: Hello to all ~ I am ready to start my first strip built project! It will be
: an Expedition Sport. I have strips already from Mike Scarborough of
: Friendship Kayaks in Maine, and am looking for tools, especially the
: following: spokeshave, beading saw, fairing board, scraper(s), etc. I own
: a Japanese saw, an orbital sander, a block plane...all from the previous S
: and G experience.
: If anyone is looking to part with extras, please drop me a line with costs to
: scudkat at earthlink dot net , or answer me back here at this Forum.
: Thanks for helping to support the lowly female boat builder, and sorry
: Robert, I'm already taken! :-)
: Kyle

I haunted eBay for the stuff that I didn't have. Beware of Taiwan grade spokeshaves. I have one that I can't make work, no matter how I sharpen and tune it. I recommend that you look for an old Stanley on eBay - they are useful tools if you get a good one.

Sharpening is important (and tedious for me). One of the jig-type iron holders is a good investment - planes and shaves are worse than useless if they are dull. I have been using the successive grades of sandpaper "scary sharp" method of honing. The tedious part is just that you have to re-setup your tool every time you sharpen it.

I have found a lot of use for a set of cabinet scrapers. They are sharpened by filing, honing, and burnishing the edges to create a burr that can cut a very fine shaving. A set is less than $20 and worth a lot more.

The old standard paint scraper is invaluable too.

I have a cheap ($39) Ryobi random orbit sander that I use with stick on pads. Worthwhile timesaver tool. I also purchased a cheap air powered straight line sander that might be croaking after less than one full kayak's worth of sanding. It's faster than a fairing board but not better as the air sander has a foam pad which can compress and provide a less flat cut than a fairing board.

My fairing boards are made from 1/4" luan ply with rounded 2x2 pine for handles. I epoxied the handles on and put a couple of countersunk drywall screws in from the bottom.