I built a kayak from a kit:
www.acegroup.cc/~brianm/kayak
Brian
One thing that puzzles me about the stitch and tape method is whether the stitches leave voids under the tape when they’re removed - how does this actually work in practice? - I take it you do actually pull out the whole stitch after the resin has cured?
How bout using some Tiger Hair Bondo and some elastic joint tape that they use in construction? That seam tape for drywall is what I’m thinking of. Then with the proper sealant, you’ll have elasticity, strength and water proofing on the cheap.
That sounds interesting. I’m not sure whether those products are available to me here in the UK though.
I think you’re adding an unncessary hurdle with the zero-budget approach. I’m a little skeptical of the reclaimed plywood idea anyway. It might be okay, but then again it might not, which would leave you the opposite of high and dry. As an inveterate scavenger and reuser myself, I’ve come to realize that there’s always a compromise involved – and usually it’s that the stock is not quite big enough for what you need.
I think you’re right - the reclaimed plywood looked good at first glance, but looking at the edges, it appears to have voids in the inner layers.
The size of the pieces is smaller than would be desired, but even from a full size sheet, som butt-joints are still necessary, however, more of these means more potential points of failure.
Looks like we’re back to plan A, although I’ll still be using reclaimed solid timber for some of the fittings and strengthening members.
You want to be a bit careful of this - it’s a philosophy that’s led to some seriously overweight homebuilt projects.
Good advice, but I think all of the extra weight added by the stitch and tape method will actually be reclaimed by the removal of chine logs (no need for them with stitch and tape), plus the light-but-strong hardwoods I plan to use for internal bracing - the stuff is lighter than most softwoods.