This is the first time I have ever seen anyone suggest to wet down the raw wood before final sanding. It seems like a good idea to me, but is there not a risk of softening the glue (I am picturing watching a hull slowly deform then end up as a pile of sticks at my feet). Do you use waterproof glue? When you say WET are you suggesting that I take the hull out and hose it down, or take a rag and wipe down the hull as if washing a car? I am very intrigued by the "closing of staple holes" More info would be great.

Thanks,
JJ

: My hope is that some will find this helpful. I don’t wish to start a fight,
: just some thought.

: Please consider this: The beauty, the genius, of the strip building method is
: that IF the wood strips remain in contact with the stations & stems,
: AND the edge of each new strip is aligned and glued to the previous strip,
: the resulting surface IS FAIR and nearly perfect.

: THE RESULTING SURFACE IS FAIR AND NEARLY PERFECT!

: This is the essence and genius of strip building theory

: ONLY sanding to level the high points along the strip joints and to smooth
: the surface for finishing, is needed. A narrow surface down the center of
: each strip is perfectly fair, just as a plywood panel on a stitch and glue
: boat is perfectly fair.

: The less you do to this surface the more it will remain fair!

: The random orbital sander allows the builder to take advantage of the strip
: building method in a way no other tool can. The random orbital sander uses
: the FULL FLAT SURFACE of the sanding disk to ride on high spots and level
: the surface TO the lowest point of VISUAL REFERENCE, in this case, the
: narrow surface down the center of each strip which is perfectly fair.

: You cannot create a fair and regular surface with random tool use.
: You must carefully define the areas to focus tool use.

: For example, if you hope to make a round or oval paddle loom you must
: carefully mark off the edges of the loom stock in equal sections for
: removal and work methodically to create regular facets to make the
: transition to one regular continuous plane.

: Imagine working on a stitch & glue boat using a aggressive edge cutting
: sander or a plane on the plywood surface. You would quickly cut through
: the top veneer, destroying the fair surface naturally created by the
: plywood panel .

: It just doesn’t make sense to work a fair plywood surface with a plane or
: edge cutting sander. It should make just as little sense to work a well
: stripped, fair hull with a plane or edge cutting sander. It will be
: counter productive.

: If you take the time to align your strip edges your hull will be nearly
: perfect. There is no need for aggressive surfacing.

: I do understand that quite a few builders have difficulty in aligning strip
: edges

: Traditional strip building technique uses 1/4” strips and staples or brads to
: FORCE strips into place in the most difficult areas around the keel/stems.
: While this worked reasonably well for simple football shaped hulls, for
: more complex modern hull shapes, kayak shapes and stapless stripping
: methods, 1/4” traditional force stripping, makes perfect alignment of
: strips near the hull keel/stems very difficult.

: I’ve developed a number of modifications to the traditional stripping
: technique to solve these problems.

: The three big differences in my stripping technique that make stripping
: considerably easier are: First, use 3/16” thick strips instead of 1/4”.
: 3/16” thick strips are more flexible and are easier to twist, bend and
: align.

: Second, use northern white cedar to strip below the waterline. The area below
: the waterline is the most difficult part of the hull to strip. Northern
: white cedar is more flexible than other softwoods and has always been the
: preferred wood for canoe building for hundreds of years because of it’s
: bending properties.

: Third; Use a heat gun to apply dry heat to bend and twist strips into place
: instