James Makes Butt Blocks

A Butt Block in Action

We started out with two 8 foot pieces of plywood. I, James had to block the two panels to make 16 foot blanks. Blanks are sections of plywood that you prepare and later cut out a pattern from. We had to butt block the pieces together because you can not buy 16 foot pieces of plywood at a store. Also building a 8 foot kayak would not be good enough for a camping trip. The tools we used for this step were nails, a hammer, glue, and a plane. We first glued the butt blocks to the sides connecting two pieces and then we nailed them together.

Blog Entry II: What Have We Done

We must continue to document our project. Someone should be able to look at our blog and be able to build a kayak by following the steps we have written. For this entry each member of class will have a different step to explain.

James- butt blocking the two panels to make the 16' blanks
Adam- tracing the pattern and roughing out the panels, fairing the boards
Shawn- scarfing the sheer clamps and chine logs
Andy- attaching and fitting the sheer clamps and chine logs
Mike- making bulkheads, putting in bulkhead anchors

Each entry must :
- have an introduction
- what tools are used
- have step by step instructions
- be posted in order
- display at least one relevant picture