Product Description

Strip-building - assembling a pile of thin wood strips into a functional hull - has been a popular canoe-building method for many years. Now, boatbuilder Nick Schade, an engineer by training and a self-professed sea kayaking addict, has refined this time-tested method to build the more complex shapes of sea kayaks. The method is simple, forgiving, allows a liberal amount of design flexibility, and requires a minimum number of tools. It's also relatively inexpensive: about $500 to $600 for one of the designs discussed here - one-quarter the price of a factory-built model. In "The Strip-Built Sea Kayak", Schade presents full plans for three elegant designs inspired by the grace and seaworthiness of the Inuit and Aleut skin boats. Profusely illustrated instructions provide the details that will guide you through the process.A complete novice will be able to construct a finished kayak after reading nothing but this book. And for an experienced builder, the techniques here can be expanded to create the perfect boat for you. Strip-building is the most flexible, forgiving, and attractive way to build a small wood boat. Professional sea kayak builder Nick Schade presents complete plans and measurements for three kayaks: Great Auk, a fast, stable, comfortable single for beginners; Guillemot, a beautiful, high-performance single for intermediate and skilled paddlers; and Guillemot Double, a spacious kayak for two. Here's all the information you'll need to build a sturdy, elegant sea kayak, from setting up shop to making a paddle. 'Nick Schade has managed to raise the craft of strip-building to the art of graphic design in wood' - "Sea Kayaker".

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #179148 in Books
• Published on: 1998-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

Review
``Nick Schade has managed to raise the craft of strip building to the art of graphic design in wood'' (Sea Kayaker )

From the Author
A comprehensive how-to for building a beautiful wooden kayak
Strip-building is the craft of converting a small pile of thin wood strips into a boat of exquisite beauty. The art of strip-building is assembling those strips into a striking example of a fully functioning, rugged water craft. The strip-built method permits a unique degree of design freedom, both in the hydrodynamic shape of the boat and the graphic arrangement of the wood.

There are several reasons to build a kayak. Maybe you are a wood worker who wants to try a project completely different from furniture, or possibly you are an experienced kayaker who wants a unique, high performance boat, or it could be you are a novice woodworker and kayaker, but you want to gain experience in both. Whatever your reason, you will find building a sea kayak to be unlike anything you have done before. If you are used to building chairs, think of a chair in which you can cross an ocean. If you are used to roto-molded plastic or fiberglass kayaks, imagine gleaming varnish and wood cutting through the water ahead of you in a rugged boat that is lighter than most boats you have previously paddled. If you are a rank-beginner, you can enjoy the satisfaction of creating your own introduction to kayaking.

My book starts with background information about how design affects performance, choosing materials, and selecting tools. Then it comprehensively covers building a boat from setting up shop, through creating forms, working the wood, fiberglassing and varnishing. Instructions for fitting out the finished kayak, making a wooden paddle complete the project. Along the way you will learn how to raise the boat above a simple way to get on the water to a stunning work of art.

Over 200 illustrations showing every step of the building processes make it feel like you are watching over my shoulder as I build a boat. I hope you can virtually build a boat by looking at just the drawings and photographs. The text is comprehensive enough that you should be able to build the boat without looking at the figures. The combination of the two will make the project very clear.

I came to design and build my own kayaks because I wanted the best performing boats available and decided I could make something better than I could buy. With the help of my book, so can you.

From the Back Cover

Strip-building--assembling a pile of thin wood strips into a functional hull--has been a popular canoe-building method for many years. Now boatbuilder Nick Schade, an engineer by training and a self-professed sea kayaking addict, has refined this time-tested method to build the more complex shapes of sea kayaks. The method is simple, forgiving, allows a liberal amount of design flexibility, and requires a minimum number of tools. It's also relatively inexpensive: about $500 to $600 for one of the designs discussed here--one-quarter the price of a factory-built model. In The Strip-Built Sea Kayak, Schade presents full plans for three elegant designs inspired by the grace and seaworthiness of the Inuit and Aleut skin boats. Profusely illustrated instructions provide the details that will guide you through the process.

A complete novice will be able to construct a finished kayak after reading nothing but this book. And for an experienced builder, the techniques here can be expanded to create the perfect boat for you.

Strip-building is the most flexible, forgiving, and attractive way to build a small wood boat. Professional sea kayak builder Nick Schade presents complete plans and measurements for three kayaks:

• Great Auk, a fast, stable, comfortable single for beginners
• Guillemot, a beautiful, high-performance single for intermediate and skilled paddlers
• Guillemot Double, a spacious kayak for two

Here's all the information you'll need to build a sturdy, elegant sea kayak, from setting up shop to making a paddle.

"Nick Schade has managed to raise the craft of strip-building to the art of graphic design in wood."--Sea Kayaker

Customer Reviews

great book
This book leads to safe boats. Mr. Roberts goes through the author's bbs, all the amazon's, and various other websites discrediting Nick Shade's and other boat builder's designs and books. The problem with this man is that he is negative and does not know what he is talking about. This book is centered around 3 previously proven designs, like all of the guillemot-kayaks.com designs. That is your guarantee of safety and reliability. Please do not listen to the previous reviewer when making your book selection, Nick's work is entertaining and the product is delightful to use for years to come.

Excellent book
This is an excellent guide, well written and I particularly like the relaxed approach to overcoming problems, it motivates you to have a go. It's clear and information packed. The author is helpful on-line. What more could we ask for? If you're hesitating...buy it

An excellent value
I just got Nick's book last night. I only had time to skim it, but here's my first impression.

If you're looking for a book with step by step instruction from start to finish, buy Nick's book. I think anyone with reasonable shop skills could successfully complete a kayak with this book to guide him.

If you want a good discussion on design philosophies, and an overview of what goes into designing a kayak, without detailed mathmatical analysis, then this is for you. Nick doesn't try to be artificially eloquent and use excessive jargon to appear intelligent, and thereby make his book difficult to understand. Instead, he uses common words with enough terminology to understand the information being given.

There are good quality illustrations throughout the book which make the building techniques described easier to understand.

If you're looking for a hardbound coffee table book full of beautiful color pictures, you might be disappointed.

Pictures are, in most cases, the best way to communicate. The effectivity ranking of pictures is, in my opinion, as follows:

1. Color illustrations. 2. B/W illustrations, drawings, and sketches. 3. Color photos. 4. B/W photos.

The only thing I would like to see changed in Nick's book, after a brief perusal, is more color. But, I realize that this would add to the cost of the book.

The book is priced quite well, and it is a very good value. I feel I definitely got my money's worth.

When a hardbound coffee table version full of color illustrations and photos of beautiful boats in beautiful surroundings becomes available, I'll probably want to order an autographed copy.