> I am considering a skin on frame 2 hatch baidarka as my second kayak
> building endeavor after building a Guillemot SK for my first. I am
> wondering how the two techniques compare in difficulty, skill level
> required, need for specialized tools, performance, rewards, etc. Has
> anyone done both techniques?

Generally speaking, you can build a skin-on-frame kayak faster and cheaper than a stripper. The exceptions: there are people on this board who put together strippers at an incredible rate, while some skin-on-frame jobs take forever. A baidarka is a particular type of skin-on-frame boat. There are others that might be a bit faster to make.

For what it's worth, a stitch and glue is also (genreally) faster to build than a stripper, and you might be able to build one as fast as a skin-on-frame

With all three boats, the cockpit takes about the same amount of time to outfit with a seat, any padding, and foot braces. These things are pretty much the same from boat to boat in construction time. The coaming may be faster with one style or another, but they all seem to take about the same amount of time, as well. The real difference is in the hull and deck construction.

If you cut your own strips you must add this time whn building a stripper. If you mill them to make them bead and cove strips, then add even more time.

Assuming you have the money to buy pre-milled strips, the steps involved in a stripper are pretty straight forward: set up the forms, put on a few full size strips, add more strips, fitting each one as you go. That gives you the hull shape. You'll add glass cloth and resin, and sand (and sand, and sand) ad more coats of resin, and sand, and then add coats of varnish, and sand some more. Did I mention there was a lot of sanding? Did I mention that you might need to fit both ends of 30 to 40 strips?

With a stitch and glue, the fitting of parts is much less. You may have 8 or 10 pieces to make up the hull and deck, and if you follow the plans those pieces should fit almost perfectly -- like a 3-D jigsaw puzzle. You may or may not need to make a strongback and station molds. Obviously, if you don't need these, you spend zero time and NO money on making them. Glassing and finishing varies depending on the design and builder's preferences. Some S&G boats just have glass tape on the seams, and are painted. Others are sheathed with glass cloth and are varnished. The latter method is exactly the same and takes exactly as long as sheathing a strip-built boat. That four letter word (S A N D) comes around just as often.

With a skin covered boat you construct the frame from long strips that are assembled around ribs, frames or cross braces. There are a variety of ways to do this.

If you cut frames, it will take as long to cut them as it does to cut frames for building a stripper. You probably won't need as many, though. A stripper uses building frames at 12 to 18 inch intervals. Frames in skin boats are spaced further apart. if you use 1/3 the number of frames, you spend 1/3 the time on them, and 1/3rd the cost (generally). If you are going with ribs made from steam bent wood you'll probably make these in the same time. If you follow George Putz's method and build over a set of forms you'll take the time to cut those 5 forms and then need to fit all the cross bracing. It goes fast, but it needs to be done.

The long pieces that make up the length of the boat are fewer, and farther between than the strips on a stripper. Generally they just need o be cut ot length, and slightly tapered to fit smoothly to the bow and stern pieces. Fitting these 7 or 9 pieces is a lot faster than fitting strips.

Once the frame is made, stretching a canvas, nylon, or other fabic skin over it takes minutes if you staple it in place, two hours if you tack it with copper tacks, and a bit more if you try to sew it. If the fabric you choose is already waterproofed, ( Like hypalon, neoprene, or pvc coated fabric) you seal the seams and go paddling. No paint, varnish, resin, or (dare I say that dread word again) sanding. If you use raw fabric, you slap on a few coats of paint or something more specically suited for kayak skins (hypalon?). Sanding may be needed, but it should be minimal.

Greg Redden (Sseafever kayaks?) has a class where you build a skin on frame kayak in about 25 hours. The skins are already waterproofed,which saves you a lot of time. 150 to 300 hours is not unusual for a stripper. The longer time is if you make your own strips, or do some fancy designs. Stitch and glues tend to take 75 to 150 hours. Someone suggested once a competition for cheapest and fastest to build kayak. A skin on frame boat made in 4 to hours from a polyethylene tarp over a frame of lashed tree trimmings seems to be the targe to beat.

Hope this helps.

Paul Jacobson