevada, just outside of Elko, which probably doesn’t sound like a real promising place to paddle a kayak. We actually have several decent size reservoirs and a huge marsh, Ruby Marsh, within an hour’s drive of where we live.
I’m building the 150 lb. version of the F1, which is a little big for my wife, but a little small for me, but should work for both of us. The wood I have is Alaska yellow cedar, which is heavier than the red cedar that Brian recommends, so I’m thinking that the gunwales should be a little narrower than the standard 2 1/2″. However, I’m not going to do that until Brian says it’s okay.
The gunwales are now cut to 14′. I haven’t started marking them yet. Since I don’t have a plunge router, I’m going to have to figure out how I’m going to make the mortises. I have a drill press and some spiral cutting bits, and I have this thing:
This thing comes with a 1/8″ bit that cuts laterally like a router bit. It’s designed to make cutouts. I would need to make a jig for it.
This comes with cutting bits in the sizes I would need, but I would have to figure out how to make a jig either for my drill press or a Makita portable power drill.
Any thoughts or suggestions on how to make either one of these work would be greatly appreciated.
