Tyne assembly part 2

How to assemble the Tyne tandem folding kayak, continued.  I'll add some photos when I have them.

The almost-assembled Tyne.  The coaming still needs work, and the forward seat back isn't done yet, and there are lots of other things that need attention.

To recap:

• Assemble the stern\back half of the frame and shove it into the skin;

• Do the same with the forward\front half of the frame.  The parts will overlap in the middle of the boat.

The Folbot Super came with a strap for holding the parts of each half together while they were put into the skin.  A length of nylon webbing will work if you tie the ends together.  It shouldn't be hard to make to a strap the right length with a loop at each end for this job.

• Now: take out ribs FRONT 3 and BACK 3 (if they were already put in to make the assembly easier).  Lift the the center ends of the floor boards up and look under them, and you should be able to tell how they lock together.  Put the ends together (still raised) and press them down towards the bottom of the boat.  Push firmly but don't force them; tug on the skin, push the floorboards and release and push again, and so on, to get the frame into the ends of the skin, and keep doing this until the floorboards are flat and locked together.

• Lock the sides together:  pull the ends on one side towards the center on the boat, and fit the short tab at the end of the aft side board into the notch under the metal thingy on the forward board.  Repeat with the other side boards.

• Get the stringers into their notches.  Make sure that there is a sliding ferrule on the end of one stringer on each side.  You need to put the ends of the stringers together and slide the ferrule from one over the end of the other.  It might be a little easier to get the ends together if you pull them away from the skin, and if you slide the ferrule out a couple of millimeters so that the other end can slip into it.

The sliding stringer ferrule.

• Put in all the ribs, then check to make sure everything is latched and the stringers are in their notches, and get ready to put the coaming on.

• The heads of the bolts in the coaming boards go thru the grommets in the deck and onto the brackets on top of the ribs.  Each of the screw heads on the coaming should go thru a grommet.  If the boat's skin has shrunk then this part can be a headache.  Spring clamps can be useful to hold things together.

Coaming assembly.  I still need to make the coaming brackets for the center rib.

I haven't managed to get the coaming done yet--the grommets, bolts, and brackets don't seem to all line up at the end of the cockpit, so I need to tweak the parts some more. And I kind of think there's supposed to be a cap on the front of the coaming, like there is on the Folbot, but I guess I can do without it.

A look into the cockpit.  You should take a moment to feel sorry for all those people who don't look at my blog and will never get to see this.

The Tyne tandem assembly instructions part one

The is a panoramic view of the assembled hull (without one or two parts), compiled in Photoshop, with the rough spots of the image intact so that it looks like some parts are disjointed. 

The almost-complete hull

It should be clear when putting the hull together how parts are connected, so I won't mention that if it doesn't seem necessary.  Assembly of the stringers and coaming  is a bit confusing, so I'll try to make things clear in the assembly instructions.

Hull parts list:

• four hinged side (gunnel?  upper hull?)  assemblies;

• two hinged floor\keel(\keelson?) assemblies;

• eight stringers total: four are attached at one end to a stem piece, four are loose, and two of the loose stringers have sliding ferrules at one end;

• seven ribs\frames, one with a seat back attached;

• two stem parts--one bow and one stern;

• four side coaming boards and one backboard;

• two deck supporting rails;

•  a seat back supported by the coaming over the center frame

One of the BACK floor boards slides over one of the FRONT floorboards in the middle, so the BACK assembly should probably be the first one in.  I think the assembly goes like this, if we start with the parts labeled BACK:

Unfold and lay out the BACK floor\keel (on the left in the above photo);

Add the stern stem piece--it looks like the bow piece shown on the right in the next photo, and has two stringers attached to it;

The bow assembly, because I don't have a photo of the stern assembly.

Add BACK frames 1-3.  The Folbot Super assembly instruction manual says to leave the parts that correspond to frames BACK 1 and BACK 2 off until the assembly has been stuffed into the skin--I don't know if that will help here or not.

