[img]images/diy/boatbuilding/design-your-own-kayak-th.jpg[/img]Playak Article Discussion: Do it yourself: Design and build your own WW kayak!

Strategies, tools and techniques for designing and building your own kayak.

You guys see this? It's an awesome article that gives a little insight into the process of boat design. I'd like to hear just how much extra tweaking and adjustments needed to be made in real life after the CAD mock ups were laid out.

Very interesting article, I agree.

Unfortunately I'm too busy building a website, otherwise I would definitely give this a try

Hello!
Hogge here (hox)
If you have 1 winter and a good place to mess around in you should be able to do it.
Its a lot of work but its definitly worth it.
/H

for your foam, you used 10 cm thick blanks that you glued together?
We already have a design set up and foam to make the boat (check the other playak post on this) but were wondering whether a solid block of foam, or laminated pieces are a better option. In your opinion, which method is easier for molding the plug? Wood or foam? Thanks,
Christian

Hox how do you seal the tow parts together and how did you make the cockpit rim i want to have a go looks alot of fun

My English ????????

I think its two different ways of taking on the shaping prosess when you talk about a solid block of foam or the, lets say in my case 10 cm thick pieces.
If you use the program to draw sections and the follow them almost presicely you will know what you get (volume and so), but there will also be some problems with differenses in matereal, i mean all gluing sections will be a bit harder than the foam.
AND all, i mean all deifferenses im materal on the plug will make it harder and more time consuming to make (smooth?).
But if you use a solid block you will have to be a better \"freehander\" i guess.
Take the time to make the \"foamshaping\" as good as you can, every time you say \"i`ll fix that with filler or something\" you´r a looser.

But it could be a good idea to do a semi good plug and then make semi good moulds of it.
Just paint the foam and put 2-3 layers of releasefilm on it and in the semi good moulds make your first test kayak, i guess you will change something after testing it, i did.
The thing that by far takes most time is to make the surface ferfectly (smooth?)

And when you want to change an area on the finnished test boat you can use 2 comp sprayfoam to make new shapes (polyuretan foam /swedish).


And i seal my deck and hull when they still are in the moulds with glassfibre and polyester.
You can cut the excess mtrl after laying up your first boat in the moulds when its almost (maybe 1 hour) dry with a rasorblade
The cocpit rim was made on the finished boat by filling the edge with plaster
and then fiber it up and then removing the plaster.

I guess im mutch better speaking English than writing so if you want you can call me.
+46709356368
or +46857029558

If anyone has a boat designed on CAD then I'll do a 3D model of it in Inventor. This will give you a couple of interesting bits of information. Maybe a cross sectional profile every 10 or so millimetres and then it will be pretty simple. Files in *.dwg format please. Should be fun to see

If you want to build a boat but don't want to commit to the costs of a mould etc. you could try the method as used by Shaggy Designs (www.shaggydesigns.com/, then go to the \"design\" area). Of course you can build the plug any way you want to.

Wow, I wish I'd have a few spare weekends at hand to do this. I've got just about everything (foam, resin, glass, 15+ year of boat reparing experience, a garage to work in) except for time..

Cool artical:dance:
Thanks for posting that I will definatly have to download the software and play.

That is very cool. We have been looking at building an ocean surf kayak but had not really planned on a river running boat. I'll have to think about that.

Just a thought here: if you don't know where to start, you could take a multiple sides view (top, bottem, side, front, back) of your current fave model and work from there.

BTW: it might even be worhtwile to mix constructions like plywood/epoxy/glass (similar to stitch and glue) for big flat surfaces (ie. the bottom) and shaped foam covered with expoy/glass (sort of like a male mould, you just pop off the glass off the foam) for the curved bits. Then assemble the boat by covering it in a layer of glass with epoxy resin.

Or something like that.

That looks very cool

How did get the outfitting inside? (backrest etc;)

after 25 kayaks and a few molds, I find nothing the matter with using fillers to get the smoothness one wants for a shape, prior to making a mold from a plug.

as for how to make the cockpit rim, we used to lay out a waxed garden hose and plaster over it to make a cockpit rim mold with fiberglass.

and the earliest back bands I remember were old Army web belts with pads sewn to them by a cobbler, tied in with rockclimbing accessories rope to holes drilled in the seat framing and back walls.

Hi!

I know this thread is long gone but I would like to try buidling this boat this summer break and I wonder if I might fit in it! I am 186cm and my weight is 90kg...anyone out there who did already build it and is around my size? Like to hear how the boat feels?

Best regards,

Heiko

Anyone in the Seattle area interested in working on a mold, and some boats, with me. I have space and time, but would like a work buddy.

DBlanchard