RE: [Paddlewise] Boat Building with group or class?

Thomas,

  For what it's worth, I would definitely agree with Melissa and Kirk about
tools and materials.

  I built my baidarka without a class using materials available at Home
Depot and Lowes.  Even with errors, materials cost me a little over $400.  I
had some of the tools I needed already on hand, and bought a few new ones
(hey I needed an excuse  :)).  I'm not a very imaginative scrounger, but
I'll bet you really could get a lot of material by looking around.

	If you had to start from scratch, you could get by with (IMHO) a circular
saw, a block plane, 1/4" and 3/4" chisels, power drill and a handful of
bits, a hammer and a good knife.  Oh, yeah, and a tape measure and
combination square. Anything after that is gravy and just makes you life
easier.  Even purchasing that (hip shot estimate, no research) would only
come to another $350-$400.

	And you don't have to buy all of either category at once.  Both categories
combined still come to less that I'd pay at the Wooden Boat Center for a
class, for example.

	As they both said, it really comes down to how you want to spend your time.
I enjoyed (as sick as it sounds) dealing with and solving the problems and
issues that came up during my building process.  I also particularly enjoyed
having a project I could use decompress after work.

	Far be it for me to discourage you from taking a class though.  I'd like to
do that one day, just to be able to be taught and learn some tips and tricks
from a 'master'.

  BTW, Melissa, what stresses you out (that might be a little strong I
suspect) the most about the skinning process?

Good Luck.

Aaron Cunningham
acunning_at_seanet.com
http://aaron-cunningham.com  Hobbies -> Kayak Building -> Brinck Baidarka

***************************************************************************
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/
***************************************************************************