Step 2: Preparing and Unpacking
The kayak arrived in three boxes. The largest of which held the bulk of the wood and is pictured above. The other two were smaller (<2 ft x 2 ft) and held all of the accessories, plans, instructions, epoxies, and other necessary items.
The first step was to set up a good work area. 5 hours and 6 bags of trash later I had created a space for myself. I set up two eight foot tables to create a 16' long flat work space and also a system of tarps that can cover my precious unprotected wood from debris cast down upon it by rafter-dwelling creatures. You really need a space that is at least two feet longer than the kayak you are building.
After all that was ready I unpacked the boxes:
The wood is 4 mm Marine Quality Okoume (type of African Mahogany) plywood.
Accessories, fiberglass, epoxy, etc.
Also included were a full set of plans and two instructions booklets:
The next step was to spend several hours reading all of the material and trying to figure everything out. In general I thought they were pretty easy to understand. It turned out that even though the wood is all precut, you still need a fair number of tools. First of all you need about 15-30 clamps (but there are some instructions included on how to make cheap clamps from 4" PVC piping). Other tools you need are a block plane, a random orbital sander, a drill, wire-cutters, pliers and a hammer. Luckily I had all of these except the sander which I had been looking for a good excuse to buy. You also need a lot of other supplies but I will just mention them when I get to them. Now to really get started!
This website is a labor of love and I never expected anything in return. But if you want to show your appreciation while also helping the environment, then click through this link here to get to amazon.com the next time you plan on shopping there anyway. I will get a commission of 2.5-10% through their "associates program" and will donate 50% of that to the Sierra Club. Thanks, Tim
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