Eastern Arctic Kayak Historical Construction Photos

I have some historical photos of Eastern Arctic kayak construction.  I have no idea where I got them.  But here they are.  Mostly what I want to comment on is the fact that while these photos dont reveal all that much, they do reveal some general specifics about Arctic kayak construction methodology.
The most important revelation to me is that these boats were built without the benefit of any sort of building platform other than what looks like pretty bumpy ground.  What this means is that in order to get a symmetrical boat, the builders had to rely on the parts of the boat itself to achieve symmetry.  The deck, once built became the building platform for the rest of the boat.

This boat frame appears to be almost done.  The builder appears to be doing some trimming with a hand saw, or maybe he is just using the deck of the kayak for a saw horse to cut a piece of wood.

Meanwhile, a little earlier in the building process, this builder has inserted some rib blanks into their mortises.  Bending and trimming the ribs remains to be done. 

Women are covering a finished frame in canvas.  It looks as though they will have some canvas left over.  The fact that they are using canvas indicates that this photo was taken very near the end of the era of kayak construction.  And the building site is remarkable for its ruggedness.  No nicely swept floor, strictly open air.

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CB Trunk installed

Finally had a day when I was home for a few hours, and the weather was cooperating.

The centerboard trunk is now glued in place with WEST high strength adhesive, and the trunk rails mounted as well.   I tried to use bronze boat nails, but wound up just clamping.   I still need to glass tab it know place, but that is tomorrows project.   Its officially a sailboat now.

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Mast step continued

The boat is propped up so that the step is 10" higher than the transom.

I made a template of cardboard for the mast step support, and got an excellent fit for this.  Next it is tacked in place with a little epoxy grout.

Great care was take to get the 3 degrees aft and centered.  

Then, epoxy grout is added to the platform supports 3/4 X 3/4 and placed level.  when this sets, I will fillet and tape in place.  

Having a few of these lead weights hanging around has been very helpful during the build.  Wear gloves and wash your hands.  

to date...I have used four disposable chip brushes, lost two when I forgot to clean them.  Also have used about 1 gallon of epoxy to tape and fillet so far, as well as a tub of cabosil style filler.  will need to order more of this next week when I put the keel batten in.  

and...a few hours later.  

It looks as if I may have missed the location by 1/2" too high and forward.  If its an issue, I will spile on a couple of inches to the rear of the step and add some support.  a 3" tube located 17 1/2" on center off the deck will land about 1.75" on center in.  just enough.  In hind sight, This piece could be made a few inches longer without hurting anything.  The most important measurement is from the deck hole to the platform as the mast tube will only be about 22" long when completed.  

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Core Sound Start 6 9 13

 9 Sheets of 6mm Okoume
3 sheets of 9mm Okoume

by noon, I had all the 9mm ripped and ready for gluing the scarfs.  I use a makita Power plane to rough cut the 3" scarfs, and then a block plane, followed by a belt sander.  This took 30 minutes tops.

Next will be to move the panels to the basement workshop for gluing in the climate controlled environment!  I use WEST with one primer coat, followed by a thicken coat with Cabosil or equivalent to make a bonding putty.

I place a wide sawhorse under the joint, then cover with plastic, apply glue, then cover with plastic, and lastly     weight down with a 1X6 with any kind of weight on top.  If it slips too much, I will drive a couple of bronze nails through the set up.  May do this anyways to save time.  the goal is to be able to loft the bottom panels next weekend, and then start on the sides.

Here I am 3 hours later.

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New Year New Promise New hope Ill get this thing in the water this year

Progress is coming along steadily, if slowly on the Utility. The fiberglassing work continues. Its fortunately not difficult. It just takes time... working in sections, feathering edges, sanding, etc.

You know.... "boat building."

At this point, Ive got all of the bottom fiberglassed on the Utility, and Ive begun encapsulating frame # 5-1/2 on the Zip.

Here are a couple of progress photos. Happy New Year to you!

Zip frame #5-1/2, "glued and screwed," and awaiting encapsulation with marine epoxy.

Here are the Zip (L)  and the Utility (R), side-by-side. As you can see, theyre at very different stages of completion.

Zip frame #5-1/2, partially encapsulated.

Hull bottom is fully fiberglassed, but needs to be sanded.

Starboard bottom, forward at the chine transition joint.

Sanding / Feathering the fiberglass cloth at port aft.

Overlapping the fiberglass cloth at the bow.

