Wood Whitewater Kayaks
Thomas Montague
like to build a low volume surf boat and would appreciate any
experienced comments or information.
--
Tom Montague
tomm...@wolfe.net
Sean Buckley
Please post any info. I am interested as well. Thanks.
SB
Paul R. LaBrie
> In article <4128vb$k...@news1.wolfe.net>, tomm...@wolfe.net (Thomas
Montague) wrote:
>
> > Has anyone build any wood strip/epoxy whitewater kayaks? I would
> > like to build a low volume surf boat and would appreciate any
> > experienced comments or information.
To preface this, I would begin by saying that I'm a big fan of strip-built
construction. This is my favorite way to build small craft. With that
said, I'm sure that the technique has been tried on whitewater kayaks,
probably with only limited success. I'm not aware of any WW kayaks that
are strip-built. In my limited experience strip-built canoes & sea kayaks
(the principal examples of this type of construction) are typically used
in flat water/quickwater. Although epoxy adheres to wood _much_ better
than the old polyester resins, there is still the possibility of breaking
through to the underlying wood in cases of moderate/severe single point
impact (like bouncing off a rock -- something WW kayaks/canoes
occasionally do). Once the wood has been exposed to moisture you begin to
run the risk of delamination.
A possible solution might be the application of multiple/thicker layers of
cloth (glass, kevlar, whatever) over the hull -- essentially relegating
the wood strips to a wood-core function only. By doing this however you
are writing-off, among other things, any chance you had of creating a
"furniture-finish" or clear-wood type of hull. If you don't mind a painted
hull, this might work OK. If you insisted on having a bright-finished WW
kayak then, at the very least, you might have to commit to repairing the
hull surface every time you severely dinged it -- which could be a pain if
you're partial to bony rivers. If you're a good paddler and/or restrict
yourself to surfing the beach, you might be OK. At least that's my guess.
Like yourselves, I'd be interested to hear of any other experience out
there with WW wood-strip kayaks. Comments?
- paul -
paul.r...@unh.edu 603.862.3684
telecomm center -- university of new hampshire
Alex Munro
>From: sbuc...@draper.com (Sean Buckley)
>Subject: Re: Wood Whitewater Kayaks
>Date: Thu, 24 Aug 1995 19:46:27 GMT
>In article <4128vb$k...@news1.wolfe.net>, tomm...@wolfe.net (Thomas Montague) wrote:
>> Has anyone build any wood strip/epoxy whitewater kayaks? I would
>> like to build a low volume surf boat and would appreciate any
>> experienced comments or information.
>>
>> --
>> Tom Montague
>> tomm...@wolfe.net
>Please post any info. I am interested as well. Thanks.
>SB
I know that Dagger Canoe and Kayak company prototypes all their boats is
cedar strip. I've seen pictures of some of the boats in proto stage. Of
course they do this because:
A) Whitewater boats are developed in a very subjective way (by feel and
witchcraft instead of pure science. Making a stripper allows you to get the
"feel" of a new boat without going to plastic.
B) Making the molds, especially for the roto-molded boats runs at least
$25,000 for tooling. You can't afford to change your mind very often at that
kind of cost.Making a stripper allows you to get the "feel" of a new design
without going to plastic.
The person to speak to at Dagger is Steve Scarborough (part owner, designer).
If you have never heard of Dagger and need help getting a hold of them e-mail
me. Hope this helps.
David P. Schneider
>> In article <4128vb$k...@news1.wolfe.net>, tomm...@wolfe.net (Thomas
>Montague) wrote:
>>
>> > Has anyone build any wood strip/epoxy whitewater kayaks? I would
>> > like to build a low volume surf boat and would appreciate any
>> > experienced comments or information.
Depends on how much abuse (rocks) you plan on hitting. There is no way a
cedar strip would take the punishment that I put my Dagger roto-molded kayak
through. However if your only sea surfing, I'm sure a cedar strip could
handle it. (we're not talking pounding Hawaii surf, are we?).
How about rowing shells. Has anybody built a cedar strip rowing shell?
Keith Marks/Andy Bookwalter
plastic, but the basic design of most whitewater boats would probably
lend themselves quite well to stitch and glue. A good hardcore sheathing
of fiberglass would go a long way towards achieving the durbility you
need.
Frederick H Huber
Wood for whitewater is great. Wooden canoes and kayaks have been used
for centuries. FRP and plastics have only been around a short time.
I have a homebuilt 1/8 plywood shell canoe that I can punch and it
bends,but does not crack.
Fred Huber
--
Frederick H Huber
P.O. Box 528
Cambridge, IA 50046
fhu...@iastate.edu
Sean Buckley
(Frederick H Huber) wrote:
> In <42586t$1...@news.halcyon.com> Keith Marks/Andy Bookwalter <w...@halcyon.com> writes:
>
> >Wood is probably not as good of a material for whitewater boats as
> >plastic, but the basic design of most whitewater boats would probably
> >lend themselves quite well to stitch and glue. A good hardcore sheathing
> >of fiberglass would go a long way towards achieving the durbility you
> >need.
>
> Wood for whitewater is great. Wooden canoes and kayaks have been used
> for centuries. FRP and plastics have only been around a short time.
>
> I have a homebuilt 1/8 plywood shell canoe that I can punch and it
> bends,but does not crack.
>
> Fred Huber
> --
The plans? Anyone know where I can get the plans for a wood ww kayak? I
have two plastic boats already. I am like all of you, looking to tinker,
build a nice looking boat and hopefully half the weight of the plactic pigs
(they are all 39+/3 pounds).
--
Regards,
Sean