I decided against the micro balloons, as the glass seemed to fill easily... here's a couple shots of two coats of un-thickened epoxy. Once cured I'll sand it lightly to knock off the bumps (and a few warts, which will take some heavier sanding); then I'll put one more very thin coat of epoxy on, after which I'll flip it, finish the interior and begin the decking. The glass filled easily, with very few runs. I had a pinch on the bow that I might fill with some micro-balloon thickened paste, otherwise, I think I'm happy with the results.
http://i34.tinypic.com/2chvpsm.jpg
http://i36.tinypic.com/339owsz.jpg
http://i34.tinypic.com/2wno77d.jpg
More to come...,
Larry
Man..., this is getting long! I wish they'd show these in reverse order (newest to oldest... like e-mail forwardings, then you'd get the latest & greatest up front!).
Tonight I glassed in my adjustable footpeg bolts (the kit from CLC). I made the initial mistake of thinking that creamy paste was thick enough, only to watch my bolts slide down the side of the boat!!! I added another scoop of Cell-O-Fill and really thickened it up (like refridgerated peanut butter), scraped off the original applications and reapplied. I quickly switched out to unthickened epoxy and put 4 oz glass squares on (45 degree attitude, for additional lateral & vertical strength), later I may add an additional 6 oz strip of glass, slightly longer, on the opposite direction for added strength. It just seems like those bolts could be under lots of tension and that little glass patch makes me nervous! All in all, each bolt dropped about 1/8" before settling in (I had to prop a piece of wood between the bottom and one bolt to stop the sliding - it just wouldn't hang on), and everything seems to have settled. By about 10:00 tonight I should see where they'll land. Verticle slipping doesn't bother me (a little slipping), as long as they stay aligned horizontally (distance between centers).
Tomorrow I'll finish rolling epoxy on the interior, and then I'll prepare to paint it. I have an oil based exterior paint that would work great (color-wise) for the cockpit and hatches, does anyone know if this'll stick to that epoxy? or will I have to sand a little first? I hate to use primer first as I'm trying to keep the overall weight down. Appreciate any thoughts on that....
Someone mentioned a mid-November launch (WD12) here - that's what I'm hoping for. Once the interior's painted I'm ready to put the deck on. I think it'll all be down-hill from there. The finish work is a little frightening, but I'm gonna take all the sage advice on this website and "sand, sand, and sand some more!"
Larry
I've painted the interior (exterior oil-based paint - "Tropical Teak"), installed the foot braces and some hardware for the seat..., this weekend I dry-fitted the tops (fore & aft). Both fit extremely well!
I drilled three 1/4" holes at the boat side perimeter for dowels that will align the top with the sides of the boat during installation - as long as the dowels are touching the sides, the top will be perfectly aligned for strapping/nailing. The benefit, I think, will be less movement of the top, spreading epoxy off the sheer clamps and bulkheads/beams. That's the theory, anyway.
If weather holds (and work cooperates), I'll be gluing both front and rear decks on this week - can begin trimming them this weekend. (My daughter is visiting this weekend - would like to show her a boat that actually looks like a kayak and not a wierd canoe!).
Pics if you're interested:
Painted interior with foot braces installed
http://i34.tinypic.com/25849ec.jpg
Painted interior - again
http://i33.tinypic.com/20aa1x1.jpg
Rear Deck 1
http://i37.tinypic.com/ftq4cn.jpg
Rear Deck 2
http://i34.tinypic.com/np2gzl.jpg
Fore Deck 1
http://i33.tinypic.com/2eq3os2.jpg
Fore Deck 2
http://i37.tinypic.com/2hg71ac.jpg
Thanks for following,
Larry
Glued the aft deck on tonight..., went on flawlessly!!! Will cut out a rough opening for the coaming and then install the fore deck in the next day or two (have to scarf the extra 15 inches on to fill the forward void).
Very happy with tonights' results; looking forward to installing the rest of the deck and then trimming... thatl leaves me with only the coaming build (custome fiberglass and carbon-fiber overlay) and finishing work to do. After 2 months and 1 week, I'm really feeling like I'm on the downhill run.
Pics of the aft deck install included below.
Larry
http://i36.tinypic.com/o104tk.jpg
http://i38.tinypic.com/2exbzw1.jpg
Past weekend I glued on the aft deck, trimmed to the sides with jig-saw and plane. Tonight I dry-fitted the fore deck, although it still needs the last 15 inches scarfed onto the piece (weekend coming...).
One pic shows the stark difference in height between the aft and fore decks at the cockpit.
Looking forward to finally getting this enclosure "enclosed!"
