Message-Id: <v01510101ad2325d9a83b@[199.170.68.37]>
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 1996 17:45:03 -0500
To: baidarka@imagelan.com
From: shaysnet.com!laughing_loon@imagelan.com (Rob Macks)
Subject: Re: Seat backs
>>
>>
>>Discussions of seats in kayaks is always good for some conversation. My
>>question deals with the various ways of rigging seat backs.
>>
>>I'm close to finishing the frame on a Dyson 5.28 and am thinking about
>>installing seating fixtures prior to covering. I would like to begin the
>>conervation (but certainly not limit it to) two questions:
>>
>>1. Has any rigged up a Feathercraft type seating arrangement in a
>>skin-on-frame boat? For those who have not seen a Feathercraft
>>arrangement, it
>>is a nylon sling hung from the gunwales and anchored to stringers I or II. A
>>hindged seat bottom and back rests on the sling and is anchored in front to a
>>cross member on the floor and to the top of the deck beam immediately behind
>>the cocpit. I find it more comfortable than any kayak seat I've tried.
>>
>>2. What other arrangements have people used and how satisfied are you with
>>them?
>>
>>Thanks
>>
>>Hi
>I'm Bill in northern Maine. I'm building my second wooden skin boat. The
>first was a Bruce Lemon Kit. I've been trying a number of seat designs and
>I'm still trying. My first was a nylon sling type similar to the type you
>described. I put a wooden dowel along side both the gunwalls and slung the
>seat from that. Nylon stretchs when wet so getting the length right is
>difficult. The seat tends to sway back and forth as the boat moves so you
>don't have good hip control. I found it uncomfortable for long trips. Since
>then I have tried air bags(hot stickey not comfortable for long times not
>stable), 1" soft foam pads( OK for short hauls but not for long), Thick foam
>3" pads cut and moulded(better but still not great for long hauls) now I am
>working on a wooded framed woven seat( got the idea from a member of a local
>Native American Tribe.
>I have tried several seat backs, hard and soft. They have adjustable straps
>that run forward to the next deck beam so I can adjust them while in the
>cockpit. I am now using a flexable but stiff seatback with the webbing
>attached to it and then run forward.
>
>Building the boats is easy but I have found building a really comfortable
>seat arrangement for long trips difficult. I'm still looking for the answer.
>
>Take care
>
>Bill Low
I build a wood strip baidarka in which I have a seat carved from closed
cell foam. I buy closed cell foam from Nittany Valley Boats &Materials,
(703) 468-2222. I cut a block of the foam which is 3-1/4" thick into a 20"X
20" square. I draw a horse shoe shaped line 17" deep and 17" wide to define
the seat area. I carve the seat out with a chain saw tooth disk on a 4"
grinder. I have had others tell me 3M makes a paint stripper disk the sells
for about $5 and works great too. Finish off the surface of the foam carved
seat with 50 then 80 grit sandpaper to make a seuede like finish. The seat
is glued to the bottom of the hull. The back rest is constructed of 2 wood
strip components. One is a panel 5" X 9". One end fits into a slot cut in
an area of excess foam at the back of the seat. The upper surface is glued
to a 5" X 4' wedge of close celled foam which is in turn glued to a seat
back made of wood strip 6" X 16" curved to fit the back. The seat back has
a peice of 3/4" thick closed cell foam glued to it for comfort. The
backrest is held upright by the 5 X 9 support. To finish off the support
and adjustment of the backrest I run a piece of 1" nylon webbing through
lopps on the backrest and through a slot in the foam between the backrest
and the support. The ends of the webbing run through loops fixed under the
deck at the sides of the cockpit. The ends of the webbing are doubled over
and put through three bar sliders which allow the backrest to be adjusted
forward and back.
I have gone through a number of different seat arrangements and have found
this seat to be the most comfortable. I don't know about fixing the foam
seat in the bottom of a skin on frame hull. Prehaps a veneer of plywood
could be attached to which the foam seat could be glued.
I have plans for this seat if you are interested.
Rob Macks
Laughing Loon Custom Canoes & Kayaks