I'm going to build a leeboard for a sea kayak currently under
construction. I would like to get this very knowledgable group's
opinion on the best way to keep it flat once it's been dimensioned. In
case your wondering, a leeboard acts like a keel on a boat but hangs
off the gunwale and is not supported in any way. The finished
dimension will be 1/2'' x 10'' x 44", in a roughly elliptical shape.
I'm planning on making it out of a piece of sapele that I have, 4/4 x
6", so I will, at the very least, have one joint down the middle,
which is fine. I got to thinking that I might rip it even more to
relieve any internal stresses that might be present. I would then
plane the pieces close to the finished thickness, glue it up and then
plane to final dimension. Am I on the right track here? If so what do
you think the minimum number of rips should be? I still want it to
look somewhat like a solid board. TIA.
I'm not sure about flatness. I think a water impervious wood would be
important even though I suppose this will be covered in glass (maybe
not, not yet build boats myself). I'm not sure about sapele but
mahogany, teak or white oak are all candidates.
Also, I would use splines to increase the glueup area If you'r only a
1/2" think that might be difficult but even a 3/16" x 1 x 44 hardwood
spline would add a lot more glue area than just the edge to edge so if
you get water intrusion into the joint it still has a chance to
hold.
On Oct 11, 2:59 pm, [email protected] wrote:
> I'm going to build a leeboard for a sea kayak currently under
> construction. I would like to get this very knowledgable group's
> opinion on the best way to keep it flat once it's been dimensioned. In
> case your wondering, a leeboard acts like a keel on a boat but hangs
> off the gunwale and is not supported in any way. The finished
> dimension will be 1/2'' x 10'' x 44", in a roughly elliptical shape.
> I'm planning on making it out of a piece of sapele that I have, 4/4 x
> 6", so I will, at the very least, have one joint down the middle,
> which is fine. I got to thinking that I might rip it even more to
> relieve any internal stresses that might be present. I would then
> plane the pieces close to the finished thickness, glue it up and then
> plane to final dimension. Am I on the right track here? If so what do
> you think the minimum number of rips should be? I still want it to
> look somewhat like a solid board. TIA.
On Thu, 11 Oct 2007 14:59:22 -0700, [email protected] wrote:
> In
>case your wondering, a leeboard acts like a keel on a boat but hangs
>off the gunwale and is not supported in any way. The finished
>dimension will be 1/2'' x 10'' x 44", in a roughly elliptical shape.
>I'm planning on making it out of a piece of sapele that I have, 4/4 x
>6", so I will, at the very least, have one joint down the middle,
>which is fine. I got to thinking that I might rip it even more to
>relieve any internal stresses that might be present. I would then
>plane the pieces close to the finished thickness, glue it up and then
>plane to final dimension. Am I on the right track here? If so what do
>you think the minimum number of rips should be? I still want it to
>look somewhat like a solid board. TIA.
Do you have to keep it at 1/2" thick?
I've built some dagger boards and rudders but never used anything less
than 3/4" in thickness. It seems to me that 1/2" by 44" long is going
to have some flex to it. If your not worried about glue failure I
think gluing in a few pieces and alternating the grain might help to
keep it both flat and straight.
Mike O.