I definitely agree with you that flat grain strips will give you a much more visually interesting pattern. I finally got my Wee Lassie II faired by using a cabinet scraper on the area with the flat sawn strips. Although it didn't yield the fairest lines overall, it did eliminate the hills and valleys that I got when using a power sander. If I had a scraper-plane, I think I could have done a bit better job. I got the payoff for my efforts last night when I put on the seal coat of epoxy. Yow! The flat grain looks beautiful, and in sections it has an almost glittery effect. I doubt those subtle effects will show up in photos, but I'll have some updates to my website in a couple days.

I took a closer look last night at the more difficult strips, and I think the problem was that the grain run-out to the flat surface of the strips was at such a shallow angle, that the hard growth rings fanned-out pretty wide at the surface. The sander just had a hard time cutting through that wide ring.

Good luck cutting your timber. Sounds like a difficult job.

Ross