Make your own sliding seat?

[blackfly]

I want to make a sliding seat for the bow of my canoe. I've seen the sliders offered by (I think) Wenonah and Clipper.
My canoe is a Souris Quetico 17. I'd like to make a seat similar to what is in the photo attached.

I'm not sure where to get the aluminium tubing, nor am I sure how to attach the brackets to the side of the boat - in the photo they have reinforced foam core there, which I won't have.

Has anyone done this? Thoughts?

 

[Canotrouge]

Brackets are angle aluminum riveted through the hull, Aluminum tubes and brackets can be found at Canadian Tire and the like Home depot, Lows etc etc... I think they use 3/4" or 1" tubing.

 

[sailsman63]

Like Canotrouge said, you can get aluminum tube from quite a lot of suppliers. If the big-box stores fail you, check the local "Fleet and Farm" type places, hardware stores, or a welders supply place, if there is one nearby. If all else fails, I know that you can find it on ebay, or check Fastenal. (Will need to be shipped)

If you are not so crazy about putting a rivet through the hull, You could try the method for attaching a cleat shown here: http://www.canoetripping.net/forums/...-seat-mounting. The only problem is you will never get that kind off without damaging the hull.

Perhaps for something like this, the methods discussed here might be a better bet, if you can find the foam: http://www.canoetripping.net/forums...discussions/general-discussion/22306-foot-bar

Definitely doable for a DIYer - when my build is done, take a look at my seat rig - its experimental, but looking like it will work.

 

[latremorej]

They provide an email on the website, might want to shoot an email off to the company and ask the "re-enforcement " question. Does there appear to be any extra material where the existing seat is mounted?

 

[Steve in Idaho]

You may be able to get the tubing for little or nothing by looking out for used aluminum crutches. I see them quite often at the second-hand store for practically nothing. I don't know how it works in Canada - but apparently in the US, those crutches are paid for by insurance or medicare - and they never ask for them to be returned or re-used.

 

[blackfly]

Good info, thanks everyone. I'll check out my local hardware store for the tubing, and I consider whether to rivet or epoxy in some cleats. Thanks again.

 

[Muskrat]

I talked to Wenonah about this a while back. They use 6061-T6 aluminum tubing. 1" diameter, .035" wall thickness. The 3 seats on my kevlar guideboat are attached with aluminum U brackets that are PL Premiumed onto the thin hull not on the ribs. I drilled through the hull and brackets then smeared on some goop and used bolts through the holes to clamp. Pulled the bolts later and filled the holes with epoxy. With the more vertical sides of a canoe, or if my arse was fatter, I would use thickened epoxy instead of PL.

 

[Muskrat]

There's a couple pictures of my seat mountings in my old guideboat thread. Not exactly the same as what you're doing, but the concept is the same. The brackets would need to be rotated 90°.

http://www.canoetripping.net/forums...nstruction/27373-kevlar-guideboat-build/page2

 

[Alan Gage]

Like Muskrat said you'll probably want to use 1" tubing. Texas Towers is a good place to buy it online if you can't find it locally.

You'll also need tubing that's a little larger that will attach to the bottom of the seat and slide over the 1" tubing. I've found that 1 1/4" PVC at the hardware store is about perfect. Look for it with the under-sink plumbing fittings. It will come in 12" sections and threaded one one end. It's thin walled, lightweight and has enough slop that you don't have to have everything lined up perfectly but fits tight enough that the seat doesn't flop all over the place.

Alan