Project Pics

[Greg Mann]

I wasn't sure if you guys would consider this a valid 'woodworking' project but then I figured it's got dozens of mortices, over 400 dowels, hand cut miters, and alot more. So it's a woodworking project! This is my skin-on-frame East Greenland Kayak and I must start out by saying that it was built under the direction of my good friend and mentor, Mark Rogers of Superior Kayaks in Whitelaw, WI, who also makes beautiful wood kayaks of 'fine furniture' quality. He would probably cringe to read that because his boats are made to be paddled. If your interested in checking his work out his website is superiorkayaks.com.

All the construction techniques are as close to the original Greenland methods as Mark can determine, based on studying kayaks in European museums and by being mentored himself by Sven Ulstrup, a Dane who learned the techniques in Greenland.

Anyway, my boat is 19'8" long and 20" wide and weighs 34 lbs. A fibreglass boat this size would weigh about 50 lbs. The gunwales are pine and have scarfed joints (epoxied) to achieve their length. The gunwales are bent to shape using spreaders and ropes. The ribs are steam bent red oak and fit in mortices in the underside of the gunwales. The deckbeams (mostly pine) fit into mortices in the inside walls of the gunwales. The mortices and mating ends of the deckbeams are cut to accommodate the angles formed as the gunwales taper at either end. In case you haven't figured it out, that means every deckbeam and every rib is different and must be hand fit. Both ribs and deckbeams are pinned (1/4"), and then the pins are pinned (1/8") at each end. The only power tool used was a small cordless drill. The frame is rubbed with BLO before stretching the canvas skin over it. The cockpit coaming is steam bent red oak and is sewn directly to the canvas. The canvas is painted with a "secret formula" which I cannot share. Sorry.

In case you are wondering, these kayaks, of which I have built three now, are high performing boats. They are quite fast and handle very well in rough water. I know that some of you folks get a kick out of pulling a pair of socks out of a dresser drawer with nice hand-cut, or machine-cut dovetails that you made. So I suspect you have an idea how much fun it is to mess around in your own hand-made boat.:D

Greg

[Don Henthorn Smithville, TX]

Really nice looking kayak, Greg. Gt\reat piece of woodworking. You can be justifiably proud of that work.

[Bob_Hammond]

Beautiful. Do you have any construction shots?

Bob

[Greg Mann]

Beautiful. Do you have any construction shots?

Bob

Thanks, Bob. I'll need to dig out the CDs from the workshop. That would help in visualizing the sequences of construction.

Greg

[Tony Falotico]

I wasn't sure if you guys would consider this a valid 'woodworking' project

Looks like wood, Smells like wood, Floats like wood ...... It's a woodworking project !! And a mighty fine one at that !!

Great looking project Greg, and I bet you are really proud to 'smoke' all the others in their store bought boats.

As Bob said, would love to see some construction pic's showing joint details.

[Jim Ketron]

Awesome woodworking project!!
Show more pics
Jim

[Greg Mann]

Here are some progress shots. I had to dig back because this project was started in February. It takes a month for the first coat to 'cure' so this has taken some time to complete.

Tony, these kayaks are faster than I am. Last summer, in my Aluetian style skin Baidarka, I did a 20 mile day-paddle on Lake Superior with a group that included a former white-water world champion kayaker, the British Canoe Union national surf kayak coach, an expedition kayaker who has paddled from Japan to Alaska by way of Siberia (unsupported) and a couple of young body-builders. I kept up fine and actually finished before everyone else when the water conditions changed to match those my boat was designed for. We weren't racing and I am not as good as those guys but my kayak was.:D

Greg

[Frank Pellow]

That is one very sleek looking kayak Greg. In fact, it is the sleekest looking kayak that I have ever seen -I bet it's a joy to use.

It certainly does qualify as a woodworking project!

I would like to build a boat once I get my shop built and a few on-hold projects completed. It will probably be a couple of years from now before I started. I am leaning towards building a rowboat -not one to putter around in but one to row. Greg I know that a rowboat is not a kayak, but am wondering if you have any advice and/or sources to recommend?

[Greg Mann]

That is one very sleek looking kayak Greg. In fact, it is the sleekest looking kayak that I have ever seen -I bet it's a joy to use.

It certainly does qualify as a woodworking project!

I would like to build a boat once I get my shop built and a few on-hold projects completed. It will probably be a couple of years from now before I started. I am leaning towards building a rowboat -not one to putter around in but one to row. Greg I know that a rowboat is not a kayak, but am wondering if you have any advice and/or sources to recommend?
Frank, There are some nice designs out there for many styles of wooden boats, and while I'm probably preaching to the choir around here, wood is a great material for boats! Check out Chesapeake Bay Lightcraft. They mostly do kit boats, but the main guy there has written several books on different designs.
I am biased regarding kayaks(because I like to see where I'm going:D ) but any way you go, look for a light construction so it is easy to handle off the water. I'll look for some resources and maybe PM you if you'd like.

Greg

[Jerry Olexa]

Wow! Excellent work. You are patient and pay attention to the details. You should be PROUD!!

[Wes Bischel]

Greg,
Too cool - I admire the patience it must take to build somethimg like that.

Wes

[Pete Lamberty]

Greg that is one elegant looking kayak that you made. Beautiful job. It's amazing how something that is designed to work so well is automatically beautiful.

[Jim Becker]

Awesome job! And yes, that's woodworking!

[Michael Sloan]

Thats a project near and dear to my heart. Beautiful boat, and exquisite craftsmanship.

