Building a  Kayak |
 |
Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 |
| Now we glue the Sheer Clamps to the top edge of the
side panels. The Sheer Clamps are made out of 3/4 X 11/8 inch stock glued together to
make two pieces the length of the top of the side panels. Sand or plane the joints smooth, then sand
the two sides that will be inside the kayak when it is finished. I also rounded
the hard edge that would be on the inside, just because I like things smooth. I
left the edge square where the deck beams are going to be attached and
will come back and conture this area after they are in.
You will need about 40 clamps for this stage. Instead of buying a whole bunch of c-clamps, I made some of them out of 3" Schedule 40 drain pipe. I got this tip from Chesapeake Light Crafts Newsletter. They recommended 4", but I could not find it locally and used 3" instead, they worked out just fine. All you do is cut the pipe into 1 1/2 inch rings and then cut a 1/4 inch piece out of the side of the ring. Now you have a clamp that can be easily applied and moved. A ten foot section of this pipe cost me $13.65 and made 50+ clamps. I made some 1" and 2" clamps also, for different pressures. |
 |
|
Here are the clamps made from the plastic pipe.
I cut the gap at a slight angle so that more of the clamp edge would contact the wood. |
Next you lay your side panels back to back with the top edge hanging over the edge of your work table, and glue and clamp, both Sheer Clamps at the same time. Remember to put some waxed paper between the side panels so they don't get stuck together. I used one clamp every 4 feet to start and then worked from one end to the other applying clamps every 8 inches or so using the edge of a square to make sure that all edges were flush. After you have all your clamps on and are sure all edges are flush, you can go around cleaning any excess glue that has squeezed out of the joints. Get as much as you can now and your cleanup will be much easier than after the glue has set. |
 |
|
 |
As you can see, it takes a lot of clamps for this stage, but the cost is low using the plastic pipe and just an hour or so of hacksaw and sander time. Now we wait for the glue to set-up and then it's time to start putting the hull together. sbaxter@olympus.net |
|