I want to build a wooden kayak

"JR1" (type35bugatti)
10/19/2015 at 10:33 • Filed to: wooden kayak

My experience with woodworking is negligible. I have helped to build a deck and and I have cut wood for my fireplace. Yet I am determined to build a wooden canoe and kayak.

DISCUSSION (42)

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > JR1
10/19/2015 at 10:37

Kinja'd!!!

You’ve got to watch those boat-building tendencies. You think you’re fine, and then one day, WHAM: you’ve got a coachbuilt Rolls Royce and you’re left wondering where all the sawdust came from.

Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow > JR1
10/19/2015 at 10:39

Let a beardless Ron Swanson show you how it’s done!

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

(He looks so different without a beard.)

JR1 > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
10/19/2015 at 10:40

I mean I wouldn’t say no to building my own coachbuilt Rolls. They are a thing of beauty.

JR1 > Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow
10/19/2015 at 10:41

I actually want to build one because I love to kayak and because I am reading his book Paddle Your Own Canoe

KnowsAboutCars > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
10/19/2015 at 10:41

Needs more wood.

Kinja'd!!!

Party-vi > JR1
10/19/2015 at 10:42

Wooden kayaks are playthings of the rich. Always admired and rarely used.

kanadanmajava1 > JR1
10/19/2015 at 10:42

How about a dugout canoe? You could get away with a lot rougher surface quality. And there would be a lot of hammering.

Kinja'd!!!

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > KnowsAboutCars
10/19/2015 at 10:43

Hispano Suiza Tulipwood speedster... probably a bad sign I recognized it immediately.

KnowsAboutCars > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
10/19/2015 at 10:45

I don’t know, I think it’s pretty well known car

Ash78, voting early and often > JR1
10/19/2015 at 10:46

Step 1: Be Norm Abram

Step 2: ?

Step 3: Enjoy Boat

To be fair, the episode where he built a boat was actually 2 episodes back to back. Even Norm can’t build a boat in 30 minutes.

Alfalfa > JR1
10/19/2015 at 10:51

My Boy Scout troop once carved a canoe out of a log. It wasn’t pretty, but it was functional. Considering that, I don’t think this is too much of a stretch for an adult.

BigBlock440 > Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow
10/19/2015 at 10:54

Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow > JR1
10/19/2015 at 10:56

I read it not that long ago. haha

I love kayaking too. I miss mine. Had to sell it when I moved to IL from AZ. Hopefully I’ll get another SOT before too long, and get back into kayak fishing.

JR1 > Party-vi
10/19/2015 at 11:00

If I built one with my own hands you can be damn sure I would use it

JR1 > kanadanmajava1
10/19/2015 at 11:01

That would be an interesting direction to take it.

JR1 > Alfalfa
10/19/2015 at 11:03

Carving one out is a lot different than building one with a frame I would suspect

JR1 > Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow
10/19/2015 at 11:03

Kayak fishing is the best. Because if I get board of fishing I can just kayak around

BaconSandwich is tasty. > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
10/19/2015 at 11:04

Why settle for a Rolls? Although the preponderance of Ferrari BBQs...

Kinja'd!!!

BaconSandwich is tasty. > kanadanmajava1
10/19/2015 at 11:05

You’d need one heck of a tree to start with.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > KnowsAboutCars
10/19/2015 at 11:06

Well known in this sort of place, perhaps. Probably 5% of us here. The general public, I’d be stunned if over a quarter percent had any idea. That, my friend, makes us NERDS. Very few of very few.

Brian, The Life of > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
10/19/2015 at 11:06

It’s the pre-modded Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang!

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Brian, The Life of
10/19/2015 at 11:07

The actual movie cars were put together pretty well. I saw one at Brooklands when I went.

Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif > JR1
10/19/2015 at 11:16

I would love to build one, know a guy with the forms for a canoe.

I want to build a kayak now that I realize I have the tools.

Patrick Nichols > kanadanmajava1
10/19/2015 at 11:22

I didn’t know luke skywalker was into boat building

Patrick Nichols > JR1
10/19/2015 at 11:24

Look into local classes about this sort of thing, they’re generally a fair price and the quality might be a lot better than doing it on your own.

