Message-Id: <199705281400.HAA29616@ns1.intelenet.net>
From: Wolfgang Brinck <wolfgang.brinck@hksystems.com>
Subject: Re: Baidarka Skin
To: baidarka@lists.intelenet.net
Date: Wed, 28 May 97 8:59:47 CDT
In-Reply-To: <338BB4C9.6649@alliance.net>; from "Russell" at May 28, 97 12:30 (midnight)
>
> Hello all...I've two things I need to ask about tonight....A short time
> ago someone suggested hemp as a possible material for the skin of a
> baidarka...I talked with a local supplier trying to get some information
> and the only thing they could tell me about the characteristics of hemp
> cloth is that it has longer fiber than cotton and is therefore, stronger
> than cotton...anyone out there have real knowledge regarding hemp cloth
> characteristics???? I called Pickering International in California and
> asked for samples of what they had available and they sent 14 samples to
> me...I've looked them over (just received them today) and they all seem
> to be somewhat looser weave than cotton duck and only one sample
> indicated a "weight"...each of the samples had a "Specification" printed
> on the lable but I don't understand what it is that's being
> described...example of the Specification: 16/2x10/55x35/59" I believe
> the last number is the width but I have no clue as to what the rest
> means...any ideas??? I'll call Pickering in the next day or two if I
> don't have an answer from here...oh yes, can anyone tell me the
> difference between "canvas" and "backpack cloth" ??? the backpack cloth
> sample seems to be quite a bit heaver than the canvas sample the other
> thing I was wondering about has to do do with waht to paint the skin
> with....has anyone tried airplane dope....the stuff fabric coated plains
> were painted with...a friend of mine use to fly the fabric covered
> planes and he said it would shrink the material that covered the
> plane....I'm going to try and locate an aircraft repair facility
> tomorrow that might handle that kind of stuff and see what I can find
> out...again, I just thought someone out there might have tried that
> stuff already...any comments, pro or con would be appreciated...Russell
>
Hemp was used for rigging sailing ships before synthetics took over.
Apparently it was strong and did not stretch. Svend Ulstrup, a Danish
kayak builder uses hemp twine for sewing and lashing. The hemp is
considerably more strong than cotton, probably comparable to linen.
Svend also uses linen for covering his boats because in Denmark, it
is cheaper than cotton duck.
The only thing to look out for if you don't get cotton duck is to get
something with a tight weave and smooth texture so you're not having
the paint do all the work of making a smooth skin.
wolf.
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