Subject: Re: [baidarka] See Thru Folder
From: Tom Yost (tom_yost@msn.com)
Date: Thu Nov 17 2005 - 09:58:36 EST
Hi Christian,
>That german builder must be me...
No. it wasn't you. In fact, the pic was sent by someone considering
their use but who has since decided not to do so. HDPE is unique
in that it has the correct density to obsorb hundreds of "snaps"
without loosing it's "snap" or grip over time.
>What I like about my design is that the snaps are screwed to the side of
>the frame so that the snaps don't add to the frames thickness. In the End
>it turns out that I might have ommited the hassle of plastic snaps
>alltogether, a simple grove in the Plywood plus the Velcro might have tone
>the trick.
I don't believe that Velcro alone would provide adequate
stiffness or strength at the cross section to stringer connections.
Small snaps, screwed to wood stringers have the advantage of
costing less, but at the "cost" of more construction time. I
mention this method to builders who can't afford large sheets
of HDPE, or can't locate large sheets of HDPE, but can find
small HDPE kitchen cutting boards.
I feel that using HDPE as the cross section, with snaps an
integral part is the easiest to make, and most secure
method of attaching cross sections to stringers when
building a Feathercraft type frame construction. HDPE
cuts and drills easily with standard wood cutting jig saw
blades and drill bits (Forstner). In fact, service life of
wood blades and bits is longer with HDPE than with
plywood.
http://yostwerks.com/NewPage6.html - 2 pages
Feathercraft has proven the feasibility of this type
frame construction over many years of production
and that's good enough for me.
If there is a downside with HDPE, it's the cost of
a 4' X 8' sheet ( $150.00US.) Then again,
that's enough for 3 kayaks with 8 cross sections each.
I have the Plastics retailer cut the HDPE into
4ea X 2' X 4' sections for easy transport home.
Regards,
Tom
PS - Why did you not respond to my "translation" email
a few months ago ? I wait by my inbox every
day for your response. Just kidding !
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