: Brian: It sounds like you have built your own seat before. What kind of
: volume of mini cell did you require?

: grant

Some of us develop some unorthodox methods of making kayak parts. My seat carving is right up there on the crazy list, but it made a great fitting seat. I copied my old post for your enjoyment. If you can build a kayak you can carve a foam seat.

I developed a method of doing the final foam carving to get the perfect butt imprint. I had carved a foam seat the best I could by sitting, feeling and looking at the foam for any telltale imprint or pressure marks. When I tried it out paddling, my feet fell to sleep.

I sat the kayak on my living room carpet and stuffed rolled towels on each side to keep the kayak's vertical axis vertical when I sat in it. I then cut a piece of 6-mil plastic to the width of the seat and twice its length. I folded the plastic in half lengthwise and taped the two sides with clear plastic packing tape to make a pouch and then put a new all bees-wax, toilet seal inside, pressed the air out and taped the last side closed. The taping was done with care to avoid wrinkles and to get a leak tight seal all around. I placed the wax filled pouch into a pilot-light-only warm oven for a couple minutes to soften the wax. I put foil to from a drip pan on the shelf under the wax filled pouch for safety. Wax is a fire hazard so I watched closely; a hair dryer might have been safer. As soon as the wax was soft not melted (it turns clear when it melts) I rolled the wax out evenly in the pouch with a rolling pin on the counter top. After warming the wax again until soft, I placed it on the seat of the kayak and sat on it wearing my normal paddling pants. After a couple minutes I got out and lifted the pouch out. Holding the pouch up I could see through the thin spots where the seat applied the most pressure to my buns. Overlaying the pouch back on the seat I noted the pressure points on the foam and marked them with a big felt-tipped marker. I took the seat outside (I used Velcro with hooks epoxied to the hull and pile contact cemented to the foam) and used dragon skin to carve away the marks. I put the foam back into the kayak and did another soft wax impression, marked and carved. I repeated this until the wax was equal thickness over the total impression.

With this method I discovered the seat shape and angle match my shape when sitting in the actual paddling position in my kayak. The final result fits like a glove, so to speak, and no more sleepy toes.