John,

I think you can see from the answers that you can do it either way. Filing strips around the curves takes longer because each strip has to be fit individually. When I did this it helped to cut the curved strip with double coves. I found that while fitting the "fill" strips I could get tighter and faster joints by rounding off the edges and incerting them into a cove than by doing butt joints. The double coves allows you to fill on both sides of a curved accent strip.

Cutting out the curve is faster but requires some time to smooth the curve so that the accent strip lies tight to the cut without gaps. Its not real difficult to do but somthing to think about.

Regards

Jack

: When making a decorative pattern on deck similar to the Redfish kayak below,
: is it preferable to first strip the whole deck with the base/background
: strips and then cut out the areas to inlay, or is it better to lay the
: curved pattern first and then fit strips to it? I've seen both methods
: described in books and web sites, but would like to know which method
: might produce a better result for a novice strip builder.

: I am building a Guillemot and would like some curved design on the deck to
: complement the flow of water around the boat, but am having trouble
: deciding the method to use.

: Thanks for all the great tips I've already gleaned from reading this BB!

: Thanks,

: John C
: Dallas, Texas