Since my last post I have added a fill coat to the hull, sanded the outside of the hull, added a thin layer of epoxy to places where I sanded too much, unscrewed the temporary frames from the table, rolled the hull over, and glued together the two #6 bow panels at the back of the cockpit as per the Pygmy manual. Lot's of progress made!
Remember that my intention with this blog is not to show all the steps in making a Pygmy kayak, but rather to show steps where I deviate from the official Pygmy manual. Taping the hull instead of stitching it with wire for example. So if I don't talk about something in this blog it's because it's already in the official Pygmy manual.
ALTERNATIVE STEP FROM THE OFFICIAL PYGMY MANUAL: The next step I do is to tape the deck panels onto the top of the hull and the temporary frames. You can do this without having to drill holes and use wires! Tape is better! Have a few rolls of strapping tape available. I use 1" (or is it 3/4"...?) strapping tape but something close is just as good.
I did manage to take some snaps this time too so now you can get an idea of what the hull looked like when it was taped together. Very similar looks.
Taping the deck is a similar process to taping the hull so I won't go into detail. See my earlier posts on how to tape a Pygmy kayak for details.
1. Put the hull upright on your table and support it somehow. I simply used foam car rack pieces.
2. Carefully lay the glued-together #6 bow panels onto the hull and temporary frames.
3. Start to run pieces of tape across the main deck seam beginning at the butt seam to ensure that they are aligned. This is a bit tricky at this point as the points of the front panels fall down into the bow section. It helps to simply put a small stick of wood across the bow underneath the two deck panels to hold them up for now. You will almost certainly have to add more tape later as the other panels are added because it is very hard now to get that seam fully together. Get a good start on it though and then come back later.
4. Add the two #5 panels. Lay one side on and tape it at the butt seam so that it's aligned. Then add a few more pieces working forward. Then work aft. for now you are roughly lining them up.
5. Lay on the two #6 stern panels and start to tape them on.
6. Now that you have all your panels on and roughly taped, you can now go back and do a proper taping job. As needed, starting amidships, run LONG pieces of tape across several seams at once. What I do is put almost of foot of tape on the fiberglassed part of the hull, and then VERY firmly stretch the tape up and over the deck panels, bringing the seams together as I wrap. It may take some muscle and some finesse, but they will come together! It helps to have a helper.
As the panels start to come together your will see that they form a nice deck. Keep going up and down the hull adding tape as needed.
7. At the bow and stern you will probably need to wrap tape all the way around the hull to keep the areas where the four panels all come together in place. Just make sure to leave enough areas open to the air so that you can get sufficient amounts of epoxy into the seams.
8. Throughout the rest of the deck panels it is helpful to now wrap tape ALL THE WAY AROUND THE HULL, especially in places where the seams don't want to come together. Wrapping all the way around uses a lot of tape so have extra rolls, but it also holds those panels down very firmly.
Here's what my hull looked like after being taped:
I put small pieces of Mylar under the deck panels at the bow and stern to keep epoxy from gluing the deck panels down. The push pins are VERY helpful in keeping the panels aligned.
9. When it's all aligned to your satisfaction then go ahead and run epoxy down all the seams. Come back later and add thickened epoxy.
10. Then it's completely dry, remove the tape from the deck seams only, but keep the tape on the hull/deck joint. Alternatively you can add pieces of tape along the hull/deck joint and then remove the rest of the panel tape. But keep the deck taped onto the hull for now.
11. After the tape along the deck seams has been removed run thickened epoxy into the seams where the tape covered them up. Let cure.
You've now made your deck with no holes! Yay!
Follow the manual for the now.
Aloha!
Remember that my intention with this blog is not to show all the steps in making a Pygmy kayak, but rather to show steps where I deviate from the official Pygmy manual. Taping the hull instead of stitching it with wire for example. So if I don't talk about something in this blog it's because it's already in the official Pygmy manual.
ALTERNATIVE STEP FROM THE OFFICIAL PYGMY MANUAL: The next step I do is to tape the deck panels onto the top of the hull and the temporary frames. You can do this without having to drill holes and use wires! Tape is better! Have a few rolls of strapping tape available. I use 1" (or is it 3/4"...?) strapping tape but something close is just as good.
I did manage to take some snaps this time too so now you can get an idea of what the hull looked like when it was taped together. Very similar looks.
Taping the deck is a similar process to taping the hull so I won't go into detail. See my earlier posts on how to tape a Pygmy kayak for details.
1. Put the hull upright on your table and support it somehow. I simply used foam car rack pieces.
2. Carefully lay the glued-together #6 bow panels onto the hull and temporary frames.
3. Start to run pieces of tape across the main deck seam beginning at the butt seam to ensure that they are aligned. This is a bit tricky at this point as the points of the front panels fall down into the bow section. It helps to simply put a small stick of wood across the bow underneath the two deck panels to hold them up for now. You will almost certainly have to add more tape later as the other panels are added because it is very hard now to get that seam fully together. Get a good start on it though and then come back later.
4. Add the two #5 panels. Lay one side on and tape it at the butt seam so that it's aligned. Then add a few more pieces working forward. Then work aft. for now you are roughly lining them up.
5. Lay on the two #6 stern panels and start to tape them on.
6. Now that you have all your panels on and roughly taped, you can now go back and do a proper taping job. As needed, starting amidships, run LONG pieces of tape across several seams at once. What I do is put almost of foot of tape on the fiberglassed part of the hull, and then VERY firmly stretch the tape up and over the deck panels, bringing the seams together as I wrap. It may take some muscle and some finesse, but they will come together! It helps to have a helper.
As the panels start to come together your will see that they form a nice deck. Keep going up and down the hull adding tape as needed.
7. At the bow and stern you will probably need to wrap tape all the way around the hull to keep the areas where the four panels all come together in place. Just make sure to leave enough areas open to the air so that you can get sufficient amounts of epoxy into the seams.
8. Throughout the rest of the deck panels it is helpful to now wrap tape ALL THE WAY AROUND THE HULL, especially in places where the seams don't want to come together. Wrapping all the way around uses a lot of tape so have extra rolls, but it also holds those panels down very firmly.
Here's what my hull looked like after being taped:
I put small pieces of Mylar under the deck panels at the bow and stern to keep epoxy from gluing the deck panels down. The push pins are VERY helpful in keeping the panels aligned.
9. When it's all aligned to your satisfaction then go ahead and run epoxy down all the seams. Come back later and add thickened epoxy.
10. Then it's completely dry, remove the tape from the deck seams only, but keep the tape on the hull/deck joint. Alternatively you can add pieces of tape along the hull/deck joint and then remove the rest of the panel tape. But keep the deck taped onto the hull for now.
11. After the tape along the deck seams has been removed run thickened epoxy into the seams where the tape covered them up. Let cure.
You've now made your deck with no holes! Yay!
Follow the manual for the now.
Aloha!
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