: Seems like most problems with strip panels arise when the panel is force into
: the curve when stitching. If we make the panel strips thinner (say
: 3/16" or even 1/8") the panel will be a lot more flexible and
: easier to bend.
: What do you think??

I think 1/8th inch is the way to go -- or maybe a even a tad thinner -- and that the glass should be applied to the side which will be on the inside of the boat (one side only)

A lot of the stitch and glue designs were based on using 3mm and 4mm marine plywood. Some people have been successful with using nominal 1/4 inch lauan, which is more likely 5.2 mm, but I think that as the material gets thicker it is inevitably going to be harder to bend. 4mm plywood is a bit thicker than 1/8th inch strips, but once the glass cloth is applied to both sides of the strips the total thickness is probably going to be about 4mm.

If you go with strips that are just a bit thinner than 1/8th inch you are working with material which would be somewhere in the realm of 3mm thick. Now we accept 1/8th inch plywood as suitable for our boats, so why not accept 3 mm solid wood strips, particularly when they are going to be covered over with fberglass cloth and resin -- which will increase the strength tremendously?

A good deal of the structural strength in a S&G kayak is in those fillets which fill the seams and joints. They become solid fiberglass-reinforced frame mmembers on which the wood panels are merely a thick skin. For many designs: If the fillets are strong enough, the wood skin can be as thin as veneer. With some "tortured" plywood designs this analogy would not hold. There would be too few seams and fillets to create the necessary framework. On the other hand, the curvature would impart a good amount of stiffness, and an adequate amount of glass on the boat would indeed give a strong hull and deck.

When you get into using really thin wood, covered with an extra layer of glass cloth and resin for necessary strength, you start to approach a transition line between a boat that is primarily wood and one that is primarily fiberlass. Once you get past the limitations of labels and definitions, you can enter the realm of truly unique material and design combinations. there are entire unexplored worlds:for example, consider inflatable microthin-wood structures used as ribs and stringers. Or, vacuum-formed veneers bending under the effect of atmospheric pressure, and with the assist of heat from a hot air gun, so they can assume shapes far more involved than those obtained from torturing plywood.

Well, I 'm dreaming here, but just wanted to let you realize that there is no set limit yet on how thin those strips can be, but that anything near 1/4 inch is already too thick.

PGJ