First stripper build: Prospector-16 Help & comments appreciated

[Kliff]

Ironically, I was just searching for how much wood flour to mix with epoxy, for one of my many home repair projects. Got side tracked by a video: "Making 2 cedar strip kayaks in 2 weeks" . Not usually a fan of these gimicky titled videos, but I got distracted. This one seems to have some decent tips. He secures his starter strip with hot glue.

Taping all of his strips??? Jim should contact him and fill him in on Jimmy clamps, and Virginia Jim Dodd bungees.

Had to shut the video off without watching the full video, but it looks like some good stuff. He also shows a "side rabbet plane". Never used one, looks handy.

(video found here, if anyone is interested:

)

Time to sneak off, and see if I can get a couple hours uninterrupted canoe time.

 

[Kliff]

Just laid the last strip that has to have a butt joint due to length. I'm sure there will be more, but I finally get to lay a full length strip!

 

[Cruiser]

Got to love that line of Jimmy Clamps

 

[Kliff]

Well, unfortunately time on the canoe has been limited. Spent the last week moving my parents into assisted living, which I've been trying to convince them they need for two years now. I'm almost at the point of starting the football area, which brings me to my next question.

How do you guys cut the straight line, after you get one half done? I can envision several options. Also, everything I've read and seen, talks about this being a plumb or square cut. Any reason not to make it a 45 degree bevel, so the second side overlaps? I know this would make cutting the second side harder, but not much.

 

[Boatman53]

I use a Japanese pull saw and and then use a small rabbet plane to bring it to the line. It takes very little time. I don’t think it is worth the effort to bevel the cut.
Jim

 

[Jim Dodd]

X2 what Boatman said !

A quality Jap pull saw is, in my book the best way to cut the center line.

Beveling would make the seam invisible, but maybe hard to seat strips tight to the forms.
If not tight to the forms, it would require extra scraping or sanding, and leave you with a thin spot in the center of the hull.

 

[scratchypants]

Whatever works for you. I cut the bulk off with a utility knife then snuck up on the line with a sharp chisel, finishing off with a 4" piece of sandpaper spray-glued to 2' long, scrap strip.

 

[stripperguy]

I’ve used a jig saw, circular saw, utility knife with straight edge, my preference is a cordless trim saw.
I cut just off the line, and finish/ straighten the line with some 32 or 40 grit stapled around an 18” long chunk of hardwood.
I believe it’s important to keep that seam very straight, you’ll be looking at it for a long time to come, if it’s wavy, you’re gonna have a hard time to ignore it!

 

[Kliff]

Got the first half of football cut, and starting strips on the other side. 14 strips left, plus the stair-step on the bow & stern. Cutting the center line, and strips for second side not as daunting as I had expected. Time consuming, but certainly doable.

 

[Kliff]

Well, with 8 strips left to go, I made a mistake on color matching. Not too obvious, but to the builder (me) it sticks out like a turd in a pan of milk.

 

[stripperguy]

Do you have other strips that match more closely? If so, just rip out those couple that offend you and replace them.
Myself, I don’t bother to match patterns or colors of strips, the randomness develops a pattern of its own naturally.
Even so, you’ll only notice it for the first week that you use the hull, or every time that someone else is admiring it…as I’ve said many times, an artist is always his own worst critic.

BTW, it looks fine to me

 

[Kliff]

I haven't looked to see if I have two more that match as close as these. I matched the pairs as I was doing the first half of the football, numbered the other side, and carefully set them aside. 1,2,3,4,6,5....Oops.

The thought of ripping them out, and trying to reconstruct the cove???? I'm confident I could make that look worse than two mismatched strips.

Maybe I'll just paint the whole thing. "Caulk & Paint, make a carpenter what he aint"

 

[Cheeseandbeans]

BTW, it looks fine to me

Completely agree. I can be hard on myself too when things don’t go to plan, but in the big scope of the project it’s pretty minor. You’re doing a great job.

Bob

 

[scratchypants]

You could slap one together with the most ham-fisted disregard for looks and people will still stop to compliment you on your creation. It's virtually impossible to make an ugly cedar strip. I'm only half-kidding here - count on an extra 15 minutes at the ramp to deal with the questions.

 

[Jim Dodd]

Don't sweat the small stuff.
Your seam looks great.

Jim

 

[Jim Dodd]

I have used the hot melt, glued block trick.
It works.

Jim

 

[Kliff]

Ok, time for a question, as I draw closer to my last couple strips. Canoecraft talks about removing the cove from the 3rd to last strip, gluing 2nd to last, and last together, matching the curve, then fitting and gluing in place.

I get why you'd glue the last two strips together. Is it really not possible to wiggle the last piece in, leaving the cove and bead? If this is the case, wouldn't it be better to glue a strip into the 3rd to last, then cut away the strip down to the edge of the cove? Otherwise, this strip would appear approximately 1/8" narrower than the rest.

If anyone has a way they do the last couple strips other than the way the book outlines it, I'd love to hear it.

scratchy: I agree, I've never seen an ugly stripper....from a distance. I'm sure I'll see every little oopsy every time I paddle it. I'm confident I can do so with a smile, knowing no one else pays these beauty marks any heed. This project is taking way longer than originally anticipated, which is fine with me. I try to proceed with every step, doing the best I can, not "good enough". If I were doing this to sell, hoping to make money, this would be the worlds most expensive canoe. Or, I'd be working for 3rd world wages.

 

[Traveler]

I just did the exact same thing with strip ordering. After some cussing, I remembered that Persian rug makers deliberately weave in an error in their rugs to acknowledge that only God can be perfect. Since I will probably do a few more such goofs before I finish, I should wind up with a nice positive balance in my good karma account

 

[Kliff]

Well, Traveler, "Goodliness is next to Godliness". So, our canoes may not be Godly, but hopefully they'll be Goodly.

 

[RickR]

I had good luck with the CanoeCraft method. Square edge will result in an easier, tighter fit. I traced the shape of the last 2 strips onto paper and used that as a template for the glue up. If you glue the final 2 strips to the appropriate curve fitting becomes a process of working the straight line back until it drops in.