How to Make a Strip-Built Kayak Out of Plywood

Kayaks are individual paddling boats used by native cultures for centuries. The original kayaks were made of animal skins stretched over a hardwood skeleton. As the centuries past, boat makers learned that the art of kayak-making was in building a solid, waterproof keel and gunnels without contributing what most kayakers detest -- excessive weight. This led to laying thin strips of wood over a skeleton made of proportionately increasing, then decreasing, oval disks called stations. This classic double-ended kayak design can be accomplished with plywood strips over heavy plywood stations. Adding a fiberglass skin completes the new standard in kayaks.

Things You'll Need

  • 3/4-inch plywood
  • 5-gallon bucket
  • Tape measure
  • Straightedge
  • Jigsaw
  • Cardboard
  • Scissors
  • Power drill
  • 1/4-inch by 1-inch L-brackets
  • 1/4-inch plywood
  • Circular saw
  • Staple gun
  • Construction wood glue
  • 5-inch band clamps
  • Fiberglass-grade epoxy resin and hardener
  • Fiberglass rollers
  • Paintbrush
  • Paint rollers
  • 7.6-centimeter by 3-inch fiberglass tape
  • Plastic-mesh scrubber
  • 10 ounces plain weave fiberglass fabric
  • Drop cloth
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Instructions

  1. Construct the Kayak Skeleton

    • 1

      Build the 15-foot long kayak skeleton from 3/4-inch plywood. Use a tape measure and a 5-gallon plastic bucket scribing half its circumference onto the plywood. Repeat this process 20-inches away on the board and connect the two arcs, marking an elliptical-shaped piece of plywood 26 inches by 12 inches.

    • 2

      Cut the full-sized oval disk of plywood (called a station) with a jigsaw. Use the cut station as a template to scribe and cut an additional, identical station. Use one of the stations to create a scribing jig, tracing its outline on a piece of cardboard. Cut the template with scissors. Use a scrap piece of plywood or dowel to hold a pencil so that you can scribe an exact outline of the outer edge of the cardboard, but 2 inches inside its outline. Cut the cardboard template with scissors.

    • 3

      Use the cardboard template to scribe and cut two smaller stations from the 3/4-inch plywood.
      Repeat this process of scribing the outline of the next smaller stations on the same cardboard template and trimming the cardboard to match. Cut the 2-inch smaller template to make two more, smaller plywood stations. Repeat this process, cutting five pairs of progressively smaller oval stations. When complete, there should be 12 stations, two full-size and five pairs of progressively smaller stations.

    • 4

      Drill a hole 2-inches from the edge of the two full-size stations and use a jigsaw to cut a 10-inch by 18-inch rectangle in the center of both of them. These become the holes that the paddler's legs are extending through when seated in the kayak.

    • 5

      Cut a 2-inch by 2-inch flush cutout into the bottom edge of each of the 12 stations. Use 1/4-inch by 1-inch L-brackets to attach the 12 stations to a 13-foot piece of 2-inch by 2-inch lumber. Make the distance between the full-size stations 32 inches and the distance between the smaller stations 10 inches and starting 12 inches in from the ends. The completed kayak skeleton should have the 12 stations connect by a 2-inch by 2-inch piece running along and through the base of all the stations. Invert the assembly and mark on the 2-inch by 2-inch piece where the beginning, inside surfaces of the two full-sized stations, are located. Measure the distance between these points and one end of the skeleton.

    Cover and Wrap the Kayak

    • 6

      Beginning on the top of the kayak, cut 2-inch strips of 1/4-inch plywood with a circular saw and staple them to the edges of the 12 stations, holding the staple gun so the staple tops are parallel with the linear direction of the station board. Before applying the next, adjacent strip of plywood, wet its connecting side edge with construction glue.

    • 7

      Cover the entire top of the skeleton with plywood strips. The strips will follow the taper of the skeleton. Allow the strips near both ends of the skeleton to extend 18 inches beyond the last, smallest station. Go all the way around the skeleton of the kayak, enveloping it in plywood stripping. When the skeleton is fully covered, wrap the collection of end strips, at both ends of the kayak, with 5-inch band clips and screw them tight. Cut the protruding tips off 1 inch beyond the band clip. This completes the structure of the kayak.

    • 8

      Use the bottom calculations to locate the inside vertical surfaces of the two full-size stations. Use a drill and jigsaw to remove a section of the upper plywood skin of the kayak that is 30 inches by 22 inches. This is the cockpit entry. Measure and cut a 12-inch by 18-inch piece of 3/4-inch plywood and nail it to two 18-inch pieces of 2-inch by 2-inch wood, near the short-side edges. Apply construction glue and insert it into the cockpit and secure it to the keel of the kayak for the cockpit seat.

    • 9

      Mix 2 gallons of fiberglass epoxy resin and hardener. Use a small paintbrush and paint the end joints and all other, large seams in the kayak skin. Use a clean roller and apply three coats of resin over the entire surface of the kayak skin, allowing the previous coat to cure for an hour.

    • 10

      Cure the resin for 24 hours and cover the end joint edges with 7.6-centimeters by 3-inch fiberglass tape. Allow the tape to cure for 24 hours. Scrub the taped seams with water and a plastic scrubber to remove the amine blush -- a waxy byproduct of hardening resin -- and sand the wet surfaces of the seams with 120-grit sandpaper. Dry the seams with terrycloth rags and apply a primary coat of resin to the entire skin of the kayak.

    • 11

      Measure and cut full kayak-length pieces of fiberglass fabric and drape them over and around the epoxied surfaces of the kayak. Be sure that the weave of the fabric is parallel to the long axis of the kayak. Use a clean roller and roll the fabric onto the wet skin of the kayak, sliding the corresponding edges of the fabric up against those of the previous sheet. Wait for two hours and trim the edges of the fabric with scissors. Repeat this process for two additional layers of fiberglass fabric. Put a final coat of resin on the top layer of fabric after it is trimmed. Allow the fiberglass to cure for four days.