Option D: Find a gentler curve pattern that I Like. As it is my first attempt at stripping a pattern, I want something simple that still looks nice. I have some old doug fir for one wood, and am thinking redwood to contrast it.

I'm not thinking fancy shapes, but this does look interesting...

> C: Why bend the wood at all? With a bandsaw you can resaw a nominal
> 1x8 plank into 2 pieces of wood that are 1/4 inch thick and 7.5 inches
> wide, (plus another piece of thinner scrap). You can cut fancy shapes
> out of this with a bandsaw or jig saw. Once the design is cut it should
> be very flexible and easy to apply. If you want wider designs than
> 7.5 inches, edge glue and piece the material together to get what
> ever width you want. Same idea if you are working with 1x6 stock,
> only you'll get a piece that is 5.5 inches wide, and have to do a
> bit more edge gluing to build up wider panels.

> An idea here: If the deck has got gentle bends, make up panels
> of light and dark wood. Stack them and cut out the design with a very
> thin saw blade. A scrollsaw would be ideal here. Now restack them
> so the light wood piece fits into the dark wood piece like pieces
> in a jigsaw puzzle. (You'll have two pairs of matching pieces. The
> dark wood will have a left and a right part that interlock. Same for
> the light wood piece. But the left part of the light wood will interlock
> with the right side of the dark wood panel, and vice versa.) For a
> symetrical design, put either the light, or the dark wood panels in
> the center of the deck (back to back with the straight side running
> down the center) and the interlocking, contrasting color wood panels
> on either side. Trim around them with contrasting strips.

> Depending on the design and the thickness of the scroll saw,
> jig saw or band saw blade you may get a slight gap between the panels.
> Use a little filler in the glue or epoxy.

> You can get bizarre with this, too. If you are using epoxy, adding
> a colorant can give a slight tinge of color to the glue joint. Plain
> black would simply accent the edge of the design. I know someone on
> this board would want to use green on the right side and red on the
> left, and put a halogen light inside the hull so that the glue joints
> would glow at night, and in the appropriate colors for running lights.
> The halogen lamp would be powered by the same battery that runs the
> refrigerator, CD player, solenoids for the hatch releases, and the
> heated paddle shaft.

> Best of luck with this.

> Paul Jacobson

>