: Aluminum may not be the best choice... it is however, the easiest
: to build choice for the homebuilder :)

: My first couple of folding kayaks were made of wood (see pic), but
: their assembly process was a beast.
: That was my fault as at the time I had no idea what I was doing,
: having never seen a folding kayak.

: After looking at wood Klepper's, I realized that these excellent
: folders were just too complex
: a build for the average homebuilder due to the hinges and pins, and
: other metal hardware required for assembly.
: Contrasting that was the much simpler aluminum Feathercrafts with
: their simple riveted inserts and snap-on HDPE
: to round aluminum tubes. All well within the reach of the average
: homebuilder... like me.

: Folders, wood or aluminum, may appear to be a lot like non folders,
: but the complexities of making them far exceeds
: anything you will encounter with a simple wood frame non folder.

: You could scarf / sleeve your wood take-apart stringers, or round
: the wood sections so that a plastic sleeve will fit.
: Cross sections can be wood, but this is where the connection
: between the stringers and cross sections becomes complicated.
: HDPE and aluminum are hard, so snapping them together is a
: "snap" :) Not so with wood. That's why Klepper style
: construction
: is the norm for wood folders.

: Look at the link found in my "Folding Kayak Builders
: Manual" for pics of the "Victoria Patagonica".
: This is an aluminum / wood folder
: but it's built the same as traditional all wood folders. You will
: see the complexity I mentioned above. A beautiful piece of work,
: and
: that's why I chose to include it in my manual.

: My lightweight "Sonnet" designs can be built more easily
: with wood than my other folders due to the simplicity of their
: mostly free
: standing frames, with no stringer to stem connections, and fewer
: stringers. But still not as easy to build as with aluminum
: stringers.
: The Sonnet prototype called the the "Lacar", had wood
: stringers.

: Aluminum and HDPE have another advantage over wood ..... no
: shaping, no sanding, no finishing... though for esthetics,
: nothing can touch wood !

: Regards, Tom

Hi Tom,

Sure glad you replied to this, I looked at the post this am and thought to myself "I'll wait till Tom answers" :)

Bill H.