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Re: Other: Seats again
By:LeeG
Date: 4/3/2003, 10:23 am
In Response To: Other: Seats again (Bill Burton)

Bill, this is what I've done on 4 kayaks and found works well. With your big 2'x2' chunk of minicell measure out a piece that is as wide as the interior of the hull,,or at least an inch wider than the hip braces. Make it long enough to provide at least 2" length beyond the carved section of the seat,,I found that might make a seat block that extends as far back as the coaming. If you want you can make the seat extend all the way back to the bulkhead and as far forward as seems comfortable,,I found mid thigh is good enough so that can be a seat 18"-24" long. Get an angle and measure the bottom panel angle and mark that angle on the seat at the front and back edge, draw a right angle from the center line of each angled line so that the seat can get cut lengthwise with two angled cuts so that the two blocks can be re-glued at an angle aproximating the angle of the bottom panels. Having a band saw can make this precise but if you are VERY careful it is possible with handsaw.

The reason for doing this is that if there's much of an angle in the center panel you end up cutting out a lot of useful seat suppor on the sides/hips. Given that is where ones weight is resting it helps to support weight up and off of the sciatic nerve,,given that all your body weight is pressing down upon your butt and not thighs this area will provide more point pressure relief than just making more support for your thighs.
Oh,,,in order to carve the seat while it's in the hull you then cut out slots on the sides for the hip braces. With enough of compression the seat will NOT come out but with some twisting and prying it can be pulled out. Also when the boat is being transported or stored you can simply pull the seat up from the bottom an inch to dry out. This way you don't have to deal with velcro. Velcro and seats is such a frustrating experience because any strong connection will probably tear the minicell.
With a thicker seat at the sides you can also drill holes for holding things secureley,,,put a chilled soda can in a 3" chunk of minicell behind the seat it'll stay cool for a while. Or slots for sticking spare keys or those tiny dry boxes that hold wallets.

Messages In This Thread

Other: Seats again
Bill Burton -- 4/1/2003, 5:02 pm
Re: Other: Seats again
LeeG -- 4/3/2003, 10:23 am
Re: Other: Seats again *LINK* *Pic*
Richard Kohlström -- 4/3/2003, 1:50 am
Re: Other: Seats again *LINK* *Pic*
Richard Kohlström -- 4/3/2003, 1:58 am
Re: Other: Seats again
Jim Kozel -- 4/3/2003, 8:06 am
Re: Other: How-To's
Dave Houser -- 4/2/2003, 7:25 pm
Re: Other: Seats again
Jeff The Tall -- 4/2/2003, 3:09 pm
Re: Other: Seats again
Shawn Baker -- 4/2/2003, 6:23 pm
Re: Other: Seats again *LINK*
Robert N Pruden -- 4/1/2003, 10:26 pm
Re: Other: 3M Velcro
Malcolm Schweizer -- 4/1/2003, 6:26 pm
Re: Other: Seats again
greg root -- 4/1/2003, 6:14 pm
Re: Other: Seats again
Don -- 4/1/2003, 6:08 pm