# CH17-LT Deck beam thickness?

**URL:** <https://forum.clcboats.com/t/ch17-lt-deck-beam-thickness/36508>\
**Category:** Builder's Forum\
**Created:** [March 12, 2010, 2:14pm UTC](https://forum.clcboats.com/t/ch17-lt-deck-beam-thickness/36508 "2010-03-12T14:14:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![George\_Jensen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9fc348/32.png) [@George\_Jensen](https://forum.clcboats.com/u/George_Jensen)\
**Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 2:14pm UTC](https://forum.clcboats.com/t/ch17-lt-deck-beam-thickness/36508/1 "2010-03-12T14:14:00Z")

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Good afternoon,

I have just started building my first kayak, a 17LT from plans.&nbsp; While I wait for all of my materials to arrive, I've been preparing&nbsp;the wood pieces and&nbsp;I have a&nbsp;question about the deck beam.

The plans say to glue 6 strips of 4mm playwood together which will make a deck beam that is approximately 1 inch thick.&nbsp; The manual on the other hand, says to glue 5 strips of 4mm plywood together which would make a slightly thinner deck beam.&nbsp; I'm tending toward just the 5 strips rather than the 6 as long as the outside radius is 16".&nbsp; To me that would seem strong enough.

Do you think I should use 5 or 6 strips?

Thanks.

&nbsp;

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**Author:** ![Larry\_Mcinnis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f17d59/32.png) [@Larry\_Mcinnis](https://forum.clcboats.com/u/Larry_Mcinnis)\
**Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 4:46pm UTC](https://forum.clcboats.com/t/ch17-lt-deck-beam-thickness/36508/2 "2010-03-12T16:46:22Z")

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Dogan,

I used 4 or 5 1/8" strips of ash, laminated over a 15" radius jig (which sprung back to 16" beautifully!).&nbsp; My final thickness was about 3/4", which seems plenty strong..., especially considering some folks leave the beam out altogether!&nbsp; My 17LT Modified is coming up on the paint/varnish stage.&nbsp; Was a very fun project, can't wait to actually use it....

I'd go with 5, as 6 seems a bit extreme.

Good luck,

Larry

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**Author:** ![Tim\_Hall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Tim\_Hall](https://forum.clcboats.com/u/Tim_Hall)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2010, 11:16am UTC](https://forum.clcboats.com/t/ch17-lt-deck-beam-thickness/36508/3 "2010-03-14T11:16:08Z")

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Dogan,

I am working on a kit build of a 17LT.&nbsp; The deck beam in the kit arrives as two parts already cut to radius.&nbsp; These two parts are then laminated.&nbsp; So rather than horizontal laminations of long rectangular pieces bent on a jig, the only glue joint is flat and vertical.&nbsp; Finished height 1"&nbsp;x width 3/4."&nbsp; note: the wood grain of the outside veneer of my pieces is oriented horizontally across the beam, not vertically.

Tim

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**Author:** ![George\_Jensen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9fc348/32.png) [@George\_Jensen](https://forum.clcboats.com/u/George_Jensen)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2010, 4:32pm UTC](https://forum.clcboats.com/t/ch17-lt-deck-beam-thickness/36508/4 "2010-03-16T16:32:45Z")

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Thanks for that info Tim.&nbsp; Sounds like the kit comes with two 3/8" pieces that make the 3/4" width.&nbsp;

From the plans an manual I can't see an exact width for the beam other than&nbsp; comment in the manual that say to make the 6 strips for the lamination a minimum of 1 1/4" or 1 1/2" wide.&nbsp; If you glued 6 strips of 4mm at 1 1/2" wide, that would make a heavy duty deck beam.&nbsp; (1 inch thick by 1 1/2" wide)

I'm going to go with 5 strips rough cut at 1 1/4" and then trim the laminated beam to 7/8" or 1" wide.&nbsp; I think that will be more than strong enough.