> I'am about to cut my forms for the Expedition single.

Way to go, Larry!

>What is the best
> material to use for the forms? I have used MDF for a previous boat and did
> not like it. some use OSB but all that is sold locally is 7/16".
> Cheap plywood(cdx) is 15/32" and already warped sitting in the the
> stack.

I used cheap plywood. Uh...CDX is a familiar sounding acronym, but I can't be sure. I used half inch material. It was drawn from stock in an indoors/sheltered area of the lumberyard, and perfectly flat.

I wrapped the edges with silver plastic duct tape, not the cloth backed kind, and it made releasing the deck and hull from the forms MUCH easier.

One thing I did that made releasing the deck/hull from the forms MUCH HARDER was using a powerful stapler that drove the staples so far into the strips that they were buried. Holding power was not a problem for these few staples (I eventually figured it out and switched to a less heavy duty stapler), but the catch was that I overlooked a couple of these staples and glassed over them. You can imagine the impact of the heel of my hand on my forehead, you may have heard it. What a maroon. Anyway, the plywood holds the staples fine, and when you're stapling the strips to the forms, the right length of staple is that which holds the strip securely and allows the crosspiece of the staple to stay above the surface of the strip.

By the way, I did get hull off the forms, I just ripped the staple out with a prybar. Not recommended.

> Question 2: best glue for attaching form sheets to form material. I have
> used the spray glue that is suggested in Nick's book previously. It is
> very toxic, expensive, and I had shrinkage problems (Wrinkles in paper the
> next day). Would Elmers white glue work?

The spray adhesive from 3M I used didn't say *toxic* anywhere I saw, and I did fine with it. Also not too expensive, less than $4 a can. But I would recommend using it sparingly to avoid the wrinkling you talked about. In a couple of places I had to make a second shot, a touch up, if you will, where it started to come apart. I would use it again. Be sure to smooth it out thoroughly, like heels of hands, thumbs, rolling pins, walk on it with your stocking feet. Get good contact between the paper and the wood.

Ed Valley