DMon707_at_aol.com wrote: > > In a message dated 4/27/0 7:28:49 PM, wendy_ogaki_at_hotmail.com writes: > > << I did enough banging of the knuckles while setting it up. >> > > We call those "feathercraft knuckles." I used to refer to the skinned knuckles as an international sign of recognition among Feathercraft owners. But there are ways of making these boats that completely eliminates the skinned knuckle effects. One of the key ways is the Remote Solution Principle (one of six I have come up with for making a folding kayak and which are over and above the instruction sheets and video for any of the boats). This principle holds that sometimes a problem one is having in assembling a folding kayak is because of something that needs correcting away from (or remote from) where you are having the problem. A corollary to this principle is that the solution may also be by doing some action removed from the immediate area. You get skinned knuckles in certain Feathercraft because you are trying to turn some of the side tubes into position on crossribs and to do so you are squeezing your hands between the inside of the hull and the work area thus skinning the knuckles as you turn or place the tubes on the ribs. The solution is a remote move. All of the tubes in question are also involved in the extension of the frame and have those little black fixtures (I call them licorice nuggets) that are used in levering the extension of the frame but you can also use the licorice nuggets to also turn the tubes. Instead of getting your knuckles caught next to the inside of the hull, take the shortest lever rod, insert it into the licorice nugget and turn the tube from there. You will still have to do a bit of guiding at the crossbar to get the tube to position there but you will largely avoid getting the skinned knuckles. The factory workers at Feathercraft picked up on this idea separately from me. They make the boats all the time. In order to avoid skinned knuckles they do pretty much what I do except they have made a special short piece that resembles the levering bars, i.e. with a point that fits smoothly into the licorice nugget. It's about six inches long and fits handily in a pocket. Of course, you could continue doing it the old-fashion way and have skinned knuckles to show that you are the proud owner of an elite Feathercraft. The skinned knuckles may also come in handy if you found that you have walked into a rough saloon by mistake when seeking a brew. Bar flies seeing the skinned knuckles might assume you got them in bar brawls (which you did in a way...brawling with the bars on your Feathercraft:-)) and hesitate to pick a fight with you. Hmmm another undocumented advantage of owning a folding kayak :-) ralph diaz -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024 Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com "Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Fri Apr 28 2000 - 03:15:38 PDT
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