: I am getting ready to build my second wood strip kayak, a Great Auk. (The
: first one is a Guillemot 17 made from douglas fir, Phillipine mahogany and
: cherry.) I am going to use cypress for the primary wood. Should I use
: 1/4" thick strips or 3/16". Would 5/8" or 3/4" wide
: strips be better? I am getting the wood free and that is the best price
: and a good reason for the cypress. Any comments on working with cypress?

Wow, I leave you guys alone for a few weeks and things make a complete circle! My buddy and I built a 14' Auk last spring from, you guessed it, free cypress. My retired dad and his pals sawmilled the wood into 1x12's, we ripped and routed and proceeded to build a really nice boat. The color is very light and the overall weight is around 42lbs. Considering it was a first boat and way overbuilt I think the 1/4 cypress turned out to be an ideal material. As stated in the other post, it does sand very well, but we didn't notice a huge difference in absorbtion of glue. My old photo posts are no longer a valid link but the boat has no art work, just plain cypress. Go For It!