: Hello,
: I'm looking for advice on choosing a design/pattern for a first time builder.
: I see all these beautiful sweeping inlayed decks on the web... are these
: too much for the first timer? Is there a happy medium? I want a beautiful
: boat when I'm done but I know the feeling of biting off more than I can
: chew and getting discouraged on a project.
: Thanks much for any and all two cent pieces on the topic.
: -David
: PS, the deck is going on an S&G Guillemot.

I have not built a long sweeping design yet either, but this is the way I am approching this. I surfed the net looking at inlayed boarder designs. Usually in hardwood floors. Pick a nice design that has straight flat edges but when glued together can look like a crazy quilt. Then using different color woods you can get some interesting optical allusions. I think you could make a miter box to cut each angle from your strip to exact size by using some kind of stop. I am thinking of making a pattern from alum. for each piece in my design and stacking the peices to make several at a time with the alum pattern on top and using a table disc sander to sand them to size. The long slot width in your boat for your design would have to be exactly right so your pieces fit without a lot of trim fitting. Like I said, I've not done this before but that is my thinking right now. I will be interested to read what other who have actually built these have to say.

John