Add two stringers if you have some way to make them stay together--duct tape will work, but take it off again as soon as can or it will leave gummy stuff on the parts.  You don't have to worry about whether to use the dowels with sliding ferrules or not because you can match them up when you assemble the other half.

Stuff the assembly into the skin as far as you can, tugging on the skin and swearing.  Have an assistant climb into the skin and push on the assembly while you shout directions from a safe distance.

Repeat everything with the FRONT assembly.  There will probably be some overlap in the middle when both assemblies are in.

I'll try and finish the rest of the instructions when I actually have enough of the boat repaired to try putting the hull into the skin.

(A note about the coaming parts: they attach to the frames as show in this photo, with the head of the bolt in the cupped slot:

 I don't think they go on until the hull halves has been joined in the skin.  I'll move this note to part two of the instructions if that ever gets done.)

Tyne tandem folding kayak problems and repairs

I think the Tyne tandem folding kayak is somewhat like the Folbot Super.  It's a bit shorter--about 17'--and about as wide (36" or so).  It has wood dowels instead of aluminum tubes for stringers, a rubberized canvas hull (I think) with a canvas deck, and other differences, but I'd guess that when it's assembled it looks much like the Super.

The frame, assembled without the missing parts.  The skin can't be put on until the replacement parts are useable.

I bought a Tyne tandem folder at a garage sale.  It was missing some of the frame parts (including a bulkhead\frame), and had broken parts and a few parts that had plywood delamination.  Previous owners had, apparently, continued to use the boat as problems occurred, sometimes making adequate-at-best repairs when it was absolutely necessary.

Partial guide to terminology and part names.  It's meant for someone else who acquired a Tyne and doesn't quite know what to do with it.  I'm probably the only person who will ever look at this.

 Here are some of the problems the kayak had when I got it, and some of the old repairs.

Broken frame.  The missing wood was replaced with thin garden-variety plywood, and the fittings weren't replaced at all.

Broken side.  The parts weren't glued flush, and a patch of cheap plywood was glued (right on to the varnish) on the outside and seven or eight galvanized screws were added.

Side view of broken side

The old parts and the new replacement wood.  The new part is marine plywood left over from an old project.  It was clamped to the old side so that both could be cut at once and have exactly the same angle for the butt joint.  The holes in the old and new parts will be filled with epoxy.

The side with the old wrecked part cut off.  The bits of plywood that were cut off the replacement wood were glued onto bare wood with waterproof wood glue, and will (I hope) be thin enough to allow the side to flex like it's supposed to.  (I probably should have put them on the outside of the panel.)  Marine epoxy will be used to put the new part on, with a bit of fiberglass on the other side to reinforce the butt joint. 

Broken floor, and a broken stringer.

The plywood that went bad was probably wet for long periods.  Some of it has been replaced with laminated 1/4" white oak until I get some marine plywood.

The bottom of part of the keel\floor.

Plywood removed from under the floor

There are two coaming boards on each side.  The connector shown at the bottom in the next photo joins the forward and after coamings on each side.  I've made a temporary aluminum connector to replace the missing brass (or bronze) one.

Coaming parts.  The parts on the right are missing from the coaming on the left.

Coaming back right and back left parts.

Old and new coaming boards and couplers.  The new parts still need some work.

Replacement center rib.  This is probably supposed to have a seat back on it.  For now it's made from good exterior plywood sealed with epoxy.

By the way, here are a few places to get supplies for a project boat in my area (west Contra Costa County, California):

• MacBeath Hardwoods in Berkeley (and San Jose, San Francisco, and elsewhere) has marine plywood and every other kind of wood, and woodworking supplies.  They're right across the street from
• Urban Ore, which can be a good place to find used things that can be cut up or re-purposed.  At various times I've found very cheap used lumber for stands and temporary structures, stainless steel and brass hardware (sometimes in unopened packages), aluminum tubing, hardwoods (including walnut, cherry, maple, rosewood [once], and tropical woods that I couldn't identify), shock cord, nylon webbing, Yakima roof racks, a canoe paddle, boardsailing equipment, wheels for a kayak cart, an unused spray skirt, and loads of other things.  Sometimes you can go there and find nothing at all useful, and sometimes you can actually find the thing you were looking for.  Take some time and get your hands dirty and you'll probably be much more successful.

