Hi!
I'm from Sweden and found this really interesting forum just now.
I'm doing a lot of adventure racing and paddling is one of the main parts in competitions.
So, i would really like to make my own kayak, but this one will be like a surfski, something like this;



I have a few questions I hope someone can help me with:
First, I would like to build a boat as light as possible, in carbon fiber / kevlar. How thick should have the hull and deck.
Then I do not know if it is possible to make use of rasin infusion technology or whether to try to vacuum bag. I am puzzled, however, if you have time to wet-laying the entire hull and then on the vacuum bag before the rasin time to solidify.
If one would use rasin infusion, how often you need to outsource distribution tubing to cover the entire hull?
Then I also wonder how best to put together the hull and deck. I saw the movie on kayak repair and which used some form of kevlar tape. Is it the best thing to use or is there something else?
Hm, these issues are perhaps slightly messy but I am so grateful for all the help I can get.
Thanks in advance,
Staffan, Sweden                                                    

A kayak is normally between 0.5mm and 1.5mm thick depending on the usage.  Bouncing it off rocks in rough white water and you need a thick hull.  A streamlined racer for smooth waters can be fairly thin. 

Resin Infusion is a great idea for a kayak as it will give you both a light and strong part if done correctly.

When planning resin feed and vacuum lines you need to consider where the resin will flow.  Resin will try and take the path of least resistance.  On your picture, unless you can control the vacuum line around the hull, you may have a problem where the resin reaches the edge in one place and then struggles to get to the edge else where.

You can eliminate that through careful planning. Potentially you may want 2 or more vacuum ports which you can open and close at will to control where the resin flows to.

In your case it might be easier to control if you go from one side of the canoe to the other.

Kevlar tape/braid is commonly used as one of the reinforcements used when joining a kayak deck and hull together.

Warren Penalver
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Support Assistant

Warren-
for the hull joining, is it done on the inside seam and the outside seams with tapes and resin?

just for my own info. i cant recall all of the video i saw way back when. to me it makes sense to make the tapes and resin on both sides
of the joint


thanks


scott

CarbonFiberCreations