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folding seat

Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2011 9:19 am
by toolman
I used the plans for the Uncle John's folding seat but I angle sanded the legs to fit the shape of the boat.I also glued in a couple of blocks to fit the notches on the legs and gluded felt on the legs as well.ImageImage

Re: folding seat

Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 4:12 pm
by toolman
Can anyone help me out? because of the unusually warm weather up here I was able to finanlly launch my laker .I used the folding seat that I had made but found the kayak to be unstable.I then tried it without a seat and it handled fine.I'm also new at kayaking aswell as the building so am I better off with a lower center of gravity to maintain stability or is there something I'm overlooking?

Re: folding seat

Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 7:02 pm
by Oldsparkey
You have the seat to high , it needs to be lowered to drop your center of gravity.
Lowering it should not be a problem since you decide on the height of it. That is one of the benefits to the seat besides being really comfortable on long paddling trips. That comfort is one reason I dreamed it up and sent the plans to Uncle John.
Like you , I also used some felt on the legs so it would not damage the boat. The notches in the legs are there to fit over the center rib in the pirogue. Without a center rib then the notches are not needed.

I would suggest using some cushions or anything you have at hand to use as a seat and find that right height , then lower the seat to that height.

Chuck.

Re: folding seat

Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 9:24 pm
by jem
What Chuck said, You might even want to paddle it a few times to get used to it a little more. Don't chop the legs off the seat too much! :D

Re: folding seat

Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 11:21 pm
by john the pom
All of the above. My experience of using the Laker for the first time found me sitting on a two inch thick piece of foam directly on to the inside bottom of the hull. (no seat riser at all). Seemed very skittish, but that was me not the boat. The more you use it the more comfortable/secure you will feel It really isn't that tippy. With the correct height of seat you will eventually be able to edge the boat to where the cockpit rim is almost level with the water. So long as you have forward momentum it's all recoverable. That said I would not want my backside to be more than three, four at the very most inches above the inside hull in a Laker. Others might differ but it should be a good guideline to begin with.
Good luck and cheers John.

Re: folding seat

Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 11:49 pm
by toolman
Thanks for all the suggestions ,I'll play with it some more before deciding how much to cut down the seat .Mainly because of the work in the seat and it is very comfortable.