Exact copies of Greenland Kayak deck line toggles. The kayak is number 67 in Harvey Golden’s book Kayaks of Greenland. (Photo shared with permission) This particular kayak has a mercifully simple toggle set. Some are quite intricate and complex.
I used Elforyn artificial ivory and although softer it really does work very similarly to ivory. The closest thing I’ve found in terms of working characteristics is actually Delrin. I wish that was available in an off-white because the artificial ivory is ridiculously expensive.
It seems strange to me that there’s not a more commonly available ivory colored plastic. If you know something please let me know!
I started by laying everything out a 16th bigger than the finished dimension. Then I drilled the elongated holes which was the most challenging part. The method that seemed to work best for the elongated holes was to drill right in the center with a 3/16 and then raise the work piece up and wobble it from side to side using the drill press kind of like a router. If there’s a better way to do this somebody please tell me! A cheap combination edge and disc sander with a 80 grit belt made quick work of the shaping and then it was just taking the time to hand sand my way to about 600 grit to approximate the look of the originals.
Even though this took me 20 times as long as the simplified toggles I normally make, I would do it again. Just seems like a nice touch.
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