• For new boat building and maintenance supplies go to Whale Point Marine and Hardware in Richmond.  They have regular Ace hardware stuff, and they have almost anything West Marine has, including marine-grade stainless steel fasteners, and stuff WM doesn't have, and at more reasonable prices than WM.  There's a West Marine a couple of blocks away if you want to do a shop-to-shop comparison.

• Eagle Marine in Martinez doesn't have nearly as much good stuff as WM and Whale Point M&H, but they have epoxy, fiberglass cloth (ask someone behind the counter), and other useful stuff.  (If you're there on a Saturday morning you might be able to see the guys who are restoring Joe DiMaggio's old Chris Craft in a nearby building.)

• The reuse room at the Contra Costa Household Hazardous Waste Collection Facility in Martinez has gallons of paint, lots of wood stain, and I've found paint thinner, spar varnish, teak oil, and other useful stuff--and it's free.  You probably won't find the good stuff if you just go once, and the stuff you take may turn out to be useless, but if your budget is tight then you need to check it out.

I'll add to this post when I get more of the wood parts and metal fittings done, and get the photos taken.  I might make a new light(er)weight skin for the Tyne if I can ever get the right material for cheap.

Project boats

I'm outfitting an old fiberglass river kayak for flat water.  This boat's a lot like the one that I used for a couple of years before I got the Necky Looksha Sport LV, so I didn't have any reservations about adopting it.

The red river kayak

I got this as an almost-bare hull (it had foot pedals) and I added deck bungees fore and aft of the cockpit, a temporary seat made from an old PFD, a temporary strap-in skeg, carry handles at the bow and stern, and shock cord (from a ruined tent fly) to keep the handles from flopping around.

Deck rigging and the temporary seat

Grab handle on the bow

I also added grab lines along the gunnels.  The forward ends are connected with the same bolts that anchor the foot pedals, and the after ends are just tied around the stern.  I plan to eventually replace the lines (which are currently cheap braided plastic rope from Harbor Freight) and add some kind of anchor points for the stern end of the lines.

Stern rigging

There are holes thru the bow and stern ends for lines to use for carrying the boat.  I used some thin cord thru these holes to anchor the carrying handles because I wasn't able to disassemble the handles and run the attached cords thru the holes in the boat.  This arrangement seems to work--for now.  Like everything but the deck bungees this is likely to be temporary.

The kayak before its first sea trial.

The kayak on the Carquinez Strait.

The Tyne folding kayak

I bought a Tyne wooden-frame folding kayak at a garage sale a couple of months ago.  (The boat was made be Tyne Canoes Ltd., or Tyne Folding Boats Ltd.--I don't know which is correct yet.)  The seller mentioned that it needed work, but neglected to mention that one of the bulkheads was missing.  I've managed to replace or repair many of the parts (both wood parts and brass parts; some of the new parts need more work), and because I was sufficiently distracted by the missing or broken things I didn't realize that the center bulkhead was missing altogether.  I can make a replacement bulkhead, but after having done the rest of the repairs, and thinking I was almost done, finding that a major part of the frame was missing has killed my enthusiasm for the project.  If you want to buy a project boat (wood frame and hypalon skin, for what it cost me so far), let me know.

Note, November 2012:  I bought a Folbot Super at another garage sale.  It's similar to the Tyne, but newer, and complete as-is, so that it's not really a project boat.  I'm probably going to sell one or the other of them if I ever finish making parts for the Tyne and get it on the water.