Wood And Glue Scale Kayak Is Super

wood kayak model

While we don’t feature many woodworking projects here, we always love learning from people who really know their stuff in any medium. [Brian Oltrogge] showed us a hands-off way to shape aluminum with this 3D print sand-casting project and now brings us a very hands-on kayak project.

We have seen kayaks made from plastic wrap and 3D printed parts, and in the video after the break, [Brian Oltrogge] is building a scale model to validate a wood kayak design created with Rhino 3D and Grasshopper. Besides being a joy to watch the craft of the project, the video is full of great hacks. The “buck” that the wood is formed over sits on CNC cut stands that slot into it. The thickness of three layers of laminated veneer fits the 1:4 scale model perfectly representing 3/4” plywood, and the laser-cut parts use the exact pattern that the final full-size CNC will.

spiral saw blade compared to a quarter for scale

There are also some great tool hacks hidden in the video. [Brian Oltrogge] tells us about a spiral scroll saw blade that can cut in any direction, but as a bonus tip, we also can see a clamp compressing the saw while the blade is tensioned. Watch the video through the end to see some clever wall-mounting brackets too.

The video doesn’t tell us what a Stitch & Glue boat is or how the full-scale will be assembled. To find out more about that, see this charmingly odd vintage film from Chesapeake Light Craft.

Thanks for the tip [Keith Olson]

7 thoughts on “Wood And Glue Scale Kayak Is Super

  1. Certainly a thing of beauty, as I’m sure will be said for the full sized version also. No doubt he’ll appreciate it even more, cutting the pieces by hand, unless he happens to have the utility of a laser cutter the size of a small truck.

  2. People in the northwest still make canoes the traditional way, take a log and hollow it out.

    The classic book abkut kayaks is “The Starship and the Canoe” by Kenneth Brower, from about 1981. Not a technical book. Though one of the subjects, George Dyson, has written books about his kayak making, modernizing old techniques.

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