• Articles,  Build It Yourself,  Kayaks

    Building Ken Taylor 1959 Kayak – the Igdlorssuit

    In the Fall of 2007, I set out to build a new kayak to serve several goals: Build a kayak that fits Ilena, my significant other, better than my Romany. Build a kayak that would be a Greenland style hard chined boat that is as easy or easier to roll than my Romany. Try several ideas for a kayak build that I haven’t tried yet. Glass hatch recesses. Glass fitting recesses. Dyeing the wood. And a few other. Generally to improve my building and glassing abilities during a quick build. Reproduce a historic kayak in cedar strip construction. Build another day boat with a different feel than my Romany and…

  • Articles,  Build It Yourself,  Kayaks

    Building the Ken Taylor Igdlorssuit Kayak

    Gathering Supplies (2:30 Hours) The biggest show stopper for most new kayak and canoe builders is the gathering supply step. Having to decide exactly what materials to buy, where to find the best deal, and how to get everything together in the same location at the right time is complicated. For this kayak, I’m using left over glass from RAKA. I’m using 6 ounce E-glass on the outside and 5 ounce tight-weave E-glass on the inside. The open weave 6 ounce will wet-out more clearly than the tight weave. The epoxy is from US Composites. The dye is from Solar-Lux via Woodcraft.com. It is Blood Red. I’m using KajakSport hatches,…

  • Articles,  Build It Yourself,  Kayaks

    Building Ken Taylor 1959 Kayak – the Igdlorssuit – Part Three

    Fair Inside (4 Hours) After the kayak is lifted off the forms, it’s time to fair the inside. This kayak is mainly flat on the inside, so fair is easily accomplished using a block plane, hobbyist plane, and a flat surform tool. A Convex surform can be used on the concave sections of the hull. The key point to watch for while using these tools, is use them only to take of the high edges of the strips. After the edges are taken off, change over to sand paper. A rough grit like 40 or 60 will quickly smooth the surface. This can be finished off up to 80 grit…

  • Articles,  Build It Yourself,  Kayaks

    Building Ken Taylor 1959 Kayak – the Igdlorssuit – Part Four

    Cockpit Coaming (8 Hours) There are many methods of building a cockpit coaming and making a carbon fiber coaming is certainly one of the hardest, but it is an achievable project for the home builder. I like to build mine in four steps. The first step is to make the foam mold that will be used to produce the coaming. Make sure that your opening is sanded smoothly and looks fair. Check this fairing with the cockpit cutout template used to make the recess. Any type of foam can be used to form a coaming, but I used expanding spray foam, because it was what I could get in town.…

  • Articles,  Build It Yourself,  Kayaks

    Building Ken Taylor 1959 Kayak – the Igdlorssuit – Part Five

    Control Box – 1 Hours The control box for the skeg is built much the same way as the deck fittings. A four and a half inch slot is cut into the hull. It’s located near the center of the coaming. A foam mold is inserted into the slot and covered with paste wax and mold release. Then thickened epoxy is used to round the corners and 5 layers of 3.2 ounce tight weave glass is used to lay-up the control box. After the box is finished, drill a hole to insert the tubing. I covered the hull around the skeg control box with packing tape, so I would be…

  • Articles,  Build It Yourself,  Kayaks,  Trip Reports

    Building Ken Taylor 1959 Kayak-the Igdlorssuit – Launching

    Wetting the kayak in the crystal clear water of Lake Superior was the best reward for almost a year of building. Ilena and I launched the Iggy with little fanfare. John Amren, owner of Superior Coastal Sports in Grand Marais was the only other attendee, and he was there because we choose the beach behind his shop as our point of departure for a tour around the Grand Marais harbor. The Iggy is a semi-replica of the 1959 Ken Taylor kayak that spawned the Anas Acuta and spurred modern British recreational kayaking. The original Iggy was built as a skin-on-frame in Igdlorssuit (Illorsuit is the new spelling) by Emanuele Korneiliussen.…

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