Kayak is a traditional water vehicle peoples inhabiting the Arctic. Oars are used for movement. They are divided into three, two and single oar models.
During production traditional models walrus and seal skins were used, placed on wooden or bone frames. Whale baleen and sinew were used to make the seams waterproof.
Nowadays, industrial methods using the latest materials and technology.
In this article we will look at how to make a kayak with your own hands.
How to make a kayak?
You can use plywood to make a kayak. To assemble a kayak without a frame, the glue and sew method is suitable, which will be discussed in detail in this article.
Assembly using this method will require little time and effort.
How to build a kayak with your own hands?
Rosinka kayaks, created back in Soviet times, have become extremely popular among tourists. For many years in a row they have occupied an honorable place in sports, tourism, and fishing.
The comparative simplicity of the design and ease of manufacture allowed it to take an honorable, leading place among people who want to make a kayak themselves.
Assembling a kayak (kayak)
Assembly sequence of the “Rosinka” kayak:
- Plywood frames are installed on the slipway.
- The keel is laid on the frames in grooves specially designed for this purpose, with the stem and sternpost pre-attached. The corners are attached to the keel.
- We put the zygomatic bars, fenders and bottom stringers in their places.
- Before starting the sheathing, you should adjust all the protruding beams so that the sheathing fits snugly on the side.
- Having completed the adjustment, you can begin fastening the sheathing.
- We install the deck. We cut off the transoms, frames, and bulkheads along the deck line with a saw and plane them.
Between the fender and the fender we place the so-called “crackers” - these are wooden blocks equal to the distance between the fender and the fender. We connect the deck flooring and secure it with glue and small screws.
Installing coaming around the perimeter of the cockpit
If desired, you can lighten a single-seat vessel; to do this, you just need to make the hull shorter, excluding the middle frame. In addition, the frames of this type of boat can, in principle, be removed; it will be enough to leave 2 popkit bulkheads.
Work with the body is completed, after that we make seats, backrests, steering gear and steering wheel.
You can make oars yourself or buy them in a store.
Besides this type kayaks provide the possibility of installing a sail, but this will require additional floats along the side.
A hole is made in the deck under the mast, reinforced with additional pads, and on the keel part there is a socket for the mast corkscrew.
It is possible to install a motor; for this purpose, units for attaching a low-power motor should be mounted on the edges of the cockpit. This way you get a versatile boat.
How to catch more fish?
I have been active fishing for quite some time and have found many ways to improve the bite. And here are the most effective:
- . Attracts fish in cold and warm water with the help of pheromones included in the composition and stimulates her appetite. It’s a pity that Rosprirodnadzor wants to impose a ban on its sale.
- More sensitive gear. Reviews and instructions for other types of gear can be found on the pages of my website.
- Lures using pheromones.
Boat selection
After we understand the construction of a classic kayak, let’s take a closer look at the possibility of building a kayak from plywood.
You can use free program for drawing up kayak drawings, however, it has some disadvantages, such as the lack of surface development. In addition, the availability of paid drawings for boats up to 3 meters is practically non-existent.
So let's consider building a Wood Duck 10 model kayak.
Purchase of materials
To build this boat you will need drawings, you can purchase them on the CLCBOATS website, delivery will take about a couple of weeks, and the cost will be around a hundred dollars. The amount seems to be considerable, but they are worth it.
Of excellent quality, on a scale of 1 to 1. All that remains is to roll it out on plywood sheets and transfer the parts.
It is possible to purchase other components on the website of this company, but frankly speaking, their prices are exorbitant and to save money you can try to find materials from domestic companies.
Plywood
The specification states that the plywood must be "marine" in size only 2240 by 1220 millimeters. Unfortunately, in ordinary construction stores And retail outlets This type of plywood sheets is almost impossible to purchase.
You can purchase it online; the trade is carried out by the company Penrus.
2 options are ideal for construction:
- "Amesklao" made in China.
- "Lauro Vermelho" Brazilian made.
For aesthetic reasons, we will use the “Zhatoba” color scheme.
As practice has shown, plywood produced in Brazil turned out to be much better in quality than Chinese material. It is characterized by uniform thickness over the entire plane, has good rigidity and the absence of knots.
Fiberglass
The project involves the use of fiberglass with a specific gravity of 130 grams per square meter, however, widely represented manufacturers do not envisage the production of this material format.
In domestic home-made shipbuilding, as a rule, fiberglass with a density of 100 or 200 grams per square meter is used. In this project, fabric marked 200 grams will be used as a basis.
Ideally, you should purchase evenly packaged pieces, since packaging in bundles leads to the formation of deformations and folds, which may later cause problems when coating with resin.