Frank, in addition to Chesapeake Light Craft, you might check out Pygmy Boats near Seattle. Both companies have really nice "stitch and glue" kayak and canoe kits. I'm pretty sure that they both have rowing dories, and one or the other has a rowing "skiff" that can be outfitted with a sliding rowing platform. Both companies use primarily mahogany plywood with a clear fiberglass/epoxy skin.

Mike Sloan

[John Shuk]

Man that boat is a beauty. It is nice when people do show things other than tables and such. (not that I don't like seeing them too!)

[Dan Mages]

That is a beautiful boat!! Excellent work!

Dan

[Jason Tuinstra]

That's worth a "wow!"

[Mike Scoggins]

Greg,

Lets see. It's made entirely of wood and required a lot of work (be it "fun" work). Yep, that's woodworking! :D Honestly, if that' not woodworking, I don't know what it is.

Great job on the kayak. Thanks for sharing with us.

Mike

[Dick Parr]

Very nice Greg!

[Greg Mann]

Thanks for all the nice complements, guys. Greg

[Greg Heppeard]

It's wood ART. Excellent process and completion. I think the flowing lines make it more of a work of art than a piece of work. Next, I would like to see the pics of where you float it the first time... :D

[Dave Richards]

Very nice, Greg. You do excellent work. That kayak puts my little sloop to shame.

I'm curious about the ribs. You said they're red oak. Do you commonly use red oak for ribs? I ask because red oak isn't terribly rot resistant and it wicks water. Perhaps you do more than just rub the ribs with BLO? Are they saturated with the oil?

Also, was red oak green or dry before steaming?

Would you use white oak for ribs? It tends to be much more resistant to moisture and rot.

do you know what a boat like this would be made of if it was made in Greenland? What sort of trees?

No matter what, that's certainly a work of art. I also like your progress photos. Thanks for sharing.

dave

[Greg Mann]

Very nice, Greg. You do excellent work. That kayak puts my little sloop to shame.

I'm curious about the ribs. You said they're red oak. Do you commonly use red oak for ribs? I ask because red oak isn't terribly rot resistant and it wicks water. Perhaps you do more than just rub the ribs with BLO? Are they saturated with the oil?

Also, was red oak green or dry before steaming?

Would you use white oak for ribs? It tends to be much more resistant to moisture and rot.

do you know what a boat like this would be made of if it was made in Greenland? What sort of trees?

No matter what, that's certainly a work of art. I also like your progress photos. Thanks for sharing.

dave
Dave,

Greenland has no trees. They would collect wood from the polar currents that brought debris from Siberia! They would use whatever they could find. If you know about Siberian forests then you have some insight into what was available. Pine, spruce and various hardwoods, I imagine.

Are far as the question of moisture goes, we don't necessarily try to keep the wood from absorbing moisture. When the frame is very dry the canvas will loosen up, so we actually 'wet out' the inside to swell the frame. This makes the canvas skin very tight and the boat paddles nicer. In fact, this is how we test the curing of the canvas when we paint it. If the paint isn't totally cured, a couple gallons of water sloshed around in the inside will swell the frame, stretch the canvas, and bring little beads of paint to the surface. We rub them back in and wait longer to allow that coat to cure.

Managing the moisture in our skin-on-frame kayaks is a challenge just like it is in the workshop, but our goals are a little different. We want the swelling when we paddle, but then we want the frame to dry out between uses so that mold and mildew won't form. We can kill mold with bleach water but it's better if we don't need to. I have a friend in South Florida who battled mold until he painted his kayak black. The extra heat it absorbed drove off the residual moisture right nice. BTW, that is a problem the Greenlanders never worried about.:)

I believe red oak lends itself to steam bending a little better than white oak. Green wood is okay if you have it. After all, steaming is just another way of putting the moisture back in.

Greg, I hope to paddle it this Sunday and I'll take a pic or two. Maybe I'll get one upside down, too.:D
I only do that when I intend to.;)

Greg

[Jeff Skory]

Beautiful Job Greg. The idea of building a kayak was actually what got me into woodworking. I was fully planning on building a strip-built kayak and read everything I could about it including studying Nick Schade's book.

The only stumbling block is that if I built it in my basement I would not be able to get it out without cutting a hole in the ceiling. :eek:

And I didn't really want to build it in the garage because of space contraints.

That's when I decided to invest in equipment for a woodshop where I could work on a variety of projects.

I would still love to build a kayak one of these days. Maybe after my kids move out or I move to a different house with a pole barn. :D

[Greg Mann]

Beautiful Job Greg. The idea of building a kayak was actually what got me into woodworking. I was fully planning on building a strip-built kayak and read everything I could about it including studying Nick Schade's book.

The only stumbling block is that if I built it in my basement I would not be able to get it out without cutting a hole in the ceiling. :eek:

And I didn't really want to build it in the garage because of space contraints.

That's when I decided to invest in equipment for a woodshop where I could work on a variety of projects.

I would still love to build a kayak one of these days. Maybe after my kids move out or I move to a different house with a pole barn. :D
Jeff,

Building my kayaks is what got me charged up about WWing too.
BTW, my good friend, Mark Rogers, to whom I referred in the original post, started building kayaks in his basement. The first requirement was that they be skinny enough to fit through his basement window! He's a pretty intense guy. Can you imagine how much fun it would be to help a him squirt a boat through that little window after he had hand-rubbed about 10 coats of varnish over Mahogany?:D
If you have a basement window, you have enough room. Go for it. I can't describe how much fun it is to paddle your own creation.

Greg