North Alaska replica kayak frame build, Day 17. Started the day by pegging every other rib with 1/8th inch dowels. We left the pegs slightly proud on the inside to match the original kayak. It’s subtle details like this that add richness to a historic replica kayak frame.
Third time was the charm rebuilding the peaked deck beam on the smaller kayak. Tom carved the new piece and we are happy with the match to the original photos.
I re-bent a couple ribs at the end of the larger kayak, and got started on the keels. The keels for both of these kayaks are surprisingly difficult to build, because although the majority of the keel stringer is pretty thin and narrow, it flares in both directions about a foot from either end, and is shaped convex on the outside and concave on the inside. This detail must have been very important to the Inupiat because it would have taken tremendous labor to produce. (Imagine starting with something roughly the size of a 2 x 4 and carving it by hand down to 3/8 x 1“ everywhere except for the ends).
This is the sort of thing that most sane builders will simplify on arctic kayaks built for personal paddling use, but this being a replica frame for display it seemed essential to accurately reproduce the detail. Unfortunately the first set of keels we glued up had to be discarded because I used pine from two separate boards and the grain and color mismatch made the glue line far too obvious to pass for solid stock, so we re-cut new stock and glued on new “wings” from the same board. This is the first kayak I’ve built where the end of the keel flares in both directions. It’s quite common to see the keel get taller near the stems, in which case I carefully raise the table saw blade into the board to cut the long narrow center section the same as I did here.
Working on various prep tasks. Getting slowly closer to completion.
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