CaptainSparrow

Looking sharp!

I like that plan too. I wouldn't mind a rub rail around the gunwales and a matching one down the keel. I realize every little bit adds weight but I don't have to portage much since I'm mostly on flat water lakes.

I can machine sew but haven't tried much hand sewing. I meant to put the frame back in the sewn cloth bag before heat shrinking, and painting over the zipper. The zipper would just be a finished seam never to reopen

OK I saw the video and understand you are passionate about this topic, but if I may, how does this relate to skin on frame kayak/canoe building? Interesting enough topic but seems you might get more attention in a weather pattern changing forum.

I know this might sound out of sorts, but I had an idea that I wanted to try but might be wasting my time. I considered stapling everything up and marking everything with markers then remove the staples along the top, pull the material off and machine sew the ends and sew a small zipper along the top. Then just slip the frame back into the bag you just made, shrink and paint. Thoughts?

Slick work and that paint job is inspiring. I think most of us are waiting for warmer and dryer weather to get inspired to work on and discuss boats. :-)

Beautiful!

Titebond is a waterPROOF glue with exceptional holding strength. I've used it often on projects that see water occasionally. Just need to be sure the surfaces mate tight. The only reason to use epoxy is if your surfaces don't meet right and you use a thickener in your epoxy.

I think your correct in laminating some of the stringers to get the proper shape and keep it strong. I'm also thinking that for weight saving, the bed might just be a canoe seat style webbing to throw a sleeping bag on, like a relatively flat hammock that would roll up and stow in the cab over during the day. Here is a folding boat identical to one that I made, that I could use as a shape starting point. I still have the forms I used for laminating the bows. The bow is abrupt enough to be a good starting point. More laminations would make it a strong platform for attaching the roof frames. Unlike the stern of this boat, I would built straight out the back to allow for a rear door. I'm glad you addressed the cloth choice as I wasn't sure what would be best. Being as this isn't a boat, constantly sitting in water, I don't mind having a few seams as long as they allow for runoff.

Yep a cab over. I'm not looking foe a camper shell for keeping grocery safe, rather a slide in camper for sleeping in when I don't want to leave my fishing spot. :-) I don't need to stand up straight, but stooping enough to get dressed would be good.

Sorry I had a duh moment about wind abuse.... fuselage = airplane = wind abuse lol. I still don't know much about building airplanes though lol. Joe a strip built camper would be a strong platform though I would guess it to be a fair bit heavier. I guess that a sof is essentially an unfinished strip build that fills in with dope on cloth. Lots to think about here. I like these shapes.... think these are attainable?

I realize this is not a boat topic, but it has to do with the same building method that you folks have experience with. I have been dreaming of building a slide in camper for my underpowered Chevy s10 pickup. After hunting all over the web for ideas, I have not found anything that is both light weight and aesthetically pleasing. I have built stitch n glue boats but am still trying to figure out which model of sof boat to make. This means I have no real world experience in how much abuse an sof anything will take. This is why I've gone off topic in a kayak forum. :-) I'm assuming that more than a few of you have car topped your sof boats and I'm looking for your opinions as to how you think a sof camper would hold up to the abuses of highway force winds. The surface area of a kayak is much smaller than a camper, but the shape would mimic that of an upside down rowboat and would only sit about 24"-36" above the cab of the truck. Do you folks feel like skin on frame is a feasible method for this application? P.S. by designing it myself I can custom build in a kayak rack on top. :-) knowing this, what can you advise for frame thickness as well?

Yep, I've admired those plans and combed through all of them very thoroughly. :-)

That's a gorgeous little boat. I agree its a mite heavy at 60 lbs but I'd paddle it proudly. I would love a sof yak with that same deck design for fishing calm flat water.

That was an eye opening read. Its easy to get complacent. It might be worthwhile to make some outriggers for solo fishing days.

It looks like we posted almost simultaneously, I can see your point except one thing, if it was inflated to the point of not filling in between the stringers and skin, the water could still flow past almost uninhibited. I don't know what volume of air is needed for a kayak as I've always had canoes and pirogues.

The ball is 13" in diameter. A volume calculator, if I did it right says that it has 1.15 cubic feet of air. With one on each end, would that be enough for freeb? Also these come in a pile of diff colors. I like the color of this one, so I could easily match the paint to the ball. :-)

First post for me, I just bought your book and received my signed copy immediately. I thank you for that... I'm in this thread for a quick question about float bags. They are not that expensive but I am inherently cheap. :-) what are your feelings on using something like this lil $2 kids ball. With an air needle, you could flatten the ball and slip it between the stringers of a finished frame and air it back up. They are very light weight and durable and would allow for plenty of airflow to dry the boat, and once aired up, could not escape the boats framework. Can you provide your thoughts on this?