> I am about to start ripping out my strips and need some advice. The best
> stock wood I could find was clear pine 2"X10"X20'. My table saw
> and large curf of the mills saw where I bought the wood limit me to first
> making strips 2" wide. My options are then to rip these strips down
> to 1" wide (I will loose 1/8" to the curf of the blade). After I
> run the strips through the bead and cove process, I am looking at strips
> less than 3/4". Is there an opinion out there that could guide me if
> I do indeed need to split 2" strips, or is 2" ok for bending
> around the Guillemot Expedition forms???

> Thanks for any help carl

Hey Carl,

I'm no expert on strip building, but I can comment on my own experience (though this is admittedly rather limited... 1 boat...and a canoe at that...sorry guys!). If you use 2" strips, you will probably have some difficulty with bending the strips in to place. Additionally, since kayaks are relatively small hulls, with pretty tight curves, the wider strips will not lie well against the station molds (place a 2" strip against the edge of one of your station molds, especially on the bilge areas...you will see that very little of the strips width will lie flat against the mold). This can result in some extra time and hassle, both in stripping, and in sanding and fairing the hull, and may even result in some very thin skin (the boat skin, that is......although, considering the potential for frustration, your own skin may get pretty thin as well). 2" wide strips might look a bit out of place on a delicate hull shape like that of a kayak (on the other hand, the look might harken back to the days of the "carvel" planked boats from Ruston and others)

The only disadvantage I see to using strips narrower than 3/4" is that you will have to use more strips to plank up the boat....but in the end, you'll get a hull that will require a lot less in the way of planing and fairing.

With some designs, there are areas of the hull that are pretty flat......You could use a comibination of wide strips for these areas and narrow strips for the areas like those of the bilge, where the curves are tight. Some builders will trim down some of their 3/4" strips for the bilge area....it just makes things go easier in these tight areas.

Considering that most of Nick's designs are pretty "curvy" ( and very nice looking!), you'd probably be better off using narrow strips for the whole boat. My vote would be to go with narrow strips....life will be easier and, if you choose, you can get really creative with the strips 'cause they'll bend nicely. Hope this helps, Garland