Building a Skin On Frame Boat

I spent the last 4 months building this boat through another lockdown! In Auckland, New Zealand.

A skin on frame boat is basically a wooden frame wrapped with some sort of fabric, in this case Platt Monfort came up with a technique using Kevlar twine to reinforce a thinner wooden frame to make an exceptionally light boat. I covered the boat with 4oz Dacron which I coated with the skin boat school 2 part polyurethane.

I haven't weighed the finished boat but according to the Geodesic Airolite specs it should be around 16kgs, I'd assume mine is slightly more than that, I dont know if that would account for the daggerboard box etc, but it is very light, I can easily lift it onto a car roof rack by myself.

I used yellow cedar for the stringers and most of the rest of the boat and then oak for the ribs and marine ply for the rest. I couldnt get green oak very easily so I had to use kiln dried for the ribs, I soaked the ribs overnight and had very little issues. I think part of my success with the steam bending comes down to selecting the best grain for the tightest bends. The frame was finished with a homemade blend of equal parts tung oil, marine varnish and turpentine.

I used epoxy for most of the glue ups because it is extremely strong, gap filling and has a long open time for all of the difficult and intricate glue ups. Occasionally I used titebond 3 where I wasn't so worried about setup time or gap filling.

I took the boat out for a test a week ago and it feels great, very stable. I do need to learn to row properly though, very different to paddling! I also had a couple of issues with the sailing rig but I did have a good minute or so of "wow I'm sailing! I can turn it where I want with the rudder! Its really happening!" and I'm looking forward to learning more about that. Sorry I didn't get any footage of her in the water it was a bit of a stressful day!

As is a little tradition with my canoes I named her 'Little Wing' after a Neil Young song.

I was so glad that I had almost all of the materials I needed to build this before the lockdown started! I only had to wait a couple of weeks when I ran out of wood and was waiting for my timberyard to re-open in lower restrictions for a contactless collection! Having this to get on with really kept me sane when we were stuck at home again and everything seemed bleak. I hope you enjoy watching the process.

If you want to see more photos etc I uploaded some on my instagram

[waltersnowdon]

That was visual poetry.Such a delicate looking dinghy built with true craftsmanship. I am 83 and in the 1950s built six craft using only hand tools and due to post wartime austerity using whatever materiels I could find. (most of my timber came from wartime wooden military buildings which were being demolished nearby). took great pride in this. (Three canvas canoes and three 10 foot sailing dinghys ). It was a true pleasure to watch you make such a beautiful craft. Thank you.

[gracegood]

There are channels that would have taken a year to show this craft being built- and elevated the process to some kind of religious revaluation as one becomes one with the wood type carry on. You just showed me eight aspects of small craft design and method I hadn’t know prior and you did it in a few minutes. Thank you very much.

[steffenb.jrgensen]

What a beauty! And a fascinating combination of ancient craftmanship with new materials!

[jackx]

David - that's a beautiful combination of lightness, strength, and resilience, and definitely a build to be proud of! I hope your little ship gives you many years of pleasure.

[ericbutler]

Great job on your boat! I built one of these out of mahogany and ash about 19 years ago...beautiful design. I built the whole thing with a portable circular saw and a Ryoba style Japanese saw...and used a wallpaper steamer to bend the ribs. I think I loved building it even more than putting it in the water. I made two major build changes. First, I lashed the ribs using artificial sinew instead of using the kit epoxy. I did use the epoxy for the attachments fore and aft along with all the reinforcement blocking. Second, I used 600 denier water shrink polyester instead of the included heat shrink variiety. And, I coated it with 2 part polyurethane for more strength. The Kevlar turned out to be unnecessary. I was lucky enough during the build to correspond with Platt Mountford (the designer) before his passing a few years later. ..super nice guy and very helpful.

[alanwareham]

I can only congratulate you on the skill you used to create this lovely little boat

[williamwightman]

Just a beautiful job on this boat. I built a shrink-skin experimental proa sailboat 25 years ago and did not think to use the diagonal Kevlar stiffeners. Thanks for the great video.

[voornaam]

We got a skin on frame kayak builder in the club. He has the same grade of perfection as this Kiwi. You really need that "do everything the right way" mentality, or you end up with an expensive sinking tent like thing. Mistakes will say "crack" in the worst possible moment, surrounded by salt water crocs, you can imagine yourself. But most DIY'ers can learn how to build such a boat. There are also easier to build designs, do that first, just a small dinghy is a good idea. A second and larger boat will be easier after building number one.

Skin on frame is extremely light, modern skins are bulletproof fabric, so you can forget punctures. Such a lightweight boat is fantastic.

[alangood]

Very interesting.
Beautiful boat.
Aesthetically pleasing to the eye.

[xenu-dark-tony]

What a beautiful creation David. There is something 'very New Zealand' about a work of art, lovingly built and for use in a place so innately benign (except for those damnable rips!). I'm a UK dweller, but visited your magical country 20 years ago, and have never forgotten the unique feel of kindness and gentility. Your boat is every bit a product of that. Thank you for all your efforts, especially going to all the effort of filming the process.

[chcorreia]

Thank you for taking all that extra effort to share this with the world and congratulations on the fantastic job. She's truly a beaut!

[JagLite]

Very well done video!
I have the plans for the Classic 14 so I was very glad to find your build.
I appreciate that you made the video at high speed to show how much time goes into building something.
Some viewers seem to think this is an instruction video, it is not, it is an excellent overview of how a Platt Monfort Geodesic design boat goes together.

[konstasg]

This boat with the tire ups is like pinheaded.magnificent work!

[spanishjo]

I award you the best golden charismatic stylish waterski diy king 2022

[alexhawkhead]

What craftsmanship, that is such a beautiful thing you’ve made.

[margaretgoodwin]

when I did mine I couldn't rig a steam box so I used 3 laminations of mahogany. I soaked the strips in a long water tube then bent and clamped them into position. I let it dry for a few days then removed the laminated ribs and glued them with water activated glue. Then clamped them back in place until the glue set. thanks for making the video, maybe it will encourage others to take a kick at the cat. Once you get into it it is kind of straight forward, like assembling a big puzzle but you have to make your own pieces.

[broftkd]

First video I see someone close a boat, as if it were an airplane wing. Nice!

[daverowlands]

Beautiful Dave! Loving seeing the smaller details come to life in the video ❤️

[benskaiakurfishing]

very genius, senior, rare stages of boat-building work, with precise and precise calculations, every detail of the boat, I was very impressed

[butunayhagverdiyev]

Love the accuracy you work with! Beautiful job sir!