: I've read a couple of different places that after initial sanding of the
: strips you should wet the wood to raise the grain and seal staple holes.
: How effective is this at closing staple holes? Seems to me if it was
: really effective everyone would be doing it and no one would be talking
: about filling them with dookie schmutz.

I wet the wood. It does swell and seal some holes and raise some depressions. I've been doing this on different types of finish work for more than 45 years. It works. Why doesn't everybody do it? To each his own. Do what works for you.

: I'm also wondering if wetting the wood could cause problems with warping
: since at this point the hull/deck would no longer be attached to the forms
: and you have one side moist and the other (inside) side dry.

I've never had this problem in many years of wetting wood. I also don't have any problems with color shifts...before or after laminating, or finishing.

: As for sealing staple holes with dookie schmutz, everyone seems to recommend
: making it with epoxy. What about using carpenters glue instead of epoxy?
: It would sand easier than epoxy schmutz, wouldn't it?

I use a mix of epoxy and wood flour...whatever will make the color I want...fill the holes and any small cracks...AFTER I do a seal coat. Using carpenter's glue runs the risk of a blotch.

I don't worry about the staples and pulling them off. Any planing, sanding, etc. will remove these defects. If you want to make your boat look pretty it is important to keep the staples in line as much as possible. You can go stapless...but for a boat you're going to use everday...it doesn't make much sense. For a show boat...I'll go stapless, align the staples, or use my secret attatchment method (which does leave holes, but they look good).

Don't forget that there are just as many right ways to do something as there are wrong ways.

: Thanks.