I wanted to point out some recent comments and the great resources they are (either in themselves or in the sites they point to). read more »

There is a method of building that I ran across recently that has been popular for many years in the canoe/kayak world... skin on frame. Its a matter of building a lightweight framework from wood/metal/plastic and stretching a skin over it. The flexible skin becomes the hull.

Fascinating to look at some of the ideas of work. This is all a bit smaller than I'm interested in, although it fits in some way with the Origami Dingy that I'm (slowly, I know) working on... some of these kayaks use the same material as specified for the dingy.

I can't help but think there may be some applications for these skins on larger craft... not as a self-supporting hull, maybe, but as a "coating"? Heat shrink a skin onto a wood backing instead of epoxy? Worth some thinking/testing/playing.

Anyway, here's a collection of sites for those interested:

• Skin on Frame - Duckworks Magazine has a detailed article (and links to several others) concerning this building method
• Geodesic Airolite boats by Platt Monfort - mentioned earlier here - uses heat shrink Dacron over a lightweight frame
• How to recanvas and old canoe - also by Platt Monfort
• Sailcloth - this is an article more on different types of cloth for sails, but several have overlaps into this skin on frame method
• Folding Kayak Builders Manual - Homebuilt Folding Kayaks by Thomas Yost