: Boy I wish I'd known some of these tips before I stripped my hull!!

: Rob... you didn't mention the challenge of twisting and bending strips. Do
: you use steam or heat gun? How do you simultaneously pre-bend and
: pre-twist a strip to make it fit? Do you use "cheater strips"?

: Are you using Titebond II? I gather that you wait for hot glue stitches to
: harden before closing the joint further down the strip... how long is the
: wood glue soft enough to permit a tight joint?

: Thanks in advance

: Les

I don't heat or steam strips. I don't use cheater strips on my kayaks, but do on some of my canoes. It all depends on the design.

I use 3/16" strips, which are more flexible than 1/4", on all my boats. Hull bottoms are the most difficult to strip having the most twisting and bending of strips. I use northern white cedar for my hull bottoms because northern white cedar is the most flexible and easily bent wood for strippers.

I use Titebond II on my hulls and Polyurethane glue on kayak decks.

I don't have to wait for hot glue to set before continuing to tack the strips in place toward each stem because I use spring clamps and sheetrock screws as outlined in the previous post. By the time I've worked toward the second stem the first stem end's hot glue has set and I can remove the spring clamps. By the time I remove these clamps the second stem's clamps can be removed and I can go on to applying the next strip.

It takes me less than ten minutes to apply each strip.

All the best,

Rob Macks
Laughing Loon CC&K
www.LaughingLoon.com