Brad,
All five of these variables fall in between the two alternatives of full 1/4" bead/cove and hand planed flat strips. I can live with all of them. I need to finish my current project before doing strips for the next one.
Thanks for taking the time to run these numbers.
Reg

: I drew the two joints on my CAD system and found some things to consider:
: First is the depth of the finished cove. When using 1/4 on 1/4 you get a
: pocket that is in theory 1/8" deep. If you use 3/8 on 1/4 the pocket
: ends up only 0.048" deep. The strips will have less "bite"
: with each other.
: Second is the "step" that will show up when you start to go around
: a curve. With 1/4 on 1/4 the joint acts like a hinge and the face stays
: tangent to the bead. With 3/8 on 1/4 the exposed bead is not tangent to
: the face and creates a "step". Laying strips on a form with a
: 6" radius would leave a .02" step (12.5 percent of the
: thickness) to be removed for a fair curve.
: Third, the same shift that causes a step on the outside leaves the same size
: hook on the inside.
: Fourth, The 3/8 on 1/4 joint has 30 pecent less surface area for glue.

: On the plus side, the 3/8 on 1/4" strips are about 12 percent wider.