Epoxy resin
An excellent option, suitable for the price and technical specifications is Etal-370 resin and Etal-47F5 hardener. The only drawback Insufficient transparency when drying can be noted.
So, let's summarize the purchase of materials:
- "Amesklao" plywood 1 pc.
- Plywood “Lauro Vermelho” 1 pc.
- E-Z-200 fiberglass 20 meters.
- Aerosil A300 120 grams.
- Hardener 5 kilograms.
- Resin 10 kilograms.
- Varnish 1.5 liters Marshal Protex Yat Vernik.
- Thinner 0.5 liters Marshal.
Construction
Assembling the boat should begin by transferring parts from the drawing to plywood sheets real size. To do this, the drawing is placed on plywood sheets, and markings are made using an awl, pattern, ruler, and a simple pencil.
After the sheets are marked, you can start cutting. For this purpose, you can use a jigsaw with a small file; however, practice has shown that a plywood saw is better suited for this purpose.
You can use tile crosses to align the joints at the bow and stern.
We shape the boat and glue it
Resin with filler is used to fill the seams from the inside of the boat and glue them.
The project calls for a miter joint, but it can also be done end-to-end, but this will lead to a thickening of the seam.
The original assembly of deck slats involves the use of cedar wood. Because this material It is almost impossible to find, so you can use the remaining plywood after cutting the parts.
For temporary fastening, you can use a glue gun.
After all the above operations, you can begin gluing with fiberglass on the outside and inside.
When the pasting is finished and the glue has hardened, we proceed to installing the heel stops.
You can make them using furniture screws and glue them to the body.
To align the seams, you can use a regular plastic film, they turn out very smooth and do not require additional sanding. No tools are required for smoothing, you can use your hands.
Tests
So, the assembly is complete, we can start testing.
Transportation can be carried out on a homemade rack due to the low weight of the kayak. The boat on the water showed excellent characteristics of controllability, speed, and carrying capacity; it floats perfectly with a load of 120 kilograms.
Comparison with the standard
Appearance:
- When comparing a factory model and a homemade one, the method of applying varnish catches the eye.
- Weight differs by 5 kilograms due to use different types plywood. The original weight is 16 kilograms.
- The deck still looks somewhat clumsy due to the use of different types of slats.
- The use of an opaque hardener significantly affects the final color of the wood.
Mistakes and failures
Compared to building a boat from plywood, this model is quite labor-intensive and time-consuming. There is a reason to purchase as many foreign materials as possible, despite the cost.
The increased density of glass fiber has led to a significant increase in the final product; there is a percentage of defects due to improper installation fiberglass
The use of an opaque hardener led to a distortion of the color of the plywood; if you look at it from a certain angle, the fiberglass structure is visible.
The use of plywood slats significantly reduced the cost of construction, but introduced a significant distortion of the appearance.
The resin and hardener constantly form bubbles that are difficult to get rid of.
Despite all the difficulties and lack quality materials, a decent boat can be built without significant investment and minimum costs time.
My desire to build a Wood duck 10 kayak (hereinafter referred to as Duckling) is beginning to come true. But first of all, I want to thank Andrei Konstantinov for providing detailed photographs of the original version and Andrei Ivanov for their computer processing. All materials are located at .
Alexander (Barakuda) believes that you need to write right away. Agree. Firstly, someone will need it, and secondly, they will help themselves. Well, the moderator didn’t mind, since he was silent. The only negative is that the work only takes place on weekends, which means it will take about two months.
Why Duckling. Somehow, firstly, it fit my idea of what I needed and my design requirements. Secondly, I have a two-seater kayak, but I did most of the outings alone, and it’s inconvenient to lift it onto the rack alone. Well, your hands are probably itching. In general, there are drawings, there is one sheet of decent plywood 2440x1220 - we started.
What else is good about the hybrid version of the Duckling? The hull itself requires one sheet of plywood, I’ll find some piece for the bulkhead, we’ll cut the rack deck, and the technological frames are made from all sorts of plywood waste.
The sheet was sawn in half lengthwise. I fasten the halves of a sheet of plywood with bolts along free seats, then joint sawing and planing of edges (machining).
I decided to join the plywood into a lock; it seems to me that it better secures against the mutual angular rotation of the parts, but I don’t have a spare. The castle template is made of thick cardboard. We apply the template, prick the center, trace the outline, drill D20 holes, then use a hand jigsaw, file, and sandpaper. We place sheets of plywood on top of each other according to the pattern, trace the outline, insert a template between the sheets, then proceed in the same way.
You need to drill while pressing the plywood tightly against the backing to avoid chipping the veneer at the exit. We connect the sheets by filing. We apply the pattern of the sheet and specify the outline, cut it. The sheets are ready for gluing with epoxy, there is nothing tricky about it.
About the benefits of a home library: there is always something to snuggle up with. The blanks are brought into a warm place for gluing. Epoxy glue EDP with wood flour. It takes a painfully long time to get up.
These preparatory operations took two weekends, four hours each. To be continued next weekend.
A few words about rats, and about the most common ones. A friend of the old Soviet school tells me that he fights them in the garage with epoxy resin, they say they can’t stand the smell. I'm shocked, are you pouring resin, do you have a barrel or something? Well, no, just a canister and I confiscated it, not full, but it pulls 6-7 kg. So we lived, both at work and at home.
A little about glue. This one was bought at the suggestion of Oleg Alexandrovich. I did a test gluing, soaked it for a day, and was satisfied with the result, although it is 2D in terms of water resistance, and not 4, as I would like. Yacht glossy polyurethane varnish is waiting for its turn.
During gluing, the first problem arose - the EAF glue did not stick when mixed at 10:1, so I re-glued it at 5:1, which seemed fine. In general, glue and resin are different things.
Well, Saturday has come, it's time to continue. The blanks went back to the garage, straightened and drilled.
Assembly took almost the entire day. It fit together quite well in my opinion.
Brace pads for alignment
Ready to continue gluing work
First trip to warmer climates
Here she is. Battery central heating. This is where the bulk of the work will take place.
Gluing will be slow and tedious, but this is in my service, I can do it in the evenings.
I taped all the joints so that I could remove the wire before applying flour epoxy.
I did it one by one, tilting it to the side so that the liquid resin did not flow out of the joint.
In principle, everything is prepared for the main sizing.
Start gluing the joints with glass tape.
Pasting from the inside: started. The office is very convenient.
The middle of the process. Impregnation comes with heating with a hairdryer.
Finish for today. The entire inside is covered. There is masking tape along the sides. The fiberglass fabric will be cut along it and clean plywood will remain for gluing the deck.
Today is the fourth day off. I started making material and technological preparations for the deck. My son recently brought slats from the dacha. To bring them, they had to be cut.
I made a device for tightening the slats. Two pieces of chipboard from old furniture, in one I cut it for a grinder and fastened it with self-tapping screws. Bar at any angle. By removing the stop, it is convenient to grind the ends on the table. I tried it, it's ok. You don’t even have to attach the machine, just support it with your left hand.
First I put a metal cutter on the machine so that the cut would be cleaner. I didn’t like it, it’s a lot of effort and it burns out, so I went and bought a 140x2.2 disk. I sawed almost all the slats. Pine and mahogany.
This week I will be installing patterns for the deck.
In principle, I can already report on the budget.
“Good” plywood - 800 RUR, 6 mm plain plywood - 320 RUR, Joiner glue and varnish - 240 RUR, fiberglass 10 m - 250 RUR. Total - 1610 rub.
From my friends' and my friends' supplies: epoxy resin - 4 kg, pine and mahogany slats, 3 m of fiberglass.
The inside of the deck is papered and the hatch is cut out.
Here is the tightening of the deck to the hull before gluing.
I wanted to trick myself and sand the deck, but I filled the entire tape with glue. I planed it a little with a plane and a scraper. I started gluing out the coaming.
Let the resin still rise, and then sand it.
And now it’s like this. Of course, there are bugs. Still, the work was not in the workshop, I didn’t grab one, then I hurried, but, in general, it’s tolerable. I'm thinking about impregnation, something like walnut.
I will answer your questions.
This is how the deck is pulled to the hull. How they screwed skates to felt boots.
Gluing from the inside. Dark color, because the wood flour is from mahogany. Nose view. I screwed the brush and spatula onto a meter stick and screwed.
I got tired of sanding and began to remove what was needed; after all, the layers in the plywood are thin. The advantage of slats is in finishing. He stopped and covered the deck. The body got wet, and it turned out, as expected, to be a sandy camouflage. Actually, it's an oak stain, water-based.
The duckling is in place.
Here in the photo the coaming and hatch have not yet been covered, but everything has already been done.
The varnish remains as protection against ultraviolet radiation. I'll have some time before I leave.
This concludes the report and stay in touch online until the end of April. We need to make a seat, a backrest and seal the hatch. Then a sample, drinking champagne and other fun. That's in a different story.
Today I bought a modem and a small SIM card, maybe I’ll take it to the dacha. According to their card, reception is uncertain. If possible, I'll be in touch.
