Boat Building Forum

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Funny...
By:Brian Nystrom
Date: 8/30/2001, 12:35 pm
In Response To: Re: Sea Kayaker Skin-on-Frame Plans (Richard Boyle)

: Contact Sea Kayaker, they sell reprints of the article you want. I think I
: paid six dollars for the 2 part article. You may also want to check out
: Bob Boucher's video and Robert Morris's book.
: I'm also planning to build a skin on frame Greenland kayak as this winter's
: project, should be fun to build and paddle.

...I've got the same three references. My take on it is that:

- Boucher's methods are quick, but somewhat crude. He also relies less on power tools than the other two.

- Cunningham's methods are more time consuming, but probably result in a very nice, very strong boat.

- Morris' approach strikes a nice balance between the two.

I'm building primarily according to Morris' book, but I used Boucher's method of making the gunwale boards. So far so good. I've learned a few lessons along the way that hopefully will help other SOF builders:

1) Don't obsess over things. The process is flexible and there are built in margins for error. It took me a couple of weeks of stressing out over finding good gunwale board stock to figure this out. Now I'm relaxed and having fun.

2) If it looks good, it probably is. Much of the skin on frame building process is dependent on eyeballing.

3) If it makes sense, it will probably work. These boats are custom fit, so no two are identical, just as no two paddlers are. If you feel you need to add, resize or reposition something to better suit you, do it.

4) Here's a specific tip for pegging the bow, stern and deck beams. Drill small pilot holes at all the peg locations and insert finishing nails in them to hold the parts while you drill the peg holes. This pretty much eliminates having the parts shift when drilling the larger holes.

Messages In This Thread

Sea Kayaker Skin-on-Frame Plans
Nathan -- 8/29/2001, 10:20 pm
Re: Sea Kayaker Skin-on-Frame Plans
Bob Kelim -- 8/30/2001, 7:49 pm
Thoughts on Aleut vs. Greenlandic Boats
Nathan -- 8/30/2001, 9:44 pm
Baidarka?
Roger Tulk -- 9/1/2001, 9:19 am
Choose well
West -- 8/31/2001, 12:56 am
Re: Sea Kayaker Skin-on-Frame Plans
Richard Boyle -- 8/29/2001, 10:35 pm
Funny...
Brian Nystrom -- 8/30/2001, 12:35 pm
Re: Funny...
Jay Babina -- 8/30/2001, 2:12 pm