Pics:
http://i34.tinypic.com/mrep1v.jpg
http://i36.tinypic.com/1s0bck.jpg
http://i34.tinypic.com/2eoz7rk.jpg
Larry
Finally!!! Got the bow deck epoxied/nailed on this evening. Thought I'd never see this day!
Went fairly smoothly, although I'd done about 4 dry runs for one reason or other... and I walked through the roll, thicken, glue, nail, cut, nail routine in my head first to ensure I wasn't forgetting any steps... had everything laid out for when I needed it. I used two nails fore and aft for side-to-side alignment, that way all I had to do was align the wood at the cockpit...; I put in two nails at the arch beam to hold it steady while my wife pushed down the other side and I put the straps on. Having her there made it a success, so I owe her flowers or something. Only mystery is that I ran out of epoxy after rolling the underside of the deck. Just didn't make sense but was no problem.
The dip in the end of the arched bow that was so prominent (and somewhat so on the stern) magically disappeared as I nailed down the side lines, just like John (I think) said it would. Great results and I can't wait to trim the deck edges down to the hull. Will actually be a kayak at last (vice a canoe with bulkheads!).
Photos, of course:
http://i37.tinypic.com/qougow.jpg
http://i37.tinypic.com/73iebl.jpg
http://i38.tinypic.com/2qcmemv.jpg
More to follow,
Larry
Larry, your story and pics are great. i have the plans for the Chesapeake 17 and i am really interested in building it. this is first time i have looked at this forum. keep up the good work.
Dave
We are admiring your work out here in California. We are going to build a surf kayak as our first project. Know anybody who built the Mantonuk (sp)
Dave, thanks. Jump right in on the 17, it goes together very easily (and quickly, if you're OCD, like me!). I had very little difficulty along the way, and have really enjoyed the process. Haven't built anything in a long time (wood working, that is) and this has been an excellent way to get back into the craft.
Dawn; Dave, haven't seen anyone here building the Mantunuk, but it looks like it'd be easier than some of the longer boats (space is an issue, as is scarfing two and three pieces of ply together to get the length needed on the panels). I think it'd go together pretty fast, and it looks like a blast on the water!
Good luck to you both,
Larry
Finished sanding the deck this morning and glassed it around noon. Went much more easily than the hull (4oz glass wets out so much more readily). I thought I'd have more difficulty with the edge over the hull sides but that turned out to be pretty easy to deal with.
Used 2.25 cups of epoxy, one long sheet of glass. Got nervous 'cause I only had 1 more measuring cup (first was 3/4 cup; second I went for 1.5 cups and it was just enough to finish it).
Pics:
http://i45.tinypic.com/qs5y8l.jpg
http://i46.tinypic.com/2wdakgz.jpg
Larry
A couple better pics (from my camera, vice my phone) of the newest glass. Temps are up and it's sunny today so I should get two coats of epoxy rolled on before sundown! One more and I'm thinking of starting the coaming (vice flipping it and sanding the hull). I hate sanding that beast!
http://i45.tinypic.com/106m39t.jpg
http://i45.tinypic.com/2dh9xg2.jpg
Larry
Mad Experiment!
Beginnings of my carbon coaming. This is two layers (sometimes 3) of 4oz glass over two 5/8" hoses, taped to the shape of the coaming. One more layer of glass and I'll put the carbon on, atop which will go one or two more layers (not sure yet).
Lessons: Epoxy doesn't like sticking to a substrate that isn't "fixed." I covered the mold with seran wrap and began putting glass on that. Unfortunately, the seran wrap lifted off the boat/mold every time I touched the glass... wetting it out was impossible. After two pieces of glass I ripped the entire thing off and hurried to cover the entire mold in clear packing tape. My fear was that my cup of epoxy would get too stiff to work with. In the end, everything worked fine... the glass wet out much more steadily and everything laid pretty much in place. Tomorrow I'll pull it up, trim off some of the excess and sand a little to get rid of bumps and furry ends of the glass. Then on to carbon!
Pics:
http://i47.tinypic.com/2lnik4h.jpg
http://i50.tinypic.com/33zbio5.jpg
I'd welcome any ideas...,
Larry
My near dissaster of yesterday (two layers of 4oz glass on my coaming mold) left me feeling like this wasn't gonna work. A little research and I found an article on the topic - but the guy used numerous layers of glass (and three layers of carbon, which I thought was overkill).
So today I put 4 more layers of 6oz glass, cut on the diaganol, and most of the warts/bumps disappeared. I had to cut a few bumps out of the original lay up to smooth things out, but they covered over very well. I'm once again psyched about how this is gonna look!
Pics of the last lay up:
http://i47.tinypic.com/m7gtqx.jpg
http://i46.tinypic.com/wlzt36.jpg
http://i49.tinypic.com/fdvawy.jpg
Larry
Hi Larry,
it sounds like you are making the C17 combing built to withstand anything. is this something you are doing for you or does it say to do all this in the manual. my Mantunuck manual does not talk about all those layers of glass.
