Day 6, Skin on Frame River touring kayak: skinning day!
If had to rank the reasons to buy our kayak building course, my skinning method would near the top. Not only is our method MUCH faster, there are just so many ways to mess up your kayak here. Some skins can be sewn up short and stretched, others not at all. Some skins need to be sewn on wet, others will literally crush the frame if you sew them on wet. When you do sew wet you’ve got to stay wet the whole time and you can’t stop until you are completely done.
When initially cutting the fabric it’s good not to leave any overlap except at the last 18 inches of either end. A hot cutter is worth every cent you spend on it. You can pull really hard on the tightening string but the bites of fabric need to be 1/4 inch, a 16th wider gives you a nasty wrinkle and a 16th less risks tearing out.
It’s much easier and more watertight to sew straight down the middle, but you’ll have to sew off to the side if you might want to mount a kayak sail. You want to use heavy duty nylon upholstery thread, not cotton, and definitely not polyester. Sailmaker’s needles are silly, the cheap multipack from the grocery store works great. A simple whip stitch is fine but feel free to cross stitch if you like the look, I’d rather spend the 2 hours I save paddling.
When sewing you need to resist the temptation to push a wrinkle forward so the skin lays flat. If you sew right past little wrinkles they’ll shrink out, if you push them the big wrinkle you create will be permanent.
Some skins dye beautifully, others need to be colored with pigment mixed into the coating or the coating won’t stick. Some dye colors look horrible once exposed to UV radiation. The dye MUST be applied using a wet edge, quickly, with near boiling water and vinegar, working from the bottom of the hull up, and you should NEVER turn the boat over. Excess moisture laden dye should be removed immediately. If you dry the boat in the sun you can expect a cockpit shaped permanent sun print on the bottom. You can heat set the deck with a steam iron but you should never iron the hull.
I could write 3 times this much but that’s all the space Instagram allows!
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