I've finally finished fitting all the deck beams to their mortises, each one a custom whittling job to get it down to a snug fit. It is a task like most around this kayak, it's not particularly hard or skilled work, it merely takes time and attention to whatever it is that your doing. Keep in mind when reading this blog that this is the first time that I've ever attempted any sort of wood working project that didn't involve 2x4's and a nail gun or a chainsaw. If I can do it, you can do it. So be encouraged, make your own, and come paddle!
The deck beams are now snug and theoretically, should all be correctly angled and fit beautifully into the gun'l's and allow it to hold its shape while I work on the rest of the boat. I'm excited for this next step because it will be a solid unit and something quite beautiful to look at in itself. It also seems like smooth sailing after this but that might just be in my novice mind. The book does say that getting the deck fitted and straight and true is the most difficult part of the project and almost impossible to fix after the fact. I've taken great care and gone slow because of this. When I first put the gun'l's together in their forms (which I have yet to mention) with clamps keeping their ends perfectly match and great care making sure the forms were square I sighted down the middle with some mid-marks drawn and I was a dead on! Just today I got the final pieces of dowel need to keep the bow together once formed so soon I shall get on with this and start having some more impressive photos.
On another note, my paddle is finished already! I went to Frontenac and saw Tom Froese of tandjpaddles.com for a one on one workshop and he guided me through a wonderful four hours of carving cedar up into a nice traditional unshouldered paddle. He cut out the basic shape with a bandsaw or jigsaw and marked lines on it to shave in between and showed me how to use the drawknife, plane and spokeshave and how to work the grain properly in a piece of cedar. This was especially useful to me because cedar is the main wood of the boat as well. I've used the lessons many time over already! At the end of the workshop I had a nice looking paddle that needed its final sanding and a finishing. These pictures here show it after three coats of tung oil and a coat of wax, both of which I got from shop.skinboats.com, a store based out of Anacortes, WA. I like these (not that I've used anything else) because they are super organic and eco-friendly. This is really nice because then you don't have to worry about harming your garden, cats, or yourself when applying the product. It's a little peace of mind after working with industrial products all day! Anyways, the oil helps preserve the wood and really brings out the grain beautifully as you can see while the wax is an added security factor as well as making it slide better in your hands and feel much more sealed and protected from the elements.
Some of you may be confused by the shape of the paddle here as it is not like "Euro" paddles at all. One key difference is the blade shape, it is long and narrow, only about 3.5-4 inches wide on this one. This helps it move more easily through the water for long distance paddling as well as being pushed around by the wind less. You can also shift it from one end to the other in your hands, which greatly helps in rolling to get added leverage. Another difference is the hand position, standard hand position is only shoulder width apart, not the euro way of about elbow width apart. Combined with no feathering, where euro standard is about 30, this makes for a lower and longer stroke, a lot easier to keep up on long distance trips. Aside from that it is very similar to the euro stroke, using your torso more than arms and such. This paddle also feels so light in my hands, I can't wait to get it out on the water.
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| note: not for the apples! |
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The deck beams are now snug and theoretically, should all be correctly angled and fit beautifully into the gun'l's and allow it to hold its shape while I work on the rest of the boat. I'm excited for this next step because it will be a solid unit and something quite beautiful to look at in itself. It also seems like smooth sailing after this but that might just be in my novice mind. The book does say that getting the deck fitted and straight and true is the most difficult part of the project and almost impossible to fix after the fact. I've taken great care and gone slow because of this. When I first put the gun'l's together in their forms (which I have yet to mention) with clamps keeping their ends perfectly match and great care making sure the forms were square I sighted down the middle with some mid-marks drawn and I was a dead on! Just today I got the final pieces of dowel need to keep the bow together once formed so soon I shall get on with this and start having some more impressive photos.
On another note, my paddle is finished already! I went to Frontenac and saw Tom Froese of tandjpaddles.com for a one on one workshop and he guided me through a wonderful four hours of carving cedar up into a nice traditional unshouldered paddle. He cut out the basic shape with a bandsaw or jigsaw and marked lines on it to shave in between and showed me how to use the drawknife, plane and spokeshave and how to work the grain properly in a piece of cedar. This was especially useful to me because cedar is the main wood of the boat as well. I've used the lessons many time over already! At the end of the workshop I had a nice looking paddle that needed its final sanding and a finishing. These pictures here show it after three coats of tung oil and a coat of wax, both of which I got from shop.skinboats.com, a store based out of Anacortes, WA. I like these (not that I've used anything else) because they are super organic and eco-friendly. This is really nice because then you don't have to worry about harming your garden, cats, or yourself when applying the product. It's a little peace of mind after working with industrial products all day! Anyways, the oil helps preserve the wood and really brings out the grain beautifully as you can see while the wax is an added security factor as well as making it slide better in your hands and feel much more sealed and protected from the elements.
Some of you may be confused by the shape of the paddle here as it is not like "Euro" paddles at all. One key difference is the blade shape, it is long and narrow, only about 3.5-4 inches wide on this one. This helps it move more easily through the water for long distance paddling as well as being pushed around by the wind less. You can also shift it from one end to the other in your hands, which greatly helps in rolling to get added leverage. Another difference is the hand position, standard hand position is only shoulder width apart, not the euro way of about elbow width apart. Combined with no feathering, where euro standard is about 30, this makes for a lower and longer stroke, a lot easier to keep up on long distance trips. Aside from that it is very similar to the euro stroke, using your torso more than arms and such. This paddle also feels so light in my hands, I can't wait to get it out on the water.
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