Guillemot "L" build

Builder's Forum
1

Hello all,

I am new to boat building but so far so good.  I have created a blog

http://marcsprojectpage.blogspot.com/

so family, friends, and anyone else interested can track my progress.  Currently I have completed the forms from plans which I purchased through CLC.  Next step, buy some wood, rip it, mill it and start stripping the hull.  More to come but I thought that I would post it on here for all to see and maybe along the way pick up tips/tricks or maybe even pass some of my tips/tricks along to others.

Thanks,

Marc

2

Thanks for the link Marc.  I'll be keeping tabs on your progress and have subbed in.

3

For those following, or those who would like to follow my progress, I added a few posts for my build.  Enjoy!

Marc

 

http://marcsprojectpage.blogspot.com/

 

So far so good!  I am really enjoying building this one and plan to launch it next spring.  Once complete, who knows, maybe I will build a couple of other boats such as a Wood Duck for the kids.

4

Hi Marc

have you thought about the removal of your forms? I've seen that you use hot melt glue to fix your strips on the forms to prevent holes in the strips. So far so good - thats the same process Nick Schade uses and recommends for doing this. But Nich has mounted the forms on the strongback in a manner they can be shifted on the strongback after removing the parts that hold them on the strongback. As far as I was able to see on your blog your forms are glued (end forms) or screwed onto the strongback.

The build process requires to mount all hull strips and all deck strips before glassing the outer sides of hull and deck - and then hull and deck are removed off the form. This will result in a closed tube (yes, hull and deck are not glued together, but anyway) - and I think it will be very difficult to remove the screwed and glued forms then I guess.

I used frames and scrap wood pieces to fix the strips on my form (it's my fifth build, and my second guillemot), as I wanted no holes in the strips too. I doubt wheter the result is worth the effort, although the new guillemot looks really great now before the final sanding and varnishing.

I've added some pics to illustrate how I've done it. Enjoy.

5

Burningman, 

Thanks for message.  Yes, I have been considering how the forms are going to be removed.  My plan is this, and I hope it works!  I have tried to locate all of the screws so that they can be removed from the top side.   I have not used glue to attach the forms to the strongback, only screws, I guess I will have to go back and read my early blog post to correct this.  So once the stripping, sanding and glassing are complete, I plan to remove the deck and set it aside.  I will then remove the forms by taking out the screws and breaking the forms out.  I have been trying to use just a small bit of hot melt to make this easier.

I will then join the deck and the hull together, etc...

That is my plan, but now you've got me thinking...hmmm.  Well it gives me something to think about.

 

One question that I have is from your experience, how hard is it to remove the deck from the forms?  This will be a key question.

Thanks

6

Burningman,

I did go back and look at my formbuilding post and yes, I did use the 3M adhesive to attach the small end form peices to the larger portion of the end form.  My thought here is that the end form will be removed as one peice along with the smaller ones.  I have the large end form screwed to the strongback so this should be able to be removed.

I have been trying to be careful to not apply wood glue between the strips and the end forms, only between the strips.  Hope this works and if it doesn't, well, it's just wood, I can fix it!  Although it might take a little work.

7

Hi Marc

concerning deck removal - it depends.

The usual process is to strip the hull then turning upside down and stripping the deck. Then the outer side of the deck and the hull are sanded and glassed/epoxied. This makes them stable enough to be removed from the form without damaging them.

I followed this process and had some problems to remove the deck because of some rather small glue runs from the glue used to hold the deck strips together. They glued the deck and the forms together - and yes, I've used tape around all the forms to deny this problem :-)).

When you do it the same way as described above (strip hull, strip deck, sand, glass&epoxy the outer side of both, then remove deck and hull from the form), how can you remove the forms? What you will have is a closed cedar strip tube sitting on your forms. And the only thing you can do with your forms in this tube is to push them, but not to pull.

And there's another point:
The guillemot has concave ends, and it is not easy to hold the strips on the end forms, even with staples. So I guess you MUST hotmelt glue the strips onto the end forms too. My experience with frames and battens holding the strips in place were really good in this area.

Besides this some strips on the deck swing upwards on both boat ends, and the are under a rather high tension there - this means that there is more hotmelt glue needed. Right? When doing this you will have a real problem to lift the deck then.

But probably I simply do not understand your building process steps. Nick Schade makes it. He uses an aluminum strongback and forms that can be shifted on it after removing the cotter pins he uses to fix the forms. This means he can loose the forms from the hull, and put the forms in their places again before stripping the deck. This could be the way to go.
I've never tried it, so I really do not know.

I'm curoius about your solution for sure!

Enjoy your build, the guillemot is a great boat to build and to use for sure.

 

You can see more here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jNzcJTCSuA

And here: How I made my coaming lip
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVASn8j81FQ

 

 

 

 

 

8

Hi Marc.

I've found what I was looking for:

http://www.guillemot-kayaks.com/guillemot/blog/nick/releasing_forms_staple_free_construction

Nick explains how he relaeses his forms. He does realease the hull before building the deck. He can do this with ease with his very professional strongback system.

http://www.guillemot-kayaks.com/guillemot/blog/nick/assembling_forms_make_stripplanked_wooden_sea_kayak

 

I wish you a great day

Rudi