Sam McFadden is doing testing primarily on strip-built wood/fiberglass/epoxy composites, but the same conditions apply no matter what the construction method. I am sure that the 5,000 years of evolution of the Aleut and Inuit boats was not wrong, but since we don't know exactly what their design criteria were, we can't say what was right or wrong for them. It is quite possible to design the perfect kayak for a given task that can not survive being pushed into the sand while surfing 8 foot waves. It is hard to compare one construction method vs another unless you know the design criteria. I can promise you that Matt or any other fiberglass kayak manufacturer can build a stronger fiberglass kayak than what was typical of the skin-on-frame. And, any woodworker can build a stronger skin-on-frame than the typical fiberglass kayak. Generally you can make the structure stronger by adding more material. The question is can you build a stronger boat with one method which does not weight more than one built with another method. Then you need to look at the kind of strength needed and what constitutes a failure. Dropping on a rock, jamming and end into the sand while surfing and pushing through steep chop all require different forms of strength and will have different failure modes. Nick At 11:47 PM +0000 10/11/00, Rex Roberton wrote: > >Nick, > >Is your grad student friend only interested in fiberglass? How about a >comparison between skin boats and fiberglass. I have a wood frame skin boat >(yellow cedar, red cedar, and white oak, nylon fabric with polyurethane >coating). It weighs 32 pounds. It is an engineering wonder. Lots of >flexible pieces lashed together. No glue or metal fasteners. The boat >flexes on impact. The forces are distributed among many flexible pieces. > >Does anyone know if any engineers have done tests comparing wood frame skin >boats with fiberglass? I'm putting my money on the skin boats. 5,000 years >of skin-boaters can't be wrong. :) > >Rex > > > -- Nick Schade Guillemot Kayaks 824 Thompson St, Suite I Glastonbury, CT 06033 (860) 659-8847 Schade_at_guillemot-kayaks.com http://www.guillemot-kayaks.com/ >>>>"It's not just Art, It's a Craft!"<<<< *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Thu Oct 12 2000 - 07:12:00 PDT
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