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KBBS Archive 30,000
Re: similar tortured decks
Posted By: Dean Trexel In Response To: Re: her kayak (peter czerpak)
Date: Wednesday, 21 June 2000, at 4:55 p.m.
Both are built with tortured decks, which look nice but can be tough to build (as Bobby found out.) Rumor has it that Betsie Bay Kayaks (who built Star's kayak) uses a vac-forming operation to draw that deck into shape -- they have no shear clamps, only a fillet of epoxy on the inside shear!
I also happened to meet a Michigan State professor at a recent symposium who told me that his school has an RF chamber where you can take wood, clamp it in a fixture into the shape that you want, subject it to RF waves, and it relaxes the stresses in the wood so that it remains in that shape when unclamped!!! Unfortunately, although some inspired folks can make vacuum-bag set-ups in their own garages, I think this technology can't be imitated by us garage-builders. This same professor had a student make flush deck fittings for him -- half-circles of stainless tubing, flared at the ends, to epoxy under the deck...
As to Bobby's kayak, I think he'll find it to be a tough boat to handle. There's almost no rocker, so it should track extremely well but be tough to turn, and the bow is so high that he'll find that winds will weathercock the bow to the downwind direction.
Dean
: Compare her boat to Bobby Curtis Sea Spirit - look similar??
: Pete
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KBBS Archive 30,000 is maintained by Nick Schade - Guillemot Kayaks with WebBBS 5.12.
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