Make sure and check out the info Gerd left in his recent comment. He has some great steel origami designs that are really worth a look.

Alex has another couple of videos up covering the initial launch of a nice Brent Swain origami steel sail craft... video moves a little slow at times, but its always fun to see another successful launch.

Alex Christie, moderator of the Origami Boats mailing list, recently put together a little video review of a Switchable Magnetic Ground Clamp. Looks like it could be quite handy if you're welding, especially metal plates.

Note that Alex also produced what is supposed to be a very nicely done DVD package showing the build sequence of a Brent Swain Origami boat. I haven't seen it, but plan to order it:

...there is still available the 3 hour DVD set detailing the construction of an origami boat from flat sheet to bare hull, cabin and decks. $54 USD, shipped worldwide.

Contact me at achristie@shaw.ca for further details if interested!

Alex Christie

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