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Re: Strip: questions on building Njord
By:Björn Thomasson
Date: 10/27/2013, 6:49 pm
In Response To: Re: Strip: questions on building Njord (Oliver)

Perhaps I should refrain from interfering in this thread, being highly partial, but here goes:
George, mine is not a "do-exactly-this" type of manual – it is more suggestive and with a lot of options (and with short discussions on the pros and cons of the different options). That means that it can apply to a wide range of methods and preferred practices. It also means that you have to make a few decisions underways. Of course you can contact me any time for more info or advices...

The comments on the difficult part around the cockpit are valid – the strips are forced into a quite sharp bend aft of the cockpit to achieve the outlined curvature (combining a low and comfy rim aft with a healthy volume under the aft deck). I redrew those lines after building the prototype, and I have made a second adjustment a couple years ago after comments from builders to ease the bend further. The curve is still a little complex, but I do not think it will pose a real problem even for a novice builder now. One important advice though: do not attempt to strip the deck with full length strips! That is when things may get complicated. Cut the strips in what will be the cockpit hole – that takes much of the unnatural bend out of the strips and makes it easier to get the flowing nice deck line.

Oliver, in theory the kayak will be heavier with epoxy filling the gaps in the square-cut strips, but in practice this is not an issue. The lightest Njord built with this method (that I know of) weights just under 15 kg, with two plastic hatches and an adjustable skeg (Erik Franzen, Denmark, http://www.thomassondesign.com/en/news/njord-around-the-globe) – and is built in Norwegian Fir, which is slightly heavier than WRC! Maybe it had tipped the scale at 14,7 with bead-and-cove strips and WRC. In a Njord with the semi-hard chines midships and flattish topsides there are a few gaps at the chines that opens half a millimeter on the outside but most other gaps are barely visible.

Messages In This Thread

Strip: questions on building Njord
george jung -- 10/27/2013, 3:28 pm
Re: Strip: questions on building Njord
JohnAbercrombie -- 10/27/2013, 4:08 pm
Re: Strip: questions on building Njord
JohnAbercrombie -- 10/27/2013, 4:17 pm
Re: Strip: questions on building Njord
Ralph Merriman -- 10/27/2013, 4:48 pm
Re: Strip: questions on building Njord
Oliver -- 10/27/2013, 4:55 pm
Re: Strip: questions on building Njord
Björn Thomasson -- 10/27/2013, 6:49 pm
Re: Strip: questions on building Njord
george jung -- 10/27/2013, 6:50 pm