Dave
Dave,
This isn't in the manual..., I found the idea from "One Ocean Kayaks" website, then found several other online references for kayak carbon fiber coamings.
The layers of glass will (hopefully) provide the strength needed at the opening of the boat, the rigid nature of the carbon should keep everything from moving/flexing. I'll put a layer (or two) more of 6oz glass over the carbon, but mostly for safety reasons (don't want to sand into the carbon; it ruins the look and the dust is extremely hazardous to "carbon-based-beings!").
My manual (from CLC) gives instructions for a plywood coaming. While I'm sure they're functional, they're not much to look at, especially when compared to the carbon.
Tomorrow I might be laying up the carbon layer. If I do I'll have pictures posted afterwards. Keeping my fingers crossed... I might put on a layer of thickened epoxy to fill any low spots and create a fillet between the coaming rise and the keyhole knee braces. Still thinking that one threw.
More to come; thanks for commenting,
Larry
Larry great information and great pictures. I just purchased a Chesapeake 17 kayak that is about 50% complete and over 10 years old. My question is the beam measurements Beam at sheer is 231/2 inches from 111" dist. from the bow. so is this a Chesapeake 17 or a LT17. The plans show said it a 17.
Quickstart,
According to the plans sheets, the "17" is 24" at the widest point; the "17LT" is 23. Mine measures 23.5", as yours suggests.
I went with a modified LT, meaning instead of reducing the hull height by 1 inch, I reduced it by 1/2", giving me a little more cargo capacity but a little less overall volume. Mine beam comes to 23.5" exactly.
Measure the height of your hull sides at the beam..., they should be either 1/2 or 1 inch less than a full Chese 17..., that'll tell you what you have.
Also, note that putting your spreader stick in the center of the boat during the stitch up determines the width, and you could easily go 1/2" more or less on the beam without making much difference in the end product. Might've been a simple error in measurement during initial construction, the angle of the sheer clamps can add to the overall width of the boat (I angled my spreader stick to compensate for this - not sure everyone does this).
The other difference between the 17 and the 17LT is the radius of the aft deck; the LT has a 48" radius, whereas the 17 has a 24" (if memory serves). The LT has a very flat rear deck. I kept the 24" on mine 'cause I like the curvy shape of the deck....
Has your deck been installed? Bulkheads and deck beam? If not, you've some options regarding the end result of the boat. You could go with the 24" radius to keep the volume (for gear) and the attractive look of that curvy deck, or go with a flatter overall appearance and reduced volume (and wind resistance).
However it turns out, I think you'll love this design. It's a beautiful boat, holds a tone of cargo (LT or other) and is supposed to be extremely stable.
Let me know how it goes,
Larry
Did my coaming today. Amazing stuff, that carbon! Went down with much less hassle than I'd imagined and after 2 hours has stayed put.
The seams were a pain 'cause you can't cut that stuff without leaving a rough weave edge. Jayarboro (I think I spelled that right) gave me a good tip - a strip of 4oz glass over the seam holds the weave down, so while you can still see a subtle shift in the patern, it's nice and flat/smooth.
Will cover the entire thing this evening with 4oz glass and fill in the weave next couple days.
Looking forward to popping it off the boat for trimming!
Pics:
http://i47.tinypic.com/nh05mr.jpg
http://i49.tinypic.com/aca7p1.jpg
http://i45.tinypic.com/j93vwz.jpg
Larry
4:30 and I just laid 4oz glass over the carbon. Carbon was a little tacky but that didn't raise too many issues... the glass did stick to it a tad if there wasn't sufficient epoxy under it. The glass seams get a light sanding tomorrow evening and more epoxy (if I have any left)... I may pop the entire thing off the boat first and trim some of the edges down... lots of loose cf hanging in the boat and I'd rather not have that stuff drifting around my garage.
Excellent material for a coaming!
Larry
With this winter wonderland reaching as far south as it has it's been a while since I did anything in the shop. Today it warmed up enough to finish sanding the bottom (easy, by comparison to sides/deck) and cut the carbon coaming to shape.
The coaming still needs fine-tuning and sanding, then will probably get another layer of glass overall to fix it to the deck, but I'm pretty happy with the results. Looks excellent on the boat and feels quite strong. I'll put an epoxy fillet under the top edge before attaching it, that'll reinforce the lip; the fillet around the deck will add the extra protection/strength it'll need for carrying and attaching a skirt.
Pics:
http://i49.tinypic.com/2d1mdy1.jpg
http://i45.tinypic.com/2nur31g.jpg
