Well hello there.

It has been quite a while since I’ve been here. I do apologize for that, and I know that this forum is quite stale at this point, but I am hoping to revive it for the moment, and when I really start working in the spring to be updating much more often again.
The kayak has gone through fits and spurts of activity. Pics coming…[Read more]

smallerstick wrote:IIRC that would have been @mrfid He had a couple of struggles with the build but it came out really well.

Here’s the link https://bethepro.com/forums/topic/woodgears-bandsaw-blog/

That’s correct. It was me haha!

My bandsaw is done. I added covers for everything to keep dust to a minimum. Here’s a project summary that I p…[Read more]

Thanks fellas.

Clev08 wrote:It’s crazy how much time is spent setting up a build like that. My uncle spent about 9 months making two wood kayaks. How many hours do you think you are going to spend on this by the time you are all done?

Honestly I have no idea. I feel like I’ve heard Nick say between 150 and 250 for the first one, with s…[Read more]

Today’s work focused on getting the pine end stems cut and completed. The job is not done but I made good progress that I am happy with. The mdf stems I cut and shaped in the customary manner (bandsaw then OSS down to the line). Then after tracing onto the pine I cut the bottom side of each on the bandsaw and shaped down on the sander.
After that…[Read more]

smallerstick wrote:Really good to see some actual boat parts. Can’t wait for it to begin taking shape.

For sure.

I am not sure how the forms will come out after all is said and done. Nick says that he often doesn’t bother with reusing forms since they end up kind of beat up from the process, but it definitely would be faster the second time a…[Read more]

Thanks everyone. Greg, I am just tracking hours that I spend working directly on this project. I spend time in the shop doing other stuff, but I only record the time I spend on this project.

Today I was able to get some time in the shop to work on the forms that will be attached to the end forms. These will go 6 inches and 1 foot from the front…[Read more]

Getting our (hopefully) last dusting of snow tomorrow morning. Really, really, very ready for spring here in the Boston area.

cmeyer25 wrote:I’m excited to see your next few phases – it sounds like we’re about to start seeing the beginnings of the shape your boat will take!

Thanks everyone! Getting there. Today I spent most of the day working on other projects, but soon enough I’ll be stringing on the forms! I did cut a few pieces of plywood that will accept the stron…[Read more]

Welcome Heather! We look forward to learning from you. Enjoy the site.

A few more pics to go with the post above.

So I’ve spent some time over the last few days working on getting the spacers glued up and cut to length. These will go in between the forms to hold them steady but allow more adjustability than screwing them into place would. This is the method that Nick has been using for his last few boats. I want them to seat over the strongback, and the…[Read more]

$40 per hour seems fair to me for good work. Depends on what you need done, I guess.

wbembrid wrote:Got my box joint jig together (John Heisz model) working, the joint is a little tight, so now I have to tweak it.

Really nice looking finger joint there. I have one too and don’t use it as much as I should. At this point, with test cuts and setup, I find I can cut a dovetail by hand faster than I can cut a finger joint with my jig.…[Read more]

Thanks everyone for checking in! Glad to be moving forward. Today if I can sneak out my plan is to glue up the spacers.

The strongback is very straight along the 4 inch side, but there was a small bend looking down the 2 inch side (see pic). I clamped a 2 by 4 along that section (with the bend in the middle), then spread clamped blocks on each…[Read more]

wbembrid wrote:OK, so I definitely need to stock up on clamps prior to starting a canoe or kayak build

Haha quite right. I’ll need to grab a stash of spring clamps when the time comes for their part in the process as I don’t have tons of those. Fortunately they are pretty cheap.

smallerstick wrote:I have heard rumours about this thing called…

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Thanks everyone.

Sorry for the long radio silence on this thread. Been an unusually cold early spring and I am not a fan of gluing up in the cold. The only glue joint I’ve ever had fail on me yet was one that was done when it was too cold for the glue to get a proper cure.

This weekend we had a little break in the weather and I managed to glue…[Read more]

Welcome Neneth. We look forward to learning from you and sharing what we’re working on with you.

That’s a great video from Frank. I like his way of explaining his process/reasoning.

kamilpl wrote:Hello, my name is Kamil. I am a contractor from Chicago. I own my company and enjoy playing soccer on the weekends.

Hi Kamil and welcome! We look forward to seeing and hearing about your work. Enjoy BTP!!