Malahini in Ireland

Richie M · Post by **Richie M** » Tue May 10, 2016 1:03 pm

I got plans for the Malahini at christmas and a few weeks ago I started work. I'm going to take my time building this and enjoy it, not likely to get into the water until next year.
I have built a couple of cedar strip kayaks in the past but this my biggest build yet.

My first issue is where to get plywood longer than 8ft, even 10ft long would mean only one joint in the plywood on the sides not two?

I am putting together an order for fibreglass and epoxy and I was wondering if the hull is the only part of the boat that gets fibreglassed?

All help appreciated!

Cabron · Post by **Cabron** » Wed May 11, 2016 6:19 am

That is a great space you have for the build. Look at all that room. A level floor too.

I completely glassed my Zip but I have read where people will glass just below the water line.

I have also read that some people don`t glass at all and just go straight to paint.

Your build is looking really great. Keep up the great work. The build is the best part and a wonderful
personal journey.

Cheers

rbrandenstein · Post by **rbrandenstein** » Wed May 11, 2016 7:49 am

Welcome to the Malahini club. Your build is looking great. I agree with Cabron, enjoy the journey. You will have a lot more decisions and challenges once you flip the hull and finish the deck and interior. You will also suffer " boat building withdrawal" symptoms.

I covered entire bottom and transom with fiberglass cloth. I used 6oz cloth and finished my sides bright. After several years, most of my dings are on the sides, so having the cloth on the sides is not a bad idea.

I was able to order 10' pieces of meranti from Homestead in Ohio. Good luck over there. I think you can get by with one 10' and one 8' piece per side, but it will be tight.

JaTro · Post by **JaTro** » Wed May 11, 2016 7:51 am

I am afraid you wont get so long plywood in Europe off shelf.
But you can order them custom made, i believe, but what price?
In UK should be present italian company Nord Compensati but cant reach their site at this moment.
If you dont mind longer transport, you can check producers european producers.
http://www.sommerfeld-thiele.de/en/3/home.html is in germany. High End obviously:-)
Then in poland is interesting source of marine oak or pine plywood.

Also there is common practice to use locking joints made by router or CNC cut to increase glueing surface.
http://salmoboats.com/foto/fingerjoint.jpg

Richie M · Post by **Richie M** » Wed May 11, 2016 1:53 pm

Cabron wrote:That is a great space you have for the build. Look at all that room. A level floor too.

Thanks for your comments, I just finished building the garage and I'm really enjoying the space!

I think I'll glass the complete hull its easy to do now and it'll mean alot for the life of the boat.

Regarding the plywood it looks like I'll have to go with 2 joints, it's a pity not to get away with just 1.

I'm having trouble getting the chine timber to clamp to the chine block, is the best option to glue and screw it to the chine block and then bend it around the rest of the frames?

: dry fit, close but alot to go!

Post by **Roberta** » Wed May 11, 2016 4:19 pm

Looks great, Richie. If you have the room, attaching to the stem and chine block is easier and creates a nicer arc.

Richie M · Post by **Richie M** » Wed Jul 13, 2016 2:09 pm

Slowly making progress with the hull, running into a few issues regarding fairing the chine. Just wondering where the joint between the 3/8" plywood on the bottom and the 1/4" plywood on the sides finishes on the chine. At the moment I am getting a slight concave curve on the sides but I presume I need to fair the chine block to eliminate that.

The other issue that I am running into is the lack of availability of 1/4" Marine plywood. I intend to fiberglass the complete hull, with 280g/sqm cloth and I am wondering if marine ply is essential or if non marine grade plywood would work. I will also seal the inside skin with epoxy.
For the bottom of the boat I am using 1/2" marine plywood but when I bend it to suit the curve of the boat it seems to be under far too much stress. I know that the plans call for 3/8 marine plywood but again I havent been able to source that. Would it be ok to use 2 layers of 1/4" plywood on the bottom of the hull?

Thanks in advance for your input!

jamundsen · Post by **jamundsen** » Wed Jul 13, 2016 2:36 pm

Marine grade is important as their will be voids in the non marine. If one is where you are bending the ply will snap,
You may have to drive a little but it's worth it to get marine grade.

Post by **Bill Edmundson** » Wed Jul 13, 2016 3:14 pm

Richie M

Two layers of 1/4 will be fine.

Good exterior grade ply may be fine for the seats and sub-deck. You really want marine for the hull. When you look at a stack of regular plywood you will see lots of holes.

Bill

ian bell · Post by **ian bell** » Wed Jul 13, 2016 3:27 pm

I am building the Renegade ,and it said 1/2" ply for the bottom and 2 pieces of 1/4" for the font as 1/2" will not bend without cracking . I could only get 8'x4' sheets which I scarfed joined . The front section was 1/4" put on then the next 1/4" laminated with epoxy to the first sheet.
Ian

rbrandenstein · Post by **rbrandenstein** » Thu Jul 14, 2016 8:27 am

Richie,
Regarding the chine and where the plywood joins.
I faired to put the joint in the approximate center of the chine.

I am not sure what you mean by concave, but you may be running into a problem many of us faced with the chine.
As the picture shows, if you put a straightedge on the chine and extend it to the sheer, the edge extends inside the sheer. This has to be corrected so the plane of the chine is outside the sheer and then it is faired to align with the fairing done to the sheer.
What you have to do is epoxy a strip of wedge shaped wood to the bottom half (when upside down) of the chine to get proper alignment.
This is caused because not quite enough twist was given to the chine on installation. It is no big deal and easier corrected.

Richie M · Post by **Richie M** » Fri Jul 15, 2016 11:48 pm

Thanks for you're comments on the marine plywood, I'm going to hold out and get 6mm marine plywood.
regarding the issue of the joint in the plywood, that's exactly the issue that I'm having. I have added a wedge as recommended and with alot of fairing coming up it looks like it'll solve the problem!
Thanks for you're help

Hercdrvr · Post by **Hercdrvr** » Sat Jul 16, 2016 2:32 am

Adding a wedge to the chine is pretty much standard procedure around here. Have fun fairing. Here is a picture of what my added wedge looked like after fairing completed. Most of the wedge got sanded off.
I must be nuts but, I actually enjoy fairing after the lightbulb clicked on what I was trying to accomplish.
Matt

mrintense · Post by **mrintense** » Sun Jul 17, 2016 9:04 am

Fairing took me months (I'm slow) . Just keep testing the fit of scrap material until you get where you want it to be.

fergal butler · Post by **fergal butler** » Sat Jul 23, 2016 2:52 am

Looking good

One thing I found with the plywood here in Ireland is that there is a lot of cheep crap coming in from China some of even has a BS1088 stamp on it it may look like a good deal but it's not most of it is full of voids and it will fracture when you go to bend it.

Best of luck with the build maybe I will see you on the water someday

Glen-L.com

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