: In US, just walk into a folding kayak retailer's shop, you can find kinds of
: designs of coaming/cockpit of folding kayak. That's so easy. You are
: lucky.
: But in china only by INTERNET, we can get some poor photopicture.
: I am looking for a coaming design for a long time, does anyone would like
: help a foreigner?
: Or, if anyone have a folding kayak, please make a photo and sent to me.
: Thanks very much. I am making a folding kayak like FUJITA's.
: I had try very 3 years, but still not complishment.
: Maybe someone would like give me a hand.

I have gained a lot of knowledge about good folding kayak construction by looking at the internet site for Klepper www.klepper.com. The site is in 4 languages, but unfortunately not in Chinese.

The picture below shows Klepper's way of making a coaming. There are other ways.

Basically all you need is a round wooden hoop with a diameter of about 40 cm. This should be bigger or smaller depending on how big the paddler is. The hoop can be made of thin strips of wood. Each strip should be about 2 to 3 mm thick, 25 ro 50 mm wide, and about 125 cm long. 2 to 5 strips are bent to shape and glued together to form a sturdy hoop. If you want an oval cockpit, then you'll need longer strips of wood.

YOu can make a pattern or form from plywood which is cut to the shape of your desired coaming. Bend your wood strips around this. If you wish to use thicker wood strips for making your coaming you will need to heat the wood with steam to soften it so it can be bent easily. If you do not want to make a steamer, then just use thinner strips and glue.

Search back on this bulletin board a few days and you'll see how Nick Schade made a cockpit coaming for his skin on frame kayak. He has plenty of clear photographs, and he explains the process in detail. This is not specifically for a folding kayak, but this design can be used. In a folding kayak it is just mounted differently. Take a look at the Klepper website to see how they attach the fabric to their coaming.

How do you intend to put the skin over your frame? There are two basic ways, and they affect your design of your coaming.

If you are going to completely assemble the frame first and slide the skin over it, then you can use a small coaming, and you might decide to sew it into the skin so it is permanently attached.

When a Klepper is put together you assemble the frame in two halves. A front half and a back half. These two parts are inserted into the skin through the cockpit opening and when both are inside the skin they are connected, forming a strong frame. The ends of the skin are already sealed shut. If you are going to assemble the frame like Klepper does, then you will need a very large cockpit and a large coaming.

Hope this helps.

PGJ