Here Liz finishes various rigging tasks to complete the kayak. This kayak and its twin have quite a bit of rigging because they will be used in open water with our catamaran and sailing system. Total time spent working on this kayak was about 65 hours, including the prep, (this was her first time...
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Video: Liz builds a skin on frame kayak, Part 13
With the polyurethane cured, Liz starts the outfitting process to make this a fully functional kayak. Some of this stuff is optional, and some of it is standard on our kayaks. In this video, she adds deck lines, seating, foot braces, backband, a drain plug, and various pad eyes for the perimeter lines. Not...
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Video: Liz builds a skin on frame kayak, Part 12
After coating the hull with 2 part polyurethane Liz turns the kayak over to coat the deck. As usual there’s dozens of tricks to make this turn out well, which is why this part of our kayak building video course is so ridiculously detailed. It sucks to work so hard on something only to...
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Video: Liz builds a skin on frame kayak, Part 11
With the skinning process complete, Liz saturates the cloth with 2 part polyurethane. This particular product is not completely non-toxic, but it also doesn’t contain any solvents so it’s a lot nicer to work with than many other urethanes. It’s also relatively inexpensive and extremely durable. We use 3 to 5 coats wet on...
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Video: Liz builds a skin on frame kayak, Part 10
With the ends sewn up and the skin tightened, Liz stitches up the deck seam and attaches the coaming. We use a simple whipstitch on deck which isn’t quite as pretty as some methods but it’s a LOT faster. After attaching the coaming, we wet down the skin and then steam the fabric to...
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Video: Liz builds a skin on frame kayak, Part 9
Once the oil on the frame is completely dry, we start the skinning process. There are many ways to stitch up a kayak, and many different fabric options. The fabric I use is a nice balance between weights and durability, and our skinning method is fast and easy and the fabric always ends up...
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Video: Liz builds a skin on frame kayak, Part 8
With the frame finished there’s just a little bit of cleanup to do, rounding any sharp edges, sanding, etc. Next Liz takes the frame outside for a generous coat of oil. We really soak the frame for the best possible penetration into the areas that you can’t reach with a paintbrush. The kayak actually...
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Video: Liz builds a skin on frame kayak, Part 7
.With the hull complete Liz turns the kayak over to finish the deck. There’s not a lot of work here, just cutting a shallow blind mortise into a deck beam, a few swipes to the block plane, and a couple lashings to attach the forward deck stringer. Aft deck stringers are omitted because we...
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Video: Liz builds a skin on frame kayak, Part 6
With the stems attached, next Liz ties on the stringers. Just like with the keel it’s beneficial to do this as soon as possible after steam bending the ribs because the stringers help to smooth out any irregularities in the shaping. Once the stringers are tied on we shape the ends and tie them...
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Video: Liz build a skin on frame kayak, Part 5
With the keel is lashed to the ribs next Liz does the final layout and shaping on the stems before attaching them with lashings and pegs. In addition to making the attachments correctly, it’s very important to make sure that the bow and the stern rocker are at the right heights before scribing them...
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Video: Liz builds a skin on frame kayak, Part 4
After steam bending the ribs, Liz double checks the symmetry and the rocker heights at both ends before pegging some of the ribs in place. Next she ties the keel on with a single continuous lashing. It’s important to do this work as quickly as possible after steam bending the ribs because they will...
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Video: Liz builds a skin on frame kayak, Part 3
With the deck complete Liz steam bends the kayak ribs. Not to diminish her skills, but this is actually a lot easier than it looks. The F1 has pretty extreme shaping, and this is Liz’s first build, but she still didn’t break any ribs. The secret is simply using really good quality bending wood,...
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Video: Liz builds a skin on frame kayak, Part 2
With the tenons cut on the ends of the deck beams Liz assembles the deck. This joinery is a mixture of modern and traditional techniques although construction methods varied so widely throughout the Arctic that the word “traditional” can refer to dozens of different building techniques. I simply use whatever is strong, fast, and...
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Video: Liz builds a skin on frame kayak, Part 1
Something a little different this time: I am behind the camera and Liz is building her first kayak! The design is my F1 kayak, a super versatile and surprisingly quick 14’ sea kayak that weighs around 30lbs depending on the size. Normally a build like this takes about 10 days (including prep), but we...
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Video: For the record, I couldn’t pull it through either.
For the record, I couldn’t pull it through either. I cut my deck straps for our new boats a 16th of an inch wider than normal. I regret that decision. ___ This post was originally featured on our Instagram feed. See the original post and discussion here. Follow Cape Falcon Kayak on Instagram »...