Customer Reviews

Building Skin-On-Frame Boats

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Robert Morris has built a lot of skin-on-frame boats in his shop- not just kayaks, but canoes, dinghies and other forms as well. He's used a number of different woods, skin materials, coatings, designs and techniques, and they're all summarized here in magnificent detail. There are scores of photos, detailed drawings, historical notes, boat plans, discussions of tools and technique as well as extensive discussion of hulls design and dynamics. Miller understands the whys of hulls; he will tell you how moving a strake closer to the keel or the gunwhales will change the behavior of a boat, and why you should heep the skin suspended off the ribs.

If you have the urge to built a skin-on-frame boat- or even if you're just curious about the topic, you need this book. As good as previous books on the subject by George Putz, Wolfgang Brinck and H. C. Petersen have been (and I have them all), this book goes a step further. I've been reading all I can find on the topic in preperation for building my first skin-on-frame kayak, and with this book my research is finished.

While this book is full of useful information, you must be carefull as it has a number of errors.

In many places the text does not match pictures or drawings. For example, following the text will give you a boat with 9 frames, following the diagrams gives a boat with 11 frames.

When dealing with shaping the gunwales, the text first says cut at an angle about five inches long, then it says six. Six appears to be correct. The book says to cut the keel 1 x 7/8. Later the text appears to suggest but does not come right out and say, that the keel should be 1 x 3/4.

Even with it's problems, Building Skin on Frame Boats is still a winner. Building Skin on Frame Boats gives you lots of background, hints, tips and not just how to do things, but why, which is important for understanding the process.

I recommend that you purchase "Building Skin on Frame Boats", and you also buy "Building the Greenland Kayak, A Manual for its Construction and use", by Christopher Cunningham. Read both very well, and take the best of both books.
Just be sure to read the whole book, then as you build read well ahead of what are working on.

An exellent book. Detailed where necessary, but still concise. I am in the process of building the Greenland design that Morris recommends as a first qayaq and find the directions easy to follow and complete.
You can order supplies from Morris if you choose to build a boat.

I bought this book first and then bought Chris Cunningham's book. Both books compliment each other and since I do not know much about this process, I consider both required reading before I build. I really enjoyed this book. The author really tries to stay faithful to the spirit of the craft where possible. Of course, sealskin is no longer used but there is no glue for the joints (just lashing) and no varnish (linseed oil) so that the boat can remain as flexible as possible. I like that several designs were provided to show the possibilities of making skin on frame boats besides kayaks. It is a fascinating read of an ancient boatbuilding method. I am used to building small boats with wood, epoxy and varnish. I always like to try and learn new methods, so I am glad I came across this book. While this book does not provide all of the minute details and pictures of the Cunningham book, it still is very worthwhile getting. The author's fondness for this craft is contagious and comes across well. I would love to take a course at his shop sometime.

This is an excellent text for those who are interested in building their own "baidarka" or greenland style kayak. The text is interspersed with history and advice on technique as well as construction details. This is a must-have if you are planning on building your own kayak or "baidarka".

This book is a very good base to understand the full process of building a SOF. Good coverage of all aspects but lack precision on some points, and not clear enough to me. I had to complete information with the book of C. Cunningham. Maybe some points are clear to the writer, but not for the novice. Even a good choice but we must have a good knowledge of craftmanship o9r complete with other information.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It tells in depth how to design build sof kayaks, and how to lay out your cockpit so it fits the builder, and distributes your weight correctly, but Morris doesn't stop there. He goes own to show you how to build canoes, and rowboat/sail boats.

Great pictures and drawings. Occasional unclear directions, but over-all, this is the best book I have ever seen for building a
skin boat.

The amount of detail and explanation in this book for each step of building these kayaks is amazing. However, as other reviewers pointed out, the few places where the directions are unclear can make for some pretty big hang-ups.

Get "Building the Greenland Kayak : A Manual for Its Contruction and Use" to help you along. If your building a kayak the cost of a second book is hardly going to matter, and the time/frustration saved will be worth every penny.

This is a most excellent book describing how to build a skin-on-frame hull.

Descriptive text with plenty of pictures and line drawings as needed to support the text.

Obviously a book written by someone familiar with teaching the craft.