Copying a kayak

[generalnotes]

I am starting a new build. My friend has a Kayak that has seen better days, and I wanted to make a copy of it. It’s an old Sears brand kayak back when they sold anything and everything. I took me awhile to come up with a way to copy it, and this is what I came up with-

First I built a cradle for it to hold it on its side and ran string for centerlines.

Then I built a frame sort of thing to slide along the boat.

Next I use a T-square and a sliding gauge to mark dots on a piece of paper.

Then I connect the dots to make a cross section of the kayak so I can cut plywood stations later.


Any comments would be appreciated.

[bowgarguide]

That will work. do that every 12 inches ,
Ron

[awoodman]

Yea darn good idea...

[Iamdamoder]

How long is that thing? She should be a speedster.

Looks like you have a plan. Doubt this is much help and no I don't have a link but here goes. I saw a build where a guy had made a gage similar to those little contour gages for trim work.


He made his from standard strips, 2 by's ect. Supersized the whole deal.

http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/v ... 9zkbK9l7dH" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


OK I googled up a link, Perhaps this is a friend of ours?

[JEM]

Innovative!

[Carver]

Nice execution of the reverse engineering. That is almost exactly how sculpture is scaled and copied for centuries. In boatbuilding we always just caled it "tick-sticking". We used similar method fitting countertops and millwork in building also.

I had a similar jig for doing small hulls I cut on my cnc that looks like a slat wall from a shoe shop. It hasn't seen much use since I bought a 3-d digitizer and more recently gained access to large scale laser scanners.

Did you put your final set of points into CAD or just use them to loft the hull?


Thanks for sharing, Phill

[generalnotes]

Right now, I have all the points on paper and I intend to convert them to CAD. I don’t really think that is a necessary step, but I think it will help in the long run. I will be posting as progress develops, but fair warning, I work slow. If it weren’t for all the “Honey do’s” I have been assigned, It would go much faster. And as for the question from Iamdamoder about the length- this boat is 14’ long. The photo really makes it look longer. I had also seen the custom couture gauge on the net, but rejected it because of the extreme contours involved around the coaming. That will be a fun area to deal with in the build!

[Carver]

If you would like them registered and faired, just send me a copy after you get them in cad. I can do the surfacing and fair it with just a few clicks. I can send you back files you can print locally or even cut you some stations if you would like. ( no charge here, I get a lot from this forum just reading it)

Good luck ( with the honey do's )

Phill

[generalnotes]

That’s a very generous offer, Phil. I’ll keep you in mind. Thanks.


Randy