JEM Watercraft

Well after quite a bit of time reading & posting on here I have started my Wadefish build using gaboon marine ply.

Setting up & marking out




The hull cut out


Im going to stain a small piece of Hoop Pine Marine ply Purple & test it as I start to epoxy this one up to see how it will adhere & if it works OK I will then start the second one.

Love that last picture!

I managed a few hours in the shed today & finished cutting out the Kayak & sanded up all the pieces. My good lady wife picked up the epoxy Friday so its time to start gluing the long pieces together ready to start stitching.

My helper didnt seem to help much at all. I dont know if the pic shows it up but she is covered in saw dust & shavings



Mind you she is a better helper than the one I had at work the other day.



About the fattest Tiger Snake I have ever seen. Going on the size of the ladder its getting on to about 5" long.

Here are all the bits before I start to put them together.



Is it best to coat the ply with epoxy to keep it clean as I start to glue it together?

You can precoat but it is not necessary. I prefer not to.

I have just received my epoxy & have a RDO (Rostered Day Off part of my award to do a 38 hour week means 1 day a month off) so its time to start gluing the long panels together. So I have another question. How fine does the wood flour need to be?

I have collected most of my saw dust from cutting the sheets & sieved it to get this.



Is this fine enough or do I need to source some flour from else where??

It should be almost as fine as the consistency of cooking flour. Maybe just a little more coarse is ok. You could do a small test: Make a fillet on a test 90 degree angle with scrap wood. Does the fillet cure mostly smooth?

Pete, i would sift that sawdust. too course for me.

An alternative is to call in to a local cabinet makers shop and ask for a bag of dust from one of their extractors. Sift that too. there will be lots of other junk in it from belt cleaning and what not.

Thanks Guys

I have already sifted the stuff in the pic but it does look to be say about 1.5mm long as they will go length wise through the sieve. I will see what else I can find then.

I use the stuff collected in the bag on my random orbital sander. It's a never endings supply. The more boats you build, the more you end up with. I should sell the stuff. Maybe I could pay for sandpaper that way. I have used it straight, but I find it to be much better when sifted through a flour sifter.

Got my wood flour sorted out this afternoon.

Then I started the second kayak for my daughter. This one is out of hoop pine. We are going to try some PURPLE dye on the clean white ply to see if it will colour the timber.

I have mixed the die with metho & plan to dye some off cuts.





Then as I start to glue my kayak together I will test how the epoxy will hold on the off cuts. If that works then we will dye the parts of her kayak.

I have have done the payment for the second kayak today Matt