Troutsman

I’m sticking this topic to the front page because it got buried – please post tips here instead of starting a new topic.

Hi Rodney – Bruce wrote a post partially about that here: https://www.diypackraft.com/forums/topic/heat-sealing-tools/#post-4265

Cheers

Excellent! I love the look of the yellow tubes and black trim.

Excellent! Thanks for posting pictures, Derek!

Very cool! Thanks for posting!

Thanks Naas, that’s good to know! It’s interesting that you have to clamp it. Do you think it would work on a flat surface if you pressed it with a roller or placed weights on top, or does it need to be clamped?

Hi Conrad – don’t worry, it’s just cosmetic. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll know how long you can heat it without melting through. In the meantime, just make sure you’ve got a non-stick surface underneath, such as parchment paper. Cheers!

Cool! If you have any more photos, please post them. Thanks!

Hi Pham,

Tim at http://www.cubenmaker.com is a great resource for information about Dyneema fabrics.

I think people usually use tape or sewing+tape to assemble Dyneema, and the problem with using it for inflatables is that the tape creeps over time under pressure (I’ve never tried it myself though).

Cheers!

Hi Joe,

It looks like you’ll need

• 1 m of 1000D
• 2 m of 210D for the tubes
• 3 m 210D for the inflatable floor insert (you could use less, but then you’d have to patch together multiple pieces for the top and bottom, which would be difficult to make airtight)
• At least four drain valves (front and back, left and right, placed near the seat…

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Hi Naas, I can’t see any reason why that wouldn’t work, so if you give it a go please let us know how you like it compared to the regular method.

Cheers!

Hi Naas, I tried using TPU tape and couldn’t get it to form a strong bond with the fabric so I gave up on the idea, but if you figure out a method that works, please let us know!

Another excellent idea out of Fairbanks! Thanks, Bruce, and keep ’em coming!

I’ll add this to the how-to page so more people will see it.

Beauty!

Excellent – sounds good!

One thing to note is that the higher up the center of gravity is, the less stable the boat will be and the lower the sides will seem. It should still be really stable (because it’s so wide), but just be careful with the little ones 🙂