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Hatches

I have looked at all the photos online, and read the plans over and over again as I admit to having had difficulty seeing this structure in three dimensions from the 2 dimension plans.  After advice from the builders forum, I just went ahead and cut out the parts per the plan and temporarily assembled all with hot melt glue.  I LOVE THIS STUFF! This allows to see how the parts fit, make small adjustments, and hold things in place while testing for fit.  I might just apply epoxy grout all around and call it a day.  Here are two hatch frames for the cockpit seats assembled with hot melt and tested at the bench.

The plans also show a 1/8" spacer to be applied to the bottom of the front panel.  I could not see how this was to work, but after assembly, I realize that the entire panel tilts forward towards the cockpit creating a space between the front panel and the seat edge.  The 1/8 spacer fills this gap that is created.  Next, will be to epoxy it all, then create the opening in the seats for the hatch frames.  Very clever design.

OOPS.  the hatch rings are on upside down.  Pretty sure it would have worked, but will reverse them anyways.

12-2-14 Both Hatch forms have been glassed and filleted along the channels.  These areas will constantly be subjected to abrasion in damp spots and need a little extra love.  Took 1.5 hours to apply epoxy.  Extra glass was trimmed 3 hours later with a razor blade before the glass became too hard to scrape.  Tomorrow, I will clean it all up and add another coat of epoxy. 

December 27, 2014

We had a rare 50 degree day here in the Northeast US, so I rolled the boat out into the open air and decided to have at it with installing these locker hatches.  There was not much to it after I figured out how to accurately measure the cut out by reversing the cover (front to the back) and setting it on the seat.  3/4" in all around yields the correct cut.  NOTE: I cut all a little undersized and the use the router, plane, saw, and sander to sneak up on it.  With this method there was about 1.5" of inner seat cleats to cut away.  10 minutes with the multi-tool and this was easily done.  I am pretty happy with the result, and will make the seat tops this week.  

while I was there, I cut out the access ports for the forward air tank for inspection purposes.  Rumour has it that I will be adding emptied wine bladders to these tanks to achieve positive floatation.  

The placement of the access ports is not quite symmetrical, this will drive me nuts.

Hatch lids have been fitted and temporarily held together with hot melt glue.  Will take them to the gluing table to permanently assemble with epoxy.  

The stern hatch was actually trickier than I thought.  Getting a fair curve that was aesthetically pleasing and then cutting it out took far longer than expected.  I have added a 3/8 backing to the hatch itself to give it a little more durability in the long run.  All is temporarily assembled with hot melt glue and then will be epoxied when it gets warmer.  

the upper curve follows the same arc as the upper beam 3" below it.  

I used a Stanley Fat Max to make the cut.  Best hand saw I have found so far for the tighter radius.

Test fit reveals that the best approach will be to use a short length of piano hinge to hold it on.  Wont get lost and really is not under foot as the lid sits 8 1/2" up from the bottom.  I can operate it with one hand.  

Test fit of the hatch lid in place with good clearance all around.  This will work. will add a gasket to the frame to make it water tight.

routed a 1/16" groove into the hatch ring to accept the gasket (3/16) from Home Despot.  Test fit showed that it seals quite nicely.  Will remove the goo from the gasket and epoxy in place.  Getting excited that this is coming out better than anticipated.  

Practice piece of foam gasket in a 1/16" hole.  Cut with router.  

first attempt at using the router. 

third attempt.  A tad more than 1/16" with a straight bit on the router.  This comes under the category of a new trick learned.

1-17-15  more work

Made some small parts today, hatch dogs, and finger grips.  Cut the continuous hinge with a dremel tool.  Worked great.  

These are 2" X 3/4" mahogany knobs to go on the side hatches, and also serve to hold the bungee cord in place to keep it shut.  The goal is to have these hatches water tight in the event of capsize.  

The almond shape pieces are mahogany buttons that will rotate to hold the aft hatch closed. 

Hinge was cut with an abrasive wheel on a Dremel tool.  Hinge is closed shiny side in! No Scratching. 

 I am adding a small lip to the bottom edge of the aft hatch.  The lid is only 1/4" thick and screws will get in the way of the hatch closing, so I have added a 1/4"X 3/4" plywood strip under both halves of the hinge.  This will provide some bite for the screws, as well as strengthen the lower lip in case I accidentally step on it. 

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This worked pretty well.  The result is a pretty strong set up.  

A 3/4" groove has been routed into the frame to accept the gasket that will be mounted on the hatch lid.  Turnbuttons will be added to each side to hold shut while under way. 

View of the three hatches being dry fit to the boat.  I still need to fit the gaskets.  

Forward hatch frame.  

Test fit of the lid.  Currently it is warped and am hoping that with some battens added to the underside to accept the shockcord (see Kayak hatches for a description of how this works) the warp will disappear.  

The lid shows the exposed screws that have been ground flush with the frame.  

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