The suckers are running! We’re getting things ready at camp to leave by tomorrow. The skin boat is oiled, most of the buckskins smoked. All of us are excited about the new camp…
The finished skin boat frame
Oiled skin boat frame stored away from rain and sun along with other crafts
Hey, thanks for all the updates! It’s very inspiring to read and a part of me really would like to be there with you guys! I’m inspired to live more like that on my own!
Brum
Hi thomas,
The boat frame looks awesome. I have some questions about it.
Did you steam-bend the ribs or simply bend them into place?
Is it rawhide lashings? If it is, wont they loosen when they get wet?
What woods did you use for the different parts? And what made you choose those?
I’m interested, cause i’m in the process of building a greenland kayak, and the framework shares some similarities to yours. It’s put together with wood “nails” (ash) , and hemp string.
Hope you’ll post a picture when it’s covered with skins 🙂
I liked your text about making a tobbogan. I might have some tips for the steambending, but maybe you already know, anyway here they are:
Theres a rule of thumb saying to boil or steam for 1 hour per inch. It doesn’t have to be followed on the minute, but it gives an idea about what the wood can take. Under-and overboilling both makes the wood brittle in my experience.
The wood is less prone to break if the plank is cut so that the yearrings stand vertically, so that the plank looks like this from the end: IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
If it is cut so that it looks like a rainbow from the end there is a bigger chance of cracking. The vertical yearrings is of course not always possible to achieve, especially when you need a wide plank. I hope it makes sense. Else i can send you some better drawings to explain.
It is important that all the part that is being bend is being heated properly. The wood should be covered somehow so that it can really cook in the steam without cooling off. Or be submerged completely in the boiling water. It cools quickly when taken up so one needs to be quick to bend it.
Green wood bends best. So the wood should dry as little as possible before steaming it. It can be covered up or stored in water to avoid drying, when it’s not being worked on. If it dries, it can be soaked, but it doesn’t become as bendable as when fresh.
Hope there was something usefull for you there.
Have a good time in the forest! 🙂
Matias
Hey Matias,
thanks for the reply. The skin boat is finished (and I actually already got to test it out) and I´m working on a little article about the whole thing…I´ll make sure to include some pictures in there too 😉
I appreciate your suggestions on the steam-bending…I´ve already got a whole list together of things I´d do differently next time.
As it may still take a little bit till I finish the article, here´s some short replies:
I used maple saplings (mostly red maple, with two additional sugar maples staves) since they are fairly flexible and relatively lightweight (I gathered some ironwood first but it was quite heavy) for their strength, and yet as hardwoods they twist very little when drying compared to most conifers (which can tweak the whole frame). The rib pieces are of hazelnut-similar qualities, easy to gather straight shafts in abundance. I used all the parts green so no seam-bending wasrequired at all (and btw, I´d probably try finish the next toboggan while green too, it´s so much easier to work with it then). The lashings are made of rawhide, streched as much as possible. There is a little bit of looseness to them after everything dried, but it seems to work just fine, and with over 50 rib pieces lashed onto 7 poles each it stays stable…some boatbuilders actually say it´s a lot more shock-resistant that way (ties instead of e.g. nails) since any shock gets dispersed throughout the frame (important for Inuit hunters in kayaks with floating ice chunks).
I´d sure be interested in seeing how your kayak turns out!
best wishes from the northwoods
Thomas
Hi thomas.
Thanks a lot for your reply!
I’m looking forward to learn more about the construction of your boat!
I’ll link to some pictures of my kayak when they’re on the internet. I just put on the canvas (unfortunately i don’t have acces to skins),so it should be finished soon.
Matias