Kite +6%

[ThatPaddlingGuy]

It's looking good! I imagine that planing down the inner stem like that could be a real hassle depending on grain and what tools you have available. For sanding it's hard to beat that random orbital though! I had the pleasure of borrowing the larger festool random orbital (with a 8" pad or something in that ballpark) a few years ago, and I've never had an easier time of a tough sanding job.
Out of my budget at the moment but boy... if you're looking down the barrel of a bunch of sanding and have the $$$ they are amazing!

 

[memaquay]

Interesting, I've always just left my inner stem sticking out, similar to the look on a wood canvas canoe. Never occurred to me to plane it flush. Looks like a fair amount of work, but it will make your fibreglassing easier.

I snow-blowed (is that even a word?) for three hours on Thursday, the results were predictable, lots of snow moved corresponding to my body barely moving on Friday.

 

[Farback]

Hi to all. I just found this forum while looking for others who’ve built Kites. I’m just starting my build. I’m finding lots of great info and see people I’ve interacted with before on other sites

I’ve built a number of boats, and use them regularly here in Nova Scotia on both fresh and salt water. I do some back country trips, and was looking for a craft that would make solo tripping easier. My Redbird canoe is a lot of boat to solo in, and my Petrl Play is tight on cargo space. Love both boats, but a solo tripping canoe seems like a good choice for a couple nights in the back country.

 

[BigandSmall]

Welcome Farback, good luck with your build.

I planed down the stern stem today then did a little grinding with a burr and a stone. I want to round out the stems so the glass lays in there nicely without me having to add an epoxy fillet joint. It will take a little more work yet.

 

[BigandSmall]

I have a question about glassing if anyone's done this. I'd like to lay a 5' piece of glass into the cockpit and a little in the stems. Put it in with a squeegee and no fill coat. Leave it overnight or longer, rough sand for mechanical bond, vacuum then do a full length layer of glass over top. My question is how clear do you think it will be? Will the sanding of the exposed weave make a mess that won't be covered by the next layer of glass?

Thinking of doing it this way to prevent having to work with two layers at once.

 

[memaquay]

I would say it will be fine, but I'm pretty sure your expectations might be higher than mine, lol. Whenever you work with more than one layer, there is a slight decrease in clarity, not noticeable by anyone else, but perhaps by yourself. Standing scratches will generally disappear with a new coat of epoxy, I wouldn't worry about that. You could always run a small separate test panel to see for yourself.

I'm of the school that the interior looks are secondary to reducing my suffering, so I don't worry much about aesthetics. I run three or four pieces across the hull, with overlap, instead of one big piece.

 

[Gamma1214]

Like mem, I run 30" wide glass across the hull with a little overlap (inch & a half or so) and, even though aesthetics aren't terribly important to me, I don't think you'll see a noticeable decrease in clarity unless you use s-glass (& trade clarity for strength).

The scratches will disappear (remember that you're going to sand the epoxy before you varnish & they'll disappear then too).

When in doubt, test panels are always a great idea

 

[Pseudonym]

I planed down the stern stem today

What sort of nifty plane is that I see in the first photo? Can its blade work a concave surface?

 

[BigandSmall]

That is a Veritas miniature shoulder plane. I bought it to use with Nick Schade's Robo-bevel but I have been using it a lot since Scratchypants suggested using it outside of the Robo-bevel. It's a pretty handy little tool for slow wood removal. It can work in a concave surface providing it's wide enough but it's pretty slow compared to the pencil grinder with that stone in it.

The inside won't be as pretty as the outside anyway. I only intend to fill coat that 5' cockpit floor section for ease of movement and the leave the weave exposed everywhere else for weight savings. I plan to use Epiphanes rapid clear varnish on the inside that doesn't need any sanding between coats so that should be fine with the exposed weave.

Gamma, yes it will be S glass again. The premium for S-glass doesn't seem that much more when compared to the hours you put in on a project like this.

 

[Cruiser]

I don't think you'll see a noticeable decrease in clarity unless you use s-glass

S glass is quite transparent for our build purposes, if you buy the wrong weave it may be a little difficult to wet out .... but it is clear

 

[Farback]

That is a Veritas miniature shoulder plane. I bought it to use with Nick Schade's Robo-bevel but I have been using it a lot since Scratchypants suggested using it outside of the Robo-bevel. It's a pretty handy little tool for slow wood removal. It can work in a concave surface providing it's wide enough but it's pretty slow compared to the pencil grinder with that stone in it.

The inside won't be as pretty as the outside anyway. I only intend to fill coat that 5' cockpit floor section for ease of movement and the leave the weave exposed everywhere else for weight savings. I plan to use Epiphanes rapid clear varnish on the inside that doesn't need any sanding between coats so that should be fine with the exposed weave.

Gamma, yes it will be S glass again. The premium for S-glass doesn't seem that much more when compared to the hours you put in on a project like this.

I have the same plane and Nick’s robo-bevel. Recommend both. The plane is very handy both in and out of the robo-bevel.

 

[Gamma1214]

S glass is quite transparent for our build purposes, if you buy the wrong weave it may be a little difficult to wet out .... but it is clear

I've used s-glass on my builds and it's plenty clear enough for me but it's not quite as transparent as e-glass and the OP was already worried about transparency of the s-glass that was used on the stems. I thought it might be an issue... (again, test panels are the way to go IMO)