> Hopefully this will link those interested parties to information on how to
> build more economical forms for the Walrus skin-on-frame kayak from George
> Putz's fine book "Wood and Canvas Kayak Building"

> Putz describes a method of building his forms that makes these things 35
> to 40 inches highso they can be set directly on the floor. Since many
> people on this board are familiar with the concept of using a strongback
> for building -- and may have one already -- I've translated his data to
> produce building forms that are 20 inches shorter. At the same time, I am
> providing them in a Cartesian co-ordinate form.

> These shorter forms can be cut from material that is 24 inches wide, which
> I chose as a maximum purely for personal convenience. The lumber store
> ripped my plywood panels to 2 x 8 feet so I could cart them home more
> easily, and I wanted to be able to use this narrower wood for my building
> forms.

> In Putz's book he describes how to make these forms by drawing arcs of
> various diameters. This requires a bit more skill than just plotting a
> point so many inches up, and so many to the left or right. Since this is
> new information, I'm not messing with his copyright, merely commenting on
> it. The calculations were rounded to the nearest 1/16th of an inch.

> You will still need Putz's book for information on form spacing and the
> location of the sheer chine, which defines the height of the side of the
> boat.

> There are two sheets with specifications for the two boats described in
> the book. The URL for the 17 foot Walrus is:

> http://www.geocities.com/eureka/business/7882/walrus17.htm The URL for
> the 18 1/2 foot walrus is:

> http://www.geocities.com/eureka/business/7882/walrus18.htm These should
> be easily readable on a full browser screen, and should print out neatly
> so you'll have a hard copy, should you want one.

> Hope this helps those who are building a Walrus.

> Paul G. Jacobson

Paul,

I've mentioned this before but, I highly recommend making the bow upright 4" shorter. This is how the original designer Norman Skene designed it. If you look at his drawings in the Appendix, you will see the bow upright is 20" with a fraction that is too small to read. Skene's drawings also make the bow look higher. Putz's version suffers from a plunging bow and weathercocking. It is my understanding that Skene's dimensions should not have the same problem. I raised my bow 1" and it suffers from these problems. My next one will be 4" above what Putz calls for. If you are going to spend the time to build the Walrus, I think you should get a kayak the performs well in higher seas, plus I think the higher bow looks better. If you feel differently, please let me know, as I haven't yet committed to the higher bow.

Mike