: Hello,

: I am about to build a Guillemot Night Heron and Micro Bootlegger, and would
: like to know if New Guinea Rosewood (Pterocarpus indicus) would be a
: suitable timber. I have 3 200mm x 50mm x 5500mm boards, so I am hoping the
: answer is yes. My main concern is weight, as the Rosewood is 40 lb/cu ft,
: vs WRC at around 23 lb/cu ft. I could slim down the strips but I'm not
: sure that this would be enough, I was thinking 1/8 thick may be OK? Any
: suggestions?

Two other considerations when using 1/8" thin strips -

First, there's very little material to plane down to smooth at the junction of the strips. With 1/4" strips at a tight corner you can plane off quite a bit before you "break on through to the other side". You might consider cutting narrower strips to get them to keep closer to the forms at the curves.

Second, the bead and cove might be fussier with the thinner strips. I don't even know if there are are 1/8" B&C bits available, but it seems like it would be important to have a bead and cove to keep the strips aligned. It might be tough to plane rolling bevels and keep all the strips edge to edge. Same problem as above - not much forgiveness if your strips don't line up perfectly.