: Thanks Kent and Brian for the info. You've confirmed my suspicions, so I
: think I'll take the extra time to slice them down.

You can rip off an edge to make them match your 3/4 inch strips, or you can rip them down the middle (approximate middle, that is) and turn them into 3/8th inch wide strips.

With the 3/8th inch strips you have 2 being equal to one of the 3/4 inch strips, so things will match up, and you get a lot more flexibility when going around tight curves.

On the other hand, the wider boards are fast to install in areas where they can lay straight.

I just saw a canoe which was made with about 9 planks for each side. I'd guess the planks were about 3 to 3.5 inches thick, and trimmed thinner where needed. I suspect they were steam bent.

If you can get the strips to bend to match your design then by using wider strips you would need to fit fewer of them.

PGJ