Most of the forms are now finished and ready to be mounted on the strongback. After cutting them out from the sheet of plywood, there were several steps required to finish them:
1. Trim them to their final shape using the bandsaw at school.
2. Use a belt sander to smooth out the cut edges.
3. Add two layers of plastic packing tape to the edges of the forms. (This prevents the strips from sticking to the form when you are gluing them together.)
4. Use a jigsaw to cut out the holes in the center of the forms. (This hole allows you to thread the finished forms on the strongback.)
All of these steps are now complete and I have a pile of these:
Caption: A few of the finished forms ready to go on the strongback.
Caption: Close up of some of the forms that will make up the bow of the kayak.
There are a few forms at the very front and very back of the kayak that need some special treatment, more on that later.
Tip of the day: a fresh blade in a good jigsaw make much easier work than a dull blade in a great jigsaw. You have been warned.
[...] the stripping is done I can separate the deck and hull from the strongback. You may remember all the edges of the forms were taped with plastic packing tape to prevent the strips from sticking to them. Caption: The amazing flying [...]
[...] and Disaster Recovery Doh! It turns out that when I was taping all the form edges I neglected to tape the tops of the temporary internal stems at the bow and the [...]