It would seem that a person could use the plans for any of the myriad of stitch-n-glue boats - and use aluminum instead of the plywood - and wirefeed welding for the seams instead of epoxy. AL is very easy to work with fairly normal woodworking tools. Even if you couldn't find a welder willing to (or cheap enough) you can purchase a decent wirefeed unit set up for light (up to 3/16") AL for ~$700. If you built a couple of boats for you and a friend it would seem cost effective. AL stock is not that expensive - for the quantities needed to make a kayak. Learning to put down a decent wirefeed bead isn't magical or difficult. Probably a couple of lessons from the shop where you buy the welder would get you going. The hardest part would seem to be forming the cockpit coaming and hatch openings. But certainly solvable problems I think. Due to the high heat conductance of AL, the temp of the water would pass through the boat more readily. Might be a cold ride in cold water conditions...but in the summer it would be a great A/C unit. Hmmmmm? This is something to seriously consider. I'm anxious to hear from someone about why AL wouldn't be a good choice. I guess I'm also thinking about someone like me (landlocked in WI) - who paddles freshwater. The salt water corrosion issues wouldn't be a concern. Anxious to hear more. Kirk, sorry to hear about the arm. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Thu Feb 27 2003 - 11:29:02 PST
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