Boat Building Forum

Find advice on all aspects of building your own kayak, canoe or any lightweight boats

Form vs.Function
By:Paul Comerford
Date: 12/13/2000, 4:26 am

Wow! When I read the posts on this board I sometimes feel like I'm in a VERY fancy hotel, and sometime real soon, the rest of the guests are going to notice that I'm not wearing socks. Some of you guys just floor me! The things that folks do to get it just perfect is astonishing! I felt positively slothful when I read about the guy who glued sandpaper to a putty knife blade to sand in between strips. And to figure out a way to attach lasers to the forms to aid in alighnment? Wow!I am clearly a VERY low tech (standards?) builder. If my strips had a gap that was too big, I just leaned on the strip. To align my forms I just ran a dozen strips of cheap ledger board along the guidelines and nudged and fiddled until I got it looking ok.
When the boat is done it will look fine. I used some white pine and mahogany for accents. I planed it fair and sanded it so that it was smooth. There are multiple flaws that you don't need to look TOO hard to find, but it will float and it will still be fun to play in. (In fact I went down to the beach today and watched the waves POUNDING in and got all disapointed that itsnot ready and I'm not good enough to be out playing in that sort of surf. It looked like it would have been a blast!)
What this board has done is make me realise that I can make a work of art in addition to making a plaything. This boat will be my first, and I'm looking forward to paddling it. But I'm already planning the next one, and I've got several ideas that I want to try out including more design work, no staples, and using narrower strips to get a smoother flow around the sharp curves at the stem and stern.
Thanks for the inspiration.
Paul

Messages In This Thread

Form vs.Function
Paul Comerford -- 12/13/2000, 4:26 am
Re: Pete Culler
George Cushing -- 12/28/2000, 5:06 pm
Re: Form vs.Function
Andrew Eddy -- 12/20/2000, 12:21 am
Re: Great trip report..somewhat OT
Ben Staley -- 12/21/2000, 1:31 pm
Building an ugly duckling
David Hanson -- 12/14/2000, 3:00 pm
Re: Form vs.Function
John Monfoe -- 12/14/2000, 5:25 am
Re: Form vs.Function
Ken Sutherland -- 12/16/2000, 1:39 am
Re: Form vs.Function
John Monfoe -- 12/16/2000, 5:33 am
Re: Form vs.Function
Jim Martin -- 12/13/2000, 7:58 pm
Re: many of us don't have socks.
Erez -- 12/13/2000, 5:24 pm
Re: many of us don't have socks.
Tony -- 12/15/2000, 5:38 pm
Re: sure, make us check for socks
Shawn Baker -- 12/13/2000, 6:25 pm
Re: sure, make us check for socks
Ray Port Angeles -- 12/16/2000, 2:20 pm
I'm wearing socks, but they don't match. NM *NM*
Julie Kanarr -- 12/14/2000, 9:56 pm
Re: OT mismatched socks and the laser pointer
Lee -- 12/14/2000, 10:46 pm
Re: Form vs. Function
Shawn Baker -- 12/13/2000, 10:25 am
Re: Form vs. Function
Ben Staley -- 12/13/2000, 11:57 am
Re: Form vs.Function
Chris Menard -- 12/13/2000, 9:46 am