> I confess I haven't built a stripper. yet! Therefore this may be a very
> stupid question. Why can't the form be made female instead of male. In
> other words, make each station a curbed cradle into which you could push
> the strips. I have heard of using this technique to build plywood boats
> that ordinarily would be stitch and glue. With the forms on the outside of
> the hull, it is supposedly not necessary to stitch the panels together.
> Steve

As I see it:

The biggest problem here would be the size of the forms. since they are located on the outside of the boat th biggest form ( for the widest part of the boat) would probably be at least a 6 inches wider. That would give you 3 inches of plywood on the outside of the curve, which should be fine just to support the shape during construction. For a 24 inch beam boat that would make the widest form about 2 1/2 feet wide.

The larger forms use more material, and therefore cost more.

Since these forms are on the outside, you'll need another set for doing the deck. You will also cuss each time you have to work over one of these and you get snagged on a corner of the form.

If you were building a perfectly symmetrical boat ( like some canoes) you could construct a 1/2 hull mold and build two matching pieces, but most kayak designs have different bow and stern lines.

Paul G. Jacobson