Need some advice. I am building Joe Greenley’s (Redfish Kayaks) Spring Run and am having problems with the wood I purchased for the coaming laminations.

For those of who have built one of Joe’s boats you are aware that the way he recommends building the coaming is to laminate with epoxy some 1/8 inch thick hard wood laminations around a coaming lamination form.

For the wood you can either rip hardwood into strips which are 1/8 inch thick or buy some 1/8 inch hardwood veneer. My woodworking equipment is not adequate to rip hardwood into strips which are 1/8 thick and 3 inches wide. Therefore I purchased some 1/8 inch thick cherry veneer (because it is a good colour match).

The veneer comes in sheets 6in by 8 feet long. My problem is that being so thin it has dryed out and curled along the width. When you try to flatten it out to cut it to size (or to wrap it around the coaming lamination form) it splits along the length because it is so dry.

The logical solution would appear to be to introduce some moisture into the wood to make it more pliable. What I could do is cut the pieces into four foot lengths and soak them in the bath tub. Hopefully after a number of days they will absorb sufficient moisture and then I can flatten them or wrap them around the coaming lamination form and clamp them in that position until the wood drys.

My questions are:

1. will this approach make the wood sufficiently pliable so I can work with it and it no longer splits?
2. about how long do I need to soak it in the tub ?
3. how dry does the wood need to be in order to be able to then be able to laminate it with epoxy? In other words how long do I need to wait after I have taken it out of the bathtub and formed it on the coaming lamination form. I don’t want a problem with the epoxy not adequately adhering because the wood is too moist. Alternately I don’t want to experience subsequent problems because some moisture remains trapped in the wood after the epoxy cures?

This is my first stripper and therefore each step has been a learning experience. The education from the posts on this board have been invaluable. Your advice is much appreciated.