Subject: [baidarka] advice for potential new builder
From: Hemingandy@aol.com
Date: Wed Feb 13 2002 - 06:17:02 EST
Hi All,
I'm thinking of taking the plunge and building a skin on frame kayak. I've a
Klepper single and really like the skin on frame feel and it's touring
capability, but would like to try something lighter and more responsive and
non-folding.
Building space limitations give me an 11' length, 12' at a push, so I was
thinking of a playful boat along the lines of a North Alaskan Retrieval, or
Robert Morris's Recovery take on the theme, with a 24"ish beam.
My next limitation is one of building skill and experience (ie complete
beginner) so I've been looking at different construction methods to make life
a little easier for a first timer.
I found the pics of Tom Yost's fine kayaks on Hendrik's site where a mix of
aluminium tubes with plywood cross ribs, stem, stern and coaming combine to
form an effective frame that looks simpler to build than traditional methods.
Am I right in thinking the joints can effectively be made by epoxying, for
initial positioning, followed by lashing for strength and longevity?
One route I could take is to take my Klepper single as a model. It's 4.5m
and deducting 1m would give the length I'm looking for. It has sponsons of
around 50mm each side, which I wouldn't have, bringing the beam to around
0.62m.
Am I correct in thinking that if the seat position remains the same reducing
the length by the same amount each end would keep the kayak balanced or am I
over simplifying?
Would you expect ¾" tubing to be ok with the bend required for 11' length and
24" beam?
Is there a standard way to work out the size, shape and positioning of ply
ribs and lengths of stringers?
If I were looking to make equal changes to length and beam in a design, say
25%, I'd expect to make the width of a ply rib 25% less and the length of a
stringer 25% less. It seems more complicated if one dimension changes, in
this case beam, whilst the length remains the same.
Alternatively if anyone knows of a source for Retrieval / Recovery kayak
plans based on aluminium and ply rib constructionâ^À¦â^À¦â^À¦â^À¦
Any advice gratefully received.
Cheers
Andy
-
Baidarka Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be
reproduced outside Baidarka or Baidarka archives without author's permission
Submissions: baidarka@paddlewise.net
Subscriptions: baidarka-request@paddlewise.net
Searchable archive: http://rtpnet.org/robroy/baidarka
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b27 : Fri Mar 01 2002 - 01:30:00 EST