I’m getting ready to fiberglass my Little Auk 10. It’s for one of the granddaughters, so I need to maintain a good balance between low weight and ruggedness. It will be used on a lake for short paddles. I’m thinking 6 oz on the exterior of the hull as it will probably get dragged up on shore and using 4 oz elsewhere. I’m also thinking of glassing the inside and outside of the hull and the inside of the deck. Then joining them, running the interior seam tape, and then glassing the outside of the deck, extending the fabric over the joint to the hull. Does this sound reasonable? I did build external forms to be sure the deck is kept in shape as I sand and glass the inside.
I’ve not built a stripper, but aren’t they supposed to get completely glassed inside and out? If so, there should be a glass schedule already specified in the instructions. The only place I’d add extra glass in that case is the exterior bottom, if actually needed.
If it was my boat, I’d limit the exterior 6 oz cloth to the bottom and around the turn of the bilge - pretty much waterline and below. This would keep the heavy stuff low, the extra abrasion resistance where it’s needed most and leave the visible parts of the boat covered with the thinner, clearer glass which shows off the wood better than the 6 oz glass.
FWIW, my Wood Duck 12 is glassed inside and out with 4 oz glass, no 6 oz, and it’s been taking a beating every season since 2009 and is still going strong. Unless your lake is rocky or you’ll be using a concrete ramp, 4 oz should be fine, especially with a graphite/epoxy coating.
Laszlo
Yeah, it’s interesting. I’ve looked at a bunch of videos and I think I only saw one on Nick’s site that directly shows joining the outside of a strip planked kayak. He glassed in and out but added a layer when he joined deck to hull. I do think it is common (i believe this is what’s in Nick’s book) to glass everything then tape the outside (after inside). I did find a video by someone else that did what I’m proposing. That’s where I got the idea of making the exterior frame to hold the hull in shape as I do the inside. I bought this kayak as a partially built project from CLC so I don’t know if the strip boats come with any direct instructions other than the plans and Nicks book.
Lately I have been glassing inside and out with 4oz glass. Then, after joining the deck to hull with fiberglass tape on the inside, I’ll lay another full sheet of 4oz on the hull overlapping an inch or so onto the deck.. This serves the dual purpose of adding a scuff layer to the bottom and sealing the outside seam. I find this easier than cutting and feathering football shaped pieces on the bottom.
Dan
For any strip build, you will want to glass both the inside and outside of both hull and deck. There are several techniques for the order that you do this. Personally, I glass the hull exterior while it is still on the forms, then remove from forms and do the interior. For the deck, I do the interior first then the exterior after it is joined to the hull, with overlap an inch or two down onto the hull. The deck will be pretty fragile before it is glassed so I do a light skim coat of epoxy then reinforce with tape before it comes off of the forms. It is important that you get the entire boat glassed and mated as quickly as possible once it comes off of the forms. Otherwise, the hull and deck will change shape making it hard to mate the two. When I can, I will put the hull and/or deck back on the forms to help hold the shape when I am not working on them. Picture shows deck back on forms after the inside has been glassed. The top is not yet glassed and I am cutting the hatches.
Regarding glass layup schedules, Nick shows three layups on page 110 of the Strip Built Kayak. For my use in Florida, I use 4oz both inside and out for my recreational boats, with some type of added rub strip on the bow and stern. I have recently started using S-glass on the interior because it is much stronger and makes the boat more collision resistant without adding weight. S-glass is much more expensive than the usual E-glass and does not wet out as clearly.
Excellent- very helpful, thanks!
Here’s the Little Auk I completed for a client. He’s using it as a tender for his wooden cabin cruiser in Alaska.
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Nice!!
I may try a similar planking method on my next Little Auk (I’m making a kayak for each grandchild). I followed the shear for the first six planks or so on this one and the bends were difficult. I ended up steam bending them to roughly the right shape.
In this case the client had done the woodworking. I had to correct some flaws, glass it and make it one piece (then build a crate to ship it to AK). Short, wide boats can be trickier than long skinny ones.
great comments from everybody.
i would highlight one dimension of your question that does not appear to be addressed.
for abrasion resistence, you need a rubstrip. 4 oz, 8 oz 16 oz layups of fibreglass…none of these will hold up long for any part of the boat that is routinely run up on a boat ramp or other abrasive surface.
i have rubstrips on all my boats where i anticipate that the boat may get pulled up on a concrete boat launch or other abrasive surface. all my ‘kids boats’ have rubstrip. the link and techniques for that are describe here: Rubstrip Kit for Kayaks: Protect the Bow & Stern - Dynel Fabric, Graphite Powder & Epoxy – Chesapeake Light Craft
if you don’t want to buy the kit, you can buy some dynel cloth from various providers….and make your own. its not hard.
there are other techniques for rubstrips….but don’t conflate layup strength and what it does for a kayak vs how to ensure routine abrasion does not cut into your hull. that’s why many of the commenters above are proposing that you are fine with a lighter layup….becuase most of the hull is simply not subject to what we typically define as “abrasion”.
h
Good idea. I’ve also contemplated added a small hardwood keel down the centerline. Something like 1/4” tall by 3/4” wide for when it gets pulled up on a dock or the like. It might help tracking too? I haven’t seen this done though on these kayaks (though my old Sears aluminum canoe had one).
For a rub strip, I recommend a product called KeelEazy. It comes in many colors and widths, and is easy to apply and remove with a heat gun. Also has many other uses. First picture you can see it used on the bow of a Pygmy build. In the second picture you can see it in three places on my Aleutesque: paddle strike guard on the side of the boat, below footbrace were my heals rest to prevent wear, under the bungee where my water bottle scrapes the glass.
Mark,
How do you get KeelEazy to stay on as a bow rubstrip? No matter what I’ve done, it always peels off again within the season. I’ve followed the application instructions to the letter, but it keeps coming off. I actually gave up on using it some years back, but since it seems to work for you I’d love to know how you do it?
It’s OK for flat spots or very gentle curves, but I just can’t form it to the shape of a kayak bow. That’s why I use extra glass and graphite/epoxy mix. There I can form the shape and let it set, unlike trying to coerce a stiff flat piece of plastic into a curve that will stay put.
Laszlo
KeelEazy is definitely not as permanent as extra glass layers but I usually get several seasons before I have to remove and reapply. One of my race buddies is a Stellar dealer and he is really good with this product. The first tip is to cut darts (remove material) as needed where the bend is greatest in the bow. If you look at the bow of the Pygmy in the picture above, you can see where some material is missing. On that boat I initially tried one larger cut but did not like how it looked so I removed it and put a new strip on with multiple smaller cuts. The second tip is to use a heat gun to get the strip really hot as you apply it. I get it hot enough that I can barely touch it with my bare hand. It sticks with less heat but the higher heat makes it stick better.
I used the heat gun and a leather glove the way t he instructions said to and let it get hot through the glove. If I still have any around (I may have thrown it out) I’ll try it with the darts. Otherwise I’ll go with a brass strip when I next refinish.
Thanks for the tip,
Laszlo