Ribs Steamed and in place

After finishing the upper frame by cutting the tenon ends off and
sanding the ends flush its time for the feared "steaming of the ribs".

I made a steam-box out of a polystyrene board and joined together with
silver tape. I added a towel atone end as a opening and pushed some wires through
to make shelf's to keep the wood in the middle when steaming.
I then used an old kettle and our camping stove to produce the steam.
I have to say it worked really well and made the job a easier.


The steamer.

I also made the bending jig recommended in one of the books I following
this also worked really well.


Bending jig.

I managed to bend all the ribs in an afternoon and very few breakages
a real positive surprise and a rewarding job.

Here's a few picture of the ribs in place.


From the bow.


And from the stern.

Next up sanding and pegging the ribs.

Frame sanded and beams pegged

I sanded and dismantled the frame, and made sure the
tenons fitted the best they could. Then locked the beams in the frame
with trunnels and with the first lashing at both ends.


Trunnels wedged and fitted.



The frame clamped and the first holes drilled for the locking dowels.


Dowels in place ready for sanding.


After all the beams are locked with dowels, every other
beam is lashed against the tenon.

Next up finish the lashings.

Deck beams in place

Time to cut the tenons for the main beams and fit them
snugly against the gunwales.



One of the beams ready for cutting. Most the sawing I used the
Japanese saw really easy to control and gave a straight clean cut.


Ready for fitting. Lots of angles to cut to.


Nice tight fit.


All the beams (apart from the masik) and sitting to see if back/feet
positions worked out. Happy chappy :)

Marking deck beams

Now its time for the deck-beams. There are three types of beams
I'll start with two of them first, the main thinner beams and the two
thicker beams above the legs.


All the beams are cut to a rough length and layed in place.


Next up two jigs to help mark out the compound angles
on the tenons on the beams.


One of the jigs in work, this one offsets the angle so that
the tenons sit at the right height.


Here are the two thicker deck-beams roughed out and in
place.


All the beams marked out and ready for me to cut the tenons
out.

Gunwale forms and tip shaping

Today I made the gunwale forms. Five forms used to form the rails and
hold them in place while adding shape to the bow and stern ends
and helping in placing the deck-beams.


The middle form.


One of the end forms and one of the spreaders wedged into
place.


All the forms in place now time to saw the ends to shape
and close to gaps.

By running a Japanese saw through the ends while they are under pressure
I wittled away at the gap closing it and giving the end more surface.


Both ends finished and now I've stretched
string between the ends to see that everything
lines up and is centered. Looking good :)

Next up, the deck beams.

Gunwales finished

After finishing the last of the deck-beams mortises the last task on the gunwales was to
bevel the inside edge of the rails.


The bevelling lines were marked out with a simple notched
jig.


The bevel is to keep the top of the rails flat and help when
the cloth is stretched over the top edge.


Here they are in all there beauty.

Now for some forms for shaping the gunwales. These
will help decide the shape and handling of the final
kayak.

Deck beam mortises

Next the mortises for the eleven deck beams. All the joints are mortises that sit at 17º and
together with that each beam will sit against the curve of the gunwales this sounds like the
job for a new jig.


This jig keeps the holes 1cm down from the edge and the holes at 17º.


This is what is left to clean up after drilling with jig.

Then theres a bit of chiselling to clean up and square the joint
and finished off with a file heres our first deck mortise.


One down 21 to go :)