Rehatched Hatch

It worked! If you are a new reader go to the post "Hatched an Egg" so you have the back ground for this one.
Carol's idea of getting something that would help fill in the space and be decorative and glue it all together with epoxy might be a solution. I said "we will see".



Carol had an idea we could find something to tie it together. She found what she was looking for at WoodCrafters. It is a product called processed veneers. Which comes 1/8 inch wide 30 inches long. The width was just right to fit the cover. We put the inlay in and put epoxy mixed with wood flour (a thick dark substance) around the bottom side into the groove. Similar to applying drywall tape. After that cured we used epoxy mixed with silica powder (less thick and almost clear) and using a syringe applied this mixture from the topside. This is the result after the fiber glass was applied.
This picture is a whole lot different than the one in my mind when I realized I had made the wrong cut. It not only looks great (click on the picture to see the detail) but more importantly is going to hold together. Another example of Carol June's great creativity.

A Coat of Glass

It's March Madness and our Jayhawk flag is flying high on the pole and KU is high in the polls. It is also great weather in San Antonio as you can see by our blooming pear tree. It's 70 degrees and 70 degrees means it's a good day for putting down fiber glass. And fiber glassing is just what we have been doing for the past week.
First we covered the hull with glass and poured about 2 cups of gooey epoxy right in the middle of the hull and started moving it around with a plastic squeegee being fast enough so that only a little bit runs down on your feet. (Isn't gravity great.) And of course you need to get all the glass saturated before it starts to set up. Or in the epoxy vernacular "kicks". In about 8 hours when it reaches the "green stage" you have to be ready to trim off the excess and remove any masking tape. Before any bad things can happen. Every 8-10 hours, depending on the temperature, you apply thin coats of more epoxy to "fill the weave". I hope this sound like I know what I'm doing. March Madness at it's best.


Once the hull was done we turned the kayak over and started the same process on the deck. We are now at the second coat stage. Doing this blog is how I'm spending my time before the next coat. We are getting there.
You may remember an earlier post about making a wrong cut for the hatch cover. ( See Hatching a Bad Egg) I said Carol may have a solution to the problem, well tomorrow we will find out. If it works we will let you know in the next posting.
You can always click on any photo for more detail.

Cockpit Coaming

The coaming is the reinforcement around the cockpit and also gives you a place to attach a spray skirt. This comes in 5 different pieces that have to be glued together and then glued to the deck. Getting five slippery pieces all lined up just right and keeping them there with clamps is like herding cats.
Somewhere I read that it takes at least 15 clamps to build a kayak and 30 is better. Well I used 35 on this part of the project. Notice my home made ones form PVC pipe. They work well but you need two hands to put them on and you don't always have two hands available.
The 5 pieces are now one and will be attached to the deck later. You will have to check back to see how that goes.

Third Fitting

This is the third time I have stitched the deck to the hull. This time I also glued them together and removed the stitches. After the stitches were removed I had to get inside and put fiber glass tape soaked with epoxy along the seams of the hull and deck. Not an easy chore. I tried to cover up most of my body especially my arms and head, I had on a respirator , goggles and a head light. It would have made for a good picture. Carol helped by holding a flash light therefore everyone was too busy to get a picture. I finished with quite a sore back, epoxy on one ear and on one lens of my new glasses. After a week it is almost off the ear but the glasses part is there to stay. Ops. Are we having fun yet? . For better or worst this is the result.

Good Decision

Most everyone reading this knows I married up. Soon after Carol June started pursuing me she displayed her sewing skills by making me a wool car coat (popular style in the 60's) by making her own pattern. So now some 40 plus years later we once again call on her skill of pattern making.
The cockpit needs fiber glassing. Just cutting a rectangle will not work so Carol takes the Sunday paper and makes a pattern and cuts out what I need.
Another of life's lessons: It's mostly about making good decisions at the right time. I'm sure glad she hooked me with that first coat or I probably would never get this kayak finished.
We are looking at a fiber glassed cockpit.

Hatched a Bad Egg

Enlarge the picture and and you can see where I have cut a hole in the back part of the deck. This is the opening for the hatch (storage compartment). Well this is about the time I realized that I have made a serious mistake. I made my cut on the wrong side of the ring I was using for the pattern. I went inside and I was suppose to go around the outside. I figured this out when I could not get the reinforcements inside the opening. The ring is visible on top of the rear deck. Only only about a 2 inch mistake. What now?? One thing I can hang my hat on at this moment is every time someone gets on the builders forum with a goof up the experienced builders say "everything can be fixed". We will see.
My wonderful wife thinks she has a solution. We will see.
Anyway by now I have enlarged the opening and have gone ahead and put in the reinforcements and glued that in place. When we put the deck and hull together for the last time we will try Carol's fix.
After the epoxy cures the deck and hull are separated once again so I can apply fiberglass tape to all the seams.

First Fitting

Click on pictures for more detail Using copper wire you stitch the hull and the deck starting in the middle and working one stitch forward on the right then one forward on the left then go back to the right side and move one towards the back. Keep going back and forth until you get to the end. The process gets really tricky and challenging near the ends. You are not just wiring pieces together you are bending and shaping wood in directions that it resists. After you get it all together there are a lot of adjustments that have to be made by loosening and tightening the wires.
When you are satisfied you let it set for several days while the wood relaxes and gets into a "happy mood".
This is the first time we have stitched the deck and hull together. But not the last.
NEXT STEP: NOW COMES THE GLUE.
The wood has relaxed and hopefully will maintain its new form because we have to take asunder what we have most recently put together.
We remove the deck from the hull so we can spot weld all the seams.
This calls for an epoxy mixture the consistency of ketchup which is put into a syringe and applied along all seams trying to avoid getting it on the wires. If this ketchup is a little too runny it will run onto the wires. Epoxy on wires makes for difficult removal. If you attempt this make sure you have thick ketchup.





You are looking at the underside of the deck just before welding the seams. In the back ground you can see part of the hull. Both have been prepared with masking tape so we do not glue the two together in this fitting. As soon as we finish with the spot welds hull and deck go back together for the Second Fitting. This is done so both parts cure at the same time resulting in a good fit.



This is the second time we have stitched the deck to the hull but not the
last.