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Re: Skin-on-Frame: New Kayak - Morris "Spline" Sty
By:mark vander horck
Date: 7/28/2012, 2:09 pm

: A little while ago I asked if anyone knew how to do Morris's Spline
: style skin attach. The was caused by the pitiful stiching on my
: first SOF. The spring/ summer issue or 2008 Masik carried his
: article.
: Since I got no responses that anyone knew how to do it, I thought I
: would show the results.

: The picture here just shows the boat. Next post will show the seam
: around the nose.

: The Morris method cuts a 1/8" groove in the top of the gunwale
: and stem (fwd and aft). The upper deck is first installed. The
: skin is pushed into the grove, the glue is put in the groove
: (thick CA glue -Hot stuff in my case), and a "spline"
: is forced down into the groove, locking the skin in place. My
: splines were slightly narrower than the open gap, made of
: poplar, with a 5 degree angle on both sides. 30 seconds later
: that section of skin is permanately attached. I used 6"
: long splines stating from the center of one side, working to the
: ends. Since you can easily apply the glue and insert the spline
: to full depth without rushing, this makes a very controlled
: installation.

: The excess is cut from the first groove. Then the opposite side is
: installed in the same manner.
: Repeat the process with the bottom skin. At this point you have two
: layers of skin/ spline in each groove with a shallow open gap
: still showing.

: A cover strip is built to close out the gap. This is primarily
: decorative. My cover strip was rounded on the top (3/8"
: radius for a 1/4" wide cap strip). Then the base of the
: strip was cut to fit the width of the open gap - less than the
: 1/8" gap in the wood, due to the cloth down the sides. The
: result is a mushroom shaped strip. When you glue in place (with
: the same CA glue) the cover strip, only the mushroom cap shows.
: This makes a very neat installation again easily glued down
: without any drama. Applying the CA to a limited length allows
: you to hold the cap in place with your fingers, avoiding the use
: of clamps, etc.

: Shrink the skin, coat. Ready to go.

: Once I did my test samples and decided on each step, I had a very
: simple and pleasant method to install a skin with no stitching.

: Thanks you Mr. Morris.

: Marc

Marc, very nice job. Could you explain how you get two pieces of fabric, two splines and the top cap into the 1/8" wide groove. Also how deep is the groove and how "tall" are the splines, do they sit below or flush to the top of the gunwall.

Mark

Messages In This Thread

Skin-on-Frame: New Kayak - Morris "Spline" Style Skin Attach *PIC*
Marc Upchurch -- 7/27/2012, 10:50 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: New Kayak - Morris "Spline" Pic *PIC*
Marc Upchurch -- 7/27/2012, 10:54 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: New Kayak - Morris "Spline" Pic
Mike Savage -- 7/28/2012, 5:42 am
Re: Skin-on-Frame: New Kayak - Morris "Spline" Pic
Brian Hanks -- 7/28/2012, 8:28 am
Re: Skin-on-Frame: New Kayak - Morris "Spline" Pic
Marc Upchurch -- 7/28/2012, 8:57 am
Re: Skin-on-Frame: New Kayak - Morris "Spline" Pic
Brian Hanks -- 7/30/2012, 9:41 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: New Kayak - Morris "Spline" Pic
Marc Upchurch -- 7/30/2012, 10:12 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: New Kayak - Morris "Spline" Pic
Bill Hamm -- 7/29/2012, 2:18 am
Re: Skin-on-Frame: New Kayak - Morris "Spline" Sty
mark vander horck -- 7/28/2012, 2:09 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: New Kayak - Morris "Spline" Sty
Marc Upchurch -- 7/28/2012, 4:47 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: New Kayak - Morris "Spline" Sty
mark vander horck -- 7/30/2012, 12:32 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: New Kayak - Morris "Spline" Sty
Brian Nystrom -- 7/30/2012, 9:19 am
Re: Skin-on-Frame: New Kayak - Morris "Spline" Sty
ancient kayaker -- 7/30/2012, 2:18 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: New Kayak - Morris "Spline" Sty
Marc Upchurch -- 7/30/2012, 8:41 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: New Kayak - Morris "Spline" Sty
Marc Upchurch -- 7/30/2012, 8:34 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: New Kayak - Morris "Spline" Sty
ancient kayaker -- 7/31/2012, 6:18 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: New Kayak - Morris "Spline" Sty
Marc Upchurch -- 7/31/2012, 8:06 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: New Kayak - Morris "Spline" Sty
ancient kayaker -- 7/31/2012, 9:42 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: New Kayak - Morris "Spline" Sty
ancient kayaker -- 7/31/2012, 9:44 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: New Kayak - Morris "Spline" Sty
Marc Upchurch -- 7/31/2012, 10:27 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: Morris "Spline" Credit
Marc Upchurch -- 7/30/2012, 8:43 pm