Folding Canoe Requirements

I am currently working on a design for a folding canoe. I was just wondering what requirements people would expect of this kind of product, what would be the priorities.
Here are some specific questions I have but any other ideas would be very useful.
1) How mcuh time is too much time for setting up?
2) Would it be better to fold up long and thin or into a more box like shape?
3) Is it acceptable for it to only carry one person?
Thanks

 

2) long and slim is better
3) would, yes, but of course two is better

Why did´nt you just post this in your other thread?

 

google portaboat ....we dont know if its a solid boat hinged or a true folding boat ....???

 

Something box like is better. It can be carried on a plane, the trunk of a car or on a cycle

 

Typical commercially available folding boats take from 15 to 45 minutes for setup and packing away, after a bit of practice. Claims by manufacturers are less, naturally, and probably represent the best that can be done after lots of practice! I have seen boats that took over 2 hours to get together first time. For some reason the best-performing boats usually take longer to assemble. Remember that people often pack the boat away for the Winter and assemble it at the cottage for the season, so they forget the tricks they learned the previous year.

There are markets for both types; you got both responses above. Long and slim is nice for carrying through portages and lashing on top of a car, box-shaped can go in a car’s trunk or as airfraft luggage.

More one-person canoes are sold than for two (or more).

As well as folding boats, there are boats that come apart into 2 or more sections, or simply fold around a central hinge. In some of these designs the sections nest. These are less compact when folded but need much less time to assemble and pack. They are appropriate for people who motor to a nearby lake for a spin and motor home again.

 

Start with 10' x 4' piece of plywood, cutout 1 piece top rail

solid piece then maybe 2 other longitudinal frames about 3" wide from that piece with the last solid piece as the floor.

Thus, you would have a 3" wide top rail, and 2 frames and finally the floor nesting inside the top rail piece.

Use plywood scraps (or something else) to achive desired distance between the frames for the desired depth of the boat and cover with waterproof material secured in some manner to the top rail.

May use "pool noodles" cut on one side to slip over the frames to adjust the shape and provide some 'give' for the covering.

This might end up looking more like a dory than a canoe, due to fairly rapid decrease in frame size.

I suppose the frames could be made from 2 or 4 pieces for folded-size reduction with minor weight, cost and strength penalties.

 

Ohh man, here we can see how biased one can be!
Me
I did not even think about anything but a boat used aboard a yacht!



Squiddly
let her do the engineering! She has shown to be able!

 

Me too! A yacht tender yet! Who wudda think it?

I can see how a folding boat would be a great idea for a yacht tender. Now!

 

How about Folding/Inflatable Hybrids?

I saw an add for a FIH dinghy, but didn't save the pic. It almost looked like they used an air-mattress, the type with long 'corrugations' or semi-separate tubes but it was a pro-built boat.

I think the floor, bow and stern were wood, with inflatable sides.

 

Here we go again ..someone asks a question .we all pile in with suggestions and the original poster goes silent ...
aaaahhh.....

 

Thanks for all your suggestions.
I am drifting towards the idea of making it fold into a more box like shape as being able to take it in a car boot would be great.
I am hoping to make it so that it takes much less than 15 minutes to assemble but its nice to know that longer would be acceptable.
Obviously the number of people it can carry will also affect the size when it is folded and I have not yet come to any conclusions about this yet.

Squidly-Diddly I dont think I really have the skills for a semi inflateable yet but they sound neat, I'll look them up.

(Apex I'm actually a him)

 

How about using Bladders inside a skin & plywood boat

to bulge the skin or spread the wood.

You can get cheap vinyl air mattresses for about $3 apiece, as well as other assorted shapes of pool toys.

Good enough for school project demo, and add a very desirable reserve buoyancy feature if swamped.

 

Squid: prices and products available in the US are not always available in the UK. EU import regulations are very different from NA ones.

 

so what you need is to measure the boot (trunk) to size the biggest "box" then I assume there will be two pointed bits that make it a boat that fit inside the first box .....or another box and one pointed bit ...????..a total length of about 9 -10 feet should be plenty ..so we need a trunk 3 feet wide ish ....
did you consider making the boat then putting in double baulkheads and then cutting it into 3.....that way it fits together perfect ....

 

Ive looked at designs with 3 solid parts that fit inside each other but I am thinking of making it from canvas with several ribs down the sides which a base sits on top of.
Below is a ProDesktop model I have made of a possible design. Canvas would be attached at the back and along all the ribs and to the front stem. The base is in 3 parts which are locked down by turnbolts. The base parts are made from plywood with runners underneath made from pine. These lock around the pine ribs holding them at the correct distance from each other. When it is folded away the base pieces fit together as the runners are not equally spaced. The ribs are then pulled together. I was thinking of having rope running through holes in the top of each rib. When it is folded away this rope is drawn in and tied at the back to keep it folded up.
The boat is just short of 9ft at the moment and when folded up is around 2ft10 long and 2ft3 wide. The height is hard to judge as the canvas will affect it.
My main concern is that the sides are not solid but I am not sure if that matters because it will be paddled rather than rowed. My other concern is that the stem might not fold flat. What do you guys think of this design? I am also wondering if the back should be pointed in the same way as the front.