On 10 Oct 2003 at 11:36, Patrick Maun wrote: > Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I heard that the hot new material > is boron. Boron fibre has been around for quite a while. It's been used to some extent for at least 25 years in aerospace. I know golf clubs were made with boron starting in the, ummm... 80's(?) - well a while ago. Expensive and quite stiff, I'm not sure it would be useful in kayaks, however in paddle shafts I could see it being used. Given that paddle shafts that are sufficiently comfortable for us to use (i.e. not ultra stiff) contain a glass/carbon mix, I don't see boron saving much weight. For racers, where ultra stiff is useful, maybe. There are other exotics of sapphire-like materials ($$$) that were being researched way back when too. We need things that are stiff and strong on several scales. For example, paddle shafts have to have good flex characteristics over their lengths and also be stiff and strong enough to not crush if sat on. High strength fibres provide the former but not so much the latter. What we really need is relatively bulky, light materials that are strong. This would allow us to make kayak hulls with high local stiffness (no buckling or oil-canning) and high overall strength too. Mike *************************************************************************** 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 Fri Oct 10 2003 - 10:34:38 PDT
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