> I made the molds for a canoe which I am building out of osb. When I was
> fairing them i noticed that this material does not hold staples too well.
> Has anyone else ran ito this problem? Is there a solution? Thanks, bob

I used 1/2" particle board for my station molds on a small canoe. I at first tried staples, but didn't have much luck getting them to hold. I switched to 1 1/4" wire nails...size 18 i think. They don't leave too big a hole and you can line the holes up nicely on the strips....I plugged them with toothpicks after removing the nails, but it is not essential. I did use a few staples (1/4"), when necessary, in between the station molds to hold the strips close together while the glue dried. You may not need too many of these, as I did not chose to bevel my strips, rather than use bead and cove. I had to use some to keep the strips in line with each other as well. Well seated bead and coved strips shouldn't have this problem. Most of your problems will probably be at the ends, where the most bend is required from the strips.

Some guys have cut slots about an inch or so back from the edge of the station molds......they can then hold the strips to the mold with clamps and use shock cord to keep them against one another between the stations. This results in a hull with no holes at all, but you can only put one strip at a time per side, then you have to wait for the glue to set. This wouldn't have been too much of a problem for me, as my time spent on building came in small increments over a long period of time (at least until 'glass time). Overall, I kinda like the holes...gives it an almost antique flavor. The other way seems like a lot of fuss, just for the sake of asthetics, but some folks like it.

good luck, gar