: I agree, some of the nicest kayaks have well thought out patterns, matched
: colors, and no gaps between the strips. Why does going stapleless mean
: giving any of that up? Some of the builders may have given up their
: woodworking skills to go without staples, but are you sure they wouldn't
: have built the same mismatched, gapped kayak even if they had used
: staples. We were just comparing staples to no staples.

: I'm sure Nick's, Ross', and Edgar's kayaks are all very beautiful, but now
: imagine them without any staple holes. Why can't it be built at that
: level? Oh yeah I forgot, it can, just check out Joe Greenley's kayaks.

: Going stapleless doesn't have to mean giving up anything else.

: My opinion only.

: Dale

Hi Dale, Some designs are quite difficult to build stapleless such as Nick's Expedition Single with the extreme hollow sections. I'm sure it can be done but, by someone better than me. I personally spent most of my efforts on building the most accurate boat I could. I used a aluminum beam, bullseye string lines (Mike Allen's idea), and a laser level to allign forms. I spent a month drilling and tapping me beam and setting up forms but had no problem blasting away with the staples,screw, nails, etc, whatever it takes to hold the strips to the forms. I build a particular boat after researching and paddling the design. Many builders have NEVER paddled the boat they are building. My primary reason for building is the to have a kayak I will like to paddle and the fact it pleasing to the eye is secondary. I fully understand why some builders want the best looking boat they can possibly build. We all see things differently, I just don't think staple holes look bad. I may change my mind someday but,for now other aspects of building get my attention first. You guys keep building the museum quality boats, I love seeing them.

Larry C.