Boat Building: Stems & Chines

Well, the kayak build is moving along quickly. Now it's time for the stems to be attached to the keel at the bow and stern. The keel is cut and fastened into the notches cut in the stems.
When the stems are attached the kayak is 15' long end to end. The long ends of the gunwales are cut, beveled and fastened to fit flush with the top of the stems. Since the gunwales have to bend in two directions; around frames and upward to the stems, I soaked them with hot water and suspended them close to their ends between two saw horses. I hung a 20lb weight in the middle. They were ready to install the next morning.  It was much easier to do it this way and is the method Dave Gentry recommends in the plans.  Without pre-bending, the gunwales can exert pressure forcing the stem down. This causes the keel to bend upward in the middle or (get ready for cool nautical term) hog.

It is a good idea to regularly take time to see that everything is in line and there are no twists in the frame. Much easier to fix it now than to discover a problem after things are permanently fastened. It is also a good idea to occasionally post a picture that you believe will make readers think you know what you are doing.

With the stems in place and gunwales secured the remaining cross frames are set in place and the chines are bent around them and fastened. I'm using Titebond III wood glue and stainless steel screws to hold things together. Every hole is pre-drilled to prevent splitting the yellow pine  and the screw heads are countersunk so the kayak skin won't have any sharp edges to stretch over.

As mentioned earlier the gunwales and chines are initially cut long. They have to be re-cut by hand where they attach flush to the stems. They set back a little so as not to interfere with the skin and and also to form a nice point at he bow and stern to slice into the water.

All of the chines are in place. Everything is screwed and glued and the next step will be to cut and fasten the cockpit carlins.