- Paperback: 196 pages
- Publisher: Ragged Mountain Press (1 July 1990)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0071559396
- ISBN-13: 978-0071559393
- Product Dimensions: 22.8 x 18.4 x 1 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,251,531 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Review
``Give Wood and Canvas Kayak Building a read. First by the fireplace and then page by page in the shop.'' (Canoe )
``Few writers are as candid or encouraging.'' (Sea Kayaker )
``Few writers are as candid or encouraging.'' (Sea Kayaker )
Product Description
The design of the kayak comes from the Eskimos of Southwestern Greenland, with dimension-sawn wood substituted for a frame of carved driftwood and bones, and canvas substituted for animal skins. The building techniques are simple but elegant, incorporating modern adhesives to reduce the number of screw fastenings and the degree of precision required, while still creating a strong, light boat. Ordinary shop tools and locally available woods will suffice. The two kayaks shown under construction in this book's many photos and drawings--a 17-footer and an 18-footer--were built from the same lines and offsets (included in the book). Putz shows how to scale the boat up or down to any size using a pocket calculator. He also shows how to cover the boat with fiberglass rather than canvas if desired.
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Skin-covered boats bring us close to the bone. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Skin-covered boats bring us close to the bone. Read the first page
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Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Paperback
The kayaks described in this book are based on a craft made by Howard I. Chapelle, Curator of Transportation at Smithsonian Institution. The design was made popular in the early twenties by Norman L. Skeene through an article in "The Rudder", "a journal of aquatic sport". If you're looking for a replica of a real Greenland style kayak, this book is not the one you're looking for. Move along... If you don't want to mess about with steam bending, it might be worth considering. If you want to explore the history of modern kayaking, it's definitely worth a look. The author promises to get you afloat for about $250,- worth of materials. That was in 1990, it seems. I have no idea how this compares to todays prices... The crafts described here have quite open cockpits, which should make entry easy, but could mean a wet ride in rough seas. You'll not be practicing rolls in these crafts. The kayaks pictured in the book looks sleek and nice, but the over all look is still that of kayaks for calm seas and leisure paddling. The building process seems adequately illustrated in black and white. The kayaks described have flooring to sit on, which should add comfort compared to more traditional crafts, but you'll probably pay for this with some loss of stability. You'll be seated a lot higher than in a more traditional Greenland kayak, it seems. The building techniques used here are interesting, if you're generally interested in boat building or the history of modern kayaking. To me, this book holds interest mainly as documentation of the historical craft described.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
17 reviews
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Good for what it is
31 July 2004
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is not traditional kayak building. It is modern, "Popular Mechanics" style kayak building, which means the boat will be fine for what it is, but overbuilt, too heavy, and basically nothing like the sleek racy craft that it could be. The design and construction is suited for the amateur builder who wants as little of a woodworking challenge as possible, which makes it perfect for a project to build with kids. A parent and child could have great fun building a boat such as this. So, keeping that in mind, it's just fine. For real kayak building in the traditional manner see Cunningham's "Building the West Greenland Kayak", or Morris's "Building Skin on Frame Boats".
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Excellent!
30 Jun 1999
Format:Paperback
This is a very detailed book for those of us that intend to build kayaks without a lot of fancy tools. I'm now nearly finished building a kayak based on the instructions in this book, and I haven't yet found any instruction that was amiss or that caused problems in the construction.
The book (1991) describes how to build either a 17ft. or 18ft. wood-frame canvas kayak. It contains nicely drawn plans of a classic design from 1923.
There's a lot of work involved, but none of the steps are overly complicated or require significant woodworking expertise. Other than basic hand tools, the only tools I've had to buy were a jig-saw, a hand-held power saw, and a drawknife. Material costs today would range about $400 - far short of the $1,300 for a plastic sea kayak of the same length.
This book is very well written, and has a touch of humor. I especially appreciate the attention to traditional boat-building techniques. Photos help you in the process. In all a very readable book...Thanks George!
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful
What fool would build a canvas kayak?
25 Jan 2001
Format:Paperback
When I first saw this book I thought: "What fool would build a canvas kayak?" I picked it up anyway, along with a half dozen other books on kayaks from the local public library. I eventually chose to build the 18 1/2 foot canvas kayak in this book for three reasons: 1) The lines of this boat are much more pleasing than any of the plywood kayaks I was considering, 2) the author's attitude toward materials matched my own -- build it from cheap stuff and rebuild it in 5 years after it rots -- no okume plywood necessary, and 3) No need for a lot of fiberglass and the mess/smell that involves. Just wood, canvas and oil-based paint.
I've had the kayak for 8 years now and it has not needed a rebuild because I keep it hanging from the ceiling in the garage. I've paddled it around lakes in Washington and Idaho. It's a beautiful boat, but quite heavy. It's hard for me (6' 200# male) to pull it off the top of the truck and launch it by myself, but I can do it in a pinch.
That said, the whole process was a great learning experience and got me started boating in the most peaceful and pleasant way. I've since built two other boats and am currently working on another. I've learned to build them lighter now, using different materials, but I still use the basic lines of the kayaks in this book.
This book was a great place to start, and I still read it often.
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