From: "Harvey Golden" <qayaq@pacifier.com>
To: <baidarka@lists.intelenet.net>
Subject: baidarka Getting Bent, and skin.
Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1999 19:33:22 -0700
Hello all,
Two questions recently: About Skin types and bending stock. . .
I've covered about ten kayaks in canvas, and I love working with it-- the
wrinkles in the ends do come out--even if they're quite bunched up on the
deck. I've stopped using canvas for two reasons: The first is that it
absorbs water. This can cause mildew, and hold water against the wood and
cause rot. The second reason is asthetics-- the translucency of a
polyurethane-finished nylon kayak skin is superb, and it allows the curious
to see the construction all the way to the ends (without a flashlight.) The
third (of the two reasons[!?]) is the fact that nylon doesn't require
mechanical stretching: It can be heat-shrunk.
As for bending stock, many comments have already been suggested, and ASH has
been mentioned. . . I now do all my steam-bending with ash; It's been given
better bending classifications than White Oak. Steer away from Red Oak--
especially for coamings, where its likely to stay damp longer. Red is
porous: Take an eight inch stick of it, and you can blow bubbles through it
(length-wise!!!) White won't rot nearly as fast; Nothing looks worse than
a cracked coaming. Soaking has also been mentioned. . . Heat transefers
through water very well; it'll carry the heat throughout the wood better, as
well as keeping the wood from over-cooking and of course drying-out and
becoming brittle.
I routinely bend kiln-dried stock. While Green wood may be best for
ship-building, when you are bending 1/4" stock or so, a few days-a-soaking
will easily do the job. I also use green Willow stalks-- NOT steamed, but
bent raw and green. My Kodiak single-hole kayak has willow ribs 3/8"-1/2"
round. This kayak carried me and 100 pounds of gear on an 800 mile trip--
and held up much much much better than I did. (The kayak weighs 25 pounds.)
All the best
Harvey qayaq@pacifier.com & www.pacifier.com/~qayaq/
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