What Wes said. (Nice boat and construction notes, Wes.)

I roughed out my seat with an automotive body grinder and a Makita, but found nothing just right for finishing the last bit, including 60 grit sandpaper. Then I found something called Dragon Skin at the hardware store. This is a piece of thin sheet metal with small holes punched in it from one side and the burrs on the other side are left standing.

This stuff really pulls out a lot of foam in a small way, meaning it will work down the gouges, scrapes and unevenness of the heavy equipment quickly in a well controlled manner. Finally, I used sandpaper to get a smooth finish.

The final result is way comfortable as it is a perfect fit for my butt. However, there is a down side. I now realize how big my butt is. ;-)

Shark

: I too bought a Newfound seat, but also found it too thick and
: unsupportive. It works fine in my daughter's Ganymede, but I
: needed more thigh support in my Merganser. I solved the problem
: by carving a seat to fit my butt out of a chunk of 3"
: closed-cell foam. It took about two hours and is incredibly
: comfortable. There's a good tutorial at
: http://oneoceankayaks.com/Wshophtm/kayakseat18a.htm You can see
: photos of my seat, under construction and finished, at
: http://twofootartist.com/merganser-construction-notes/ Scroll
: toward the end of the page. -Wes