> Hi All,

> I am in the initial stages of making a Guillemot - forms, strongback,
> cutting strips, excreta.

> I would like to get some comments about stapleless construction. I know it
> can be done - I am trying to decide if, for my first stripper, I should
> attempt this construction or not.

> Putting in staples to hold the wood in position for 30 minutes while the
> glue sets and then having to remove them - leaving all those holes - is
> something that I would rather avoid if there is a practical alternative.

> I was thinking of using 2" binder clips to keep the strips aligned
> between stations. To keep the strips tight and against the forms, some
> sort of clamping or "hold down" (elastic cord or rope &
> weight) at each station.

> Regular glue with strategically located dabs of hot-melt glue for the main
> construction and maybe some 5-minute epoxy for the higher stressed areas.
> Might even resort to some steam bending to pre-shape some of the
> "extreme strips".

> I recently saw an advertisement for "90-second epoxy" that I
> have to look at - might be real useful in stressful situations.

> I'd appreciate you sharing some of your experiences - positive or negative
> on stapleless construction.

> Thanks

> Hank

Hank

I am beginning to think something is wrong. I am building my first boat. I am not using staples and everything is working well. I think that the staples would take longer than the glue. My strips are closer to 5/8" wide rather than 3/4" and I have 10 strips on each side and haven't had to use a cheater yet. I am dry fitting first, running a line of glue in the cove, putting u shaped plywood clamps at the center stations, working out toward the ends, and hot glueing the ends to the stems. I then go back making sure the bead and cove fit tightly and apply masking tape around all the strips between the stations if they don't hold. A small spring clamp or two pieces of plywood on each side pof the strip held by a c-clamp fixes the unruly strips. As my buddy says you can never have enough clamps. I think shaping the inner stems was a bigger challenge than the strips. The only mystery that was unclear in most publications I've seen is how do you attach the sheer strip if you are not using staples. I ended up hot glueing to the stations in a couple of places and also placing some u shaped clamps facing up to hold the strip. The boat gets more rigid with each strip. I made the u shaped clamps like the ones in Kayak Craft. Most advice on building stapless leads you to believe that you have to wait a long time to apply another strip. I take the tape off in 1/2 to 1 hour and have been applying anouther strip in about 2 hours. My garage is 50-60 degrees. Good luck all of that prep work is worth starting to put the strips on.

Tim