im planning on making a set of templates for a kayak im building, because im planning on building two kayaks and maybe a third one for a buddy at work, of the same kayak.....what kind of wood should i use????

Maybe some 1/8" Luan plywood

Mike

For Stitch-and-Glue, I use roll paper to loft the panels on. I do this so I can catch any lofting errors I may have made, to make sure that each panel section is fair to its neighbor, to minimize waste when laying out panel parts on plywood stock, and to be able to repeat the build easily. To transfer the shapes I punch through the lines with a scratch awl, which is essentially a woodworker's icepick, to make prick marks in the plywood, then play a giant game of connect-the-dots. This scheme has worked so well that I continue to do it on every S&G project without a second thought.

For strip-built projects, I make half-forms out of the thinnest, cheapest doorskin plywood I can get my hands on, although I have learned to select sheets that look least prone to warping. The half forms are made with much care towards accuracy of shape, fair lines, etc., and are used to trace around on the plywood the real forms will be cut from. I do this so I can "archive" the sections for any repeats, if desired, and to assure absolute symmetry of the strongback mold and resulting boat.

For S&G I just lay out the lines on the sheets of plywood and cut it. I'll use the two bulkheads as forms until I install them, and cut one center form to keep the center in shape. That's it. If you need full size paper templates you could use brown craft paper. I happen to work at a box manufacturing/printing plant so I have access to millions of feet of paper--white and brown. I don't use it though. For strip forms I just print it out with the computer and make the forms. I use 1/2" russian birch plywood so the forms will last for many boats. You can have the forms printed at one of the printshops so you don't have to use all your typing paper.