Starcraft Garage B&S. (boat and other stuff to talk about)

[dozerII]

Thanks Guys

 

[oldhaven]

Just thought you tin boat fanatics might like to see an aluminum boat not held together by rivets or welding. This is a kayak I put together for my wife following the techniques pioneered by George Dyson and outlined in his book "BAIDARKA". It is my own design, loosely based on an Aleut retrieval kayak, but with details found in larger baidarka's. The lashings are nylon coated with epoxy. The structural plates are .075 7075 plate and the tubing is 1/2" 6061. It weighs 24 pounds, and is a bit overbuilt. If I did it again I would have fewer side stringer tubes. The covering is nylon fabric sewed on and heat shrunk, covered in Hypalon.

 

[dozerII]

Wow, awesome project oldhaven, very interesting structure and build technique.

 

[Watermann]

Hey wow, that's a super cool kayak! :thumb:

 

[laurentide]

That kayak is very unique and really cool!

 

[oldhaven]

Thanks all, Not as impressive as that rat rod project, but it can be done inside in the winter so you don't get aluminum withdrawal.

I had a great time building it, with its mix of old and new materials and techniques. I highly recommend buying a copy of Dyson's Baidarka, It is a great read, though I think it is out of print so you would have to get it used. I have to warn you that it is inspiring enough that you may find yourself building one yourself. I also did a 26 foot 3 hole kayak, though it was a combination of this type aluminum structural plates and laminated fir longitudinals. I had plans to do a 20+ foot Umiak (sort of) with all aluminum construction, but it probably won't happen now that I have gone big tin hull crazy. By the way, Starcraft content: For those of you that want to bend tubing more accurately than with a hickey conduit bender look up Holsclaw Handy Bender. I have one in 1/2, 3/4, and 1 inch. The bends on this kayak were done with one and it allows you to use a plywood jig to position the bender at the exact bend radius so you can get very accurate and repeatable bends. You just move the bender along the tube in the jig to pre-positioned radius points using the bender axle to get no kink bends like the ones in the ribs above. Again, like most good manual tools they are no longer made, but they do come up on ebay frequently.

thanks again

Ron

This picture is from George Dyson's book.

 

[GA_Boater]

Ya know Ron, if you put rivets in the lashing holes it would be perfect. LOL

Serious - That is really nice work. It looks like you built the rib pattern jig and the benders were moved for the next bend. The jig is nice work itself. :thumb.

 

[oldhaven]

Ya know Ron, if you put rivets in the lashing holes it would be perfect. LOL

Serious - That is really nice work. It looks like you built the rib pattern jig and the benders were moved for the next bend. The jig is nice work itself. :thumb.

About the time I got done with all the lashing in hundreds of holes rivets were very appealing. The holes also had to be layed out, center punched, drilled and deburred, so it is pretty labor intensive. It is satisfying though. I developed a thick callous on the outside of my right hand from pulling the nylon lashings tight. In reality, the frame flexes a bit so lashings work better and last longer than rivets could. The jig above was a picture in Dyson's book. His was set up for semi production. If someone was going to produce kits and sell pre bent and cut parts, it would be worth that level of work. Mine was more ad hoc and I was able to nest the various frame patterns on a couple of pieces of ply to save materials, money and time.

Ron


Here is a shot of the 26 footer. Not a chicsale, but if you have heard of a two holer, this is a three holer. We could get the two of us and our two dogs in it. They used the center hole or slept under the deck while we paddled. I sold it to someone who took it to New York City and was going to use it on the Hudson out of the Hudson River Boat House. I wish I had a picture of it against the skyline. This picture is from the late 80's



So what foolish things did the rest of you do in your youth?

 

[GA_Boater]

The lashings remind me of my time in the Air Force when we built new wiring harnesses from scratch and used lacing cord to bundle the harness. I can appreciate the calluses!

After I sent the message. I saw the pic was from the book. I figured give you some credit anyway. :smile:

 

[lckstckn2smknbrls]

Thanks Guys

What's the budget up to now?

 

[dozerII]

What's the budget up to now?

With our horrible Canadian dollar 1.42 I'm up to just under $4000

 

[dozerII]

Got the seats complete used up some left over upholstery supples, and some new ones.





I used an old 3/8" wrench I found in one of the donor boats for the tilt lever for the passengers side seat.

 

[jbcurt00]

Black and red look great. Tad snazzy for a rat rod though, aint they?

 

[Decker83]

Seats look great.. Very cool ideal for the wrench..

 

[hayko1971]

The wrench lever is awesome

 

[Watermann]

Ah yeah the art of melding new and old ratty things... I get it, super work!

 

[dozerII]

Thanks Guys, I kinda thought there should be something on it that was clean and bright looking

 

[oldhaven]

I really like the emergency brake lever. What implement did it come from? I also checked out the RR project on your Photo Bucket album. You have done a very nice job of fabrication and also of documenting your progress. It will be nice to look back at some day, but not as nice as taking it out for a spin. The seats look professional. I really admire your spirit of improvisation, like bending the flanges for the seat frames. The bead roller for the floor pans also looks homemade or the set up looks like it has at least been modified. I made my own slip roll for another project. It works a treat, but I probably could have bought one for a lot less effort.

Take it easy while having fun and keep us posted

Ron

 

[g0nef1sshn]

20160110_075103_resized.jpg Two mergansers last sunday and a wood duck this morning. First Ga ducks of the year for me. Headed back to Lake Okeechobee for a 4 day hunting trip next weekend! Cant wait for that one.

 

[Watermann]

Super nice day, surprised that the ducks were moving. You eat those fish eating mergansers? I've blasted a few of them over the years on accident but never was brave enough to eat them. First one I couldn't get past the foul smell when cleaning it.