: What's a good way to hold the first strip in place?
: I was thinking of using hot melt glue or clamping it to a sacrificial deck
: sheer strip screwed in place. Any one have a better idea?

You don't need an entire long scrificial strip to hold your first strip in place. All you need are a few scraps just under your first strip. Roughly 2 inch long pieces of strips are just fine. I'd hold these on with brads or small screws.

Set your first strip on your forms and line it up where you want it, then set these little scraps below the strip and secure the scraps to the forms. They become places for the stip to rest on. For more support, make these "shelves" from two pieces of scrap strips, stacked so that the inner piece supports your first strip in its proper place, and the outer piece of scrap extends over the strip, so that it provides some clamping effect. When you use a single screw to attach this it goes on quickly and holds the strip firmly.

I've been doing some work around the house with small bugle headed 'drywall' screws. These screws have an aggresive thread design which makes them easy to install with a power screwdriver or variable speed drill. I use an inexpensive, and not too powerful, cordless drill. For small screws it works just great! A #6 screw in 1 inch or 1 1/4 inch length should work fine.

In the projects I've used them for I did not need to predrill a pilot hole. the screwdriver has a magnetic tip whcih holds the screw in place. Just poke the thing up against your scrap pieces with a little pressure and pull the trigger on the drill/screwdriver. The screw goes in almost as fast as a staple, but it holds MUCH better, especially in particleboard forms.

You can use this same setup for clamping on each strip as you add it. After the glue dries, the screw backs out easily and can be reused.

Hope this helps.

Paul G. Jacobson