19. Sanding

I'm sanding now.

I've finished one pass with 60 grit ..

The level areas are easy to work with ..

The tumblehome is more difficult. It is not possible to use the power sander here.

Soon I will be ready to apply fiberglass!

18. Scraping

I have finished adding strips! I have begun scraping off glue drips, in preparation for sanding. Here's the scraping tool I'm using. It was a little pricy (20$) (I bought it from the marine catalog when I bought my epoxy) but it comes with three different blades, with different shapes, and it's really sharp. It pulls off most glue drips in one stroke.

Note: If you get the stroke just right, you get a terrible screeching scraping sound, hence the earplugs.

What a difference a little scraping makes! This picture is a pretty good action shot.

It's pretty easy to gouge the cedar, so take it slow. Also, the blade is very sharp, so don't cut yourself!

17. Countdown: Four strips to go

About four strips remaining! I like this picture. Getting excited ..

This was earlier in the day. I trimmed down to the centerline with my awesome rabbet plane! I'm getting a little better with that tool, I think. It's not a great picture, but I hope you can see the curve of the strips on the left, and how the centerline runs across that curve.

The final few strips will require some tricky beveling. I'm glad I've had some practice by this point.

16. Glue and Stapler

Here's the glue I'm using.

It's at least twice as expensive as the regular wood glue, but it claims to be waterproof.

Besides, if I'm dropping $130 on epoxy, I can pay $7 for a tube of wood glue.


New Stapler!

Ahh, simple pleasures ..

I replaced my old (three months old) stapler that was jamming frequently. It's so nice to have a stapler that works again!

My old stapler could fire brads or staples. I'm not sure if that's such a great design idea? It didn't seem to work to well for me anyways. So, this time I made sure to get the regular version.

As with the last stapler, I've applied masking tape to protect it from my glue-y hands.

15. Cornell Crew

The prize for first boaters out on the lake goes to the Cornell crew. They were preparing for a race the next day. It's cold out on the water, with the wind chill..

14. Progress

I'm almost ready to start closing up the hull! Less than a dozen strips to go now.

13. Paddle Purchase

I got a great deal on a quality paddle from a local guy. He was unloading a whole bunch of kayak equipment, and I was afraid I'd have to buy the lot, but I was able to just get the paddle.

It's very lightweight, well made, and attractive!

Lightweight carbon fiber offsets.