I found a cool woodworking school in Rockport, ME that I want to do a few classes at. I think the first will be a two day branch furniture class in December.

Echo51 > JR1
10/19/2015 at 11:26

School i went to had a kayaking teacher that built a few wood frame, canvas covered kayak’s. i built a little 4mm plywood boat...

JR1 > Patrick Nichols
10/19/2015 at 11:27

That is a good idea maybe I should look into classes

JR1 > Echo51
10/19/2015 at 11:28

My school didn’t even have woodshop. It got caught because our levy didn’t pass.

shop-teacher > JR1
10/19/2015 at 11:34

Building a wooden kayak has much more to do with patience and determination, than previous wood working experience. I’ve been working with wood since I was a kid, but I have neither the patience nor the determination for building a boat.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t try it, but if you do, go in knowing that the project will be more about learning to be patient and determined than actual wood working skills. If you pull it off, you’ll also be a badass wood worker, but that will be secondary to your zen level mastery of your mind :)

JR1 > shop-teacher
10/19/2015 at 11:39

I figured it takes a few months I am guessing? But that is good to know one doesn’t need a big background to get it done.

fourvalleys > Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow
10/19/2015 at 11:51

A friend of mine built a mahogany kayak in his garage as a gift for his mom. It’s gorgeous.

Kinja'd!!!

Not sure how much of it was a kit, but I’d recommend getting a kit.

Slant6 > JR1
10/19/2015 at 12:39

I bought a 17 footer a few years ago off craigslist for $75. Some idiot took a jigsaw to it to try and open it back up to add more ballast. Never got around to fixing it but sold it 6 months later for $250.

http://oppositelock.kinja.com/most-you-ever-…

http://oppositelock.kinja.com/i-bided-for-st…

JR1 > Slant6
10/19/2015 at 12:48

Holy crap I didn’t realize you could find them that cheap with a little work

shop-teacher > JR1
10/19/2015 at 13:31

Uhhhhh ... try a few years ... at best.

If you pull off building a canoe, you’re going to have to develop some serious wood working chops to do it. I’m just saying the primary thing you’ll develop is patience and determination. If you don’t have or develop those, you’ll quit.

AddictedToM3s - Drives a GC > JR1
10/19/2015 at 16:22

Or build an ark for two of every car. You know you want to.

JR1 > AddictedToM3s - Drives a GC
10/19/2015 at 18:00

That could get expensive

Master Cylinder > JR1
10/20/2015 at 17:26

I started a cedar-strip wood kayak like your picture once. It took hours and hours just to get the forms right and aligned, plus then you have to cut out all the strips, rout the bead and cove into them, and fit them all together. It’s not a complicated process and it’s certainly doable for a quick-learning amateur with LOTS of patience, but unless you have nothing else going on for a solid month, prepare to lose your entire shop space for about a year.

I never did finish mine and ended up selling what I had done so far to a guy on CL because I just couldn’t store it anymore. I would like to try one again when I have shop space to spare, though. It was a very relaxing project when I was working on it.

JR1 > Master Cylinder
10/20/2015 at 17:34

I assume the lack of space is the big problem in trying to finish something like this.

Master Cylinder > JR1
10/20/2015 at 17:38

Yeah, if you’ve got roughly a one-car garage size space you don’t mind being tied up for a number of months, then it’s a great project. The cost isn’t all that bad, really, and the nature of the build process means that even if you make mistakes, they’re relatively easy to fix (at most points of the build, at least) so it’s approachable for someone starting out with limited woodworking skills.

JR1 > Master Cylinder
10/20/2015 at 17:39

Good to know I will keep all that info in mind. I do wonder how they will fair on the water. I assume it is well but I wonder if it is as good as the fancy 2k kayaks.

Master Cylinder > JR1
10/20/2015 at 17:46

It comes down to two things: hull design and build quality. There are a few outfits that sell plans that you can use to make the process of setting up the forms quite easy. I used plans from Guillemot Kayaks but there are others out there. If you cut the forms right and don’t end up with a deformed hull, then from everything I’ve read, they can be excellent in the water, at least as good as the multi-thousand dollar plastic or composite kayaks.

JR1 > Master Cylinder
10/20/2015 at 22:02

Good to know. Hopefully I actually act on my desires and don’t just sit around like a lazy bum!