> Time for a newby to chime in. I have been reading this board for a few
> weeks, and really enjoy the good advice and good humour.

> As for the baidarka, it was clearly a design feature--they used ivory
> "bearings" to enhance the flexibility.

Did they put the ivory in there to enhance the flexibility, or is it there to protect the wood when it flexes?

If you are building a boat with a light weight frame, it is going to flex even without the ivory joints. With all that motion, joints are going to be subject to a lot of wear. It would be a good idea to protect those joints with wear resistant material.

There is no way of knowing whether the Aleut put the ivory there to enhance the flexing or to protect a frame that already flexed. However, the ivories shown in the Scientific American article are not well suited to enhancing the flexibility, but would do a good job of protecting a joint with a lot of stress.