And that is why this morning I didn’t pull up JACK on the world. I did pull up a couple sites that provide fiberglass cloth and matte, epoxies of all three common sorts, etc etc. Pricey? why yes, of course it is. And worse now than it was 2 years ago when this bug first bit me, but hadn’t become infected yet.
I have a goal in mind. even played with some of my cut-off pieces to see what my idea of lay-up would look like IRL: Not too shabby. (from inside to out, 4oz glass, 1080 BN, 6 oz matte, 1080BN, and 6oz glass. total thickness once the air bubbles are ‘rolled out’: 3/32″ and the nylon allows ‘flex’.) I want to/may do one more ‘practice run’ using denim as the second to outer layer. Just to see what it might look like. Probably won’t go that route though since any ‘dinks’ will crack and that denim would soak up water like a sponge and cause massive problems down the road. (in fact, I already decided to NOT do this as I wrote that; it might look cool, but is worthless for my application.)
As for making a plug, lots of options. And making the ‘frame’ of a SOF kayak as the mold to hold things in shape is viable. I plan on using the 1080 ballistic nylon and that can be stretched and sewn in place and the goop and glass added to it; once that has cured, pull the frame and do a repeat on the inside. Build the hull as one piece, the deck as the opposite, and you has a kayak,,,,(almost, lots more work than that,,,) While it’s not the ‘smooth as glass’ outer finish of using a plug coated in gel-coat, its not bad and is easily ‘buffed out’ to that glass like finish. Just means a little more elbow work to do: sanding and clearcoat, which was already built into the plan,,,
Anywhoos, this is NOT going to be an overnight project like one of my skin on frames; I can knock one of those out in a week, two weeks if I am taking my time. This one is going to be spread out over time due to the materials list. Gonna buy what I need in batches as I can afford it and HOPE that the price on epoxy comes down a bit when its time to order that. Since it has a finite shelf life, it will be dead last on the list before the build accelerates.
And I still watch the lists looking for that Sirius, Nordkapp, Tempest or Chatham (in glass, not rotomolds.). There are a few others that have my eye, but those four are all so similar in hull shape and rocker compared to what I am shooting for,,,
Just an aside, I understand why builders change the shapes and designs frequently: its to sell kayaks. Like the danged seats that look so danged comfortable but hinder the performance of the kayak: not there for the performance, its there to sell the boat. I get it. But when you have a design like the Nordkapp, that retailed for 3500ish, but you see a 30 year old boat sell for 9000,,,, The demand for the boat is there. Maybe its time to bust out the old plugs, make sure they are straight and do a ‘collectors run’,,, Just sayin’. Not much for ‘fashion’ and that seems to be the general business model of the kayak industry, heck, any ‘transportation’ maker is that way. dunno where I was going with that thought now,,,,,
Its early, kittehs are being pains looking for that lap to crawl into and snooze away the drippy damp cool morning we have (feels like October right now) and furry butts getting shoved in my face as they attempt a new position are a definite distraction of the negative sort. Mama-kat is still insisting she is about to pop out a brood but that seems to be easing off the last 24 hours. I did get her on the bench and listened for heartbeats: only heard the one, and if she were pregnant, and ready to pop, it should have sounded like a Neil Pert (mayherestinpeace) drum solo in there. (trick for using a stethoscope on a cat. Cover the nostrils, they stop purring.). So, I will leave this here for now and maybe come up with something more meat and potatoes for later,,,,
Dio's Workshop 