Building of a Black Pearl - page 1
After having been rowing in my Night Heron a couple of years it was time to look for a new kayak project
My kayak project 2.0
In July 2010 I purchased the drawings for the Björn Thomasson "Black Pearl". I had come across this kayak on a no. of occasions
at several kayak summits and had a chat with equal no. of happy owners, so I decided I had to own such a boat. A Black Pearl
is an incredible low slim kayak with really beautiful lines. A real play kayak.
After having been searching for spruce of good quality without any luck I decided for Western Red Ceder once again.
With a bit of flattering I was allowed to hand sort planks from at large pile at a hardwood import company in Glostrup.
Link to sub-pages
May 2010The drawings from Thomasson Design just received and being studied carefully.
July 2010The lists are cut. Round 300 meters in total. I borroughed a good quality Festool hand saw with a
2 x 1,4 m guide. It worked well.
August 2010The form drawings glued up on a plywood plate.
August 2010The forms cut and stacked so the geometri of the kayak is visual.
August 2010The building jig assembled of two planks of pine long 5,10 m by square 125x19 mm. Thomasson's method
is a bit different than that of Nick Shade. Here the jig is located outside the kayak (top side) and needs to be removed when
the hul is finalised, and before the deck can be layed.
August 2010The forms are now set on the jig. Only missing is final alignment before the stripping can begin.
September 2010I have drilled a 4 mm hole in all forms in the centre at waterline level. When all the forms are
fully aligned it is possible to look right through all forms at the same time.
September 2010Bow keel list is in place and the first two strips are installed and glued.
September 2010Stern keel list is in place. They take a bit of patience and trimming before it looks acceptable.
September 2010Bow is building up.
September 2010The sides are finalised and I have planed down the edges to be flush with the bottom.
September 2010The transition from bottom to the sides in the boat ends requires a lot of twisting. I have to
pre-shape them by putting them in a forced twist. They are wetted and left over night for drying.
September 2010There is a lot of twist in the strips along the keel. It requires a no of staples to keep the strips
in place while the glue is curing. It does not look like anything going to float one day.
September 2010The tricky keel strips are done and for now on it is more or less easy going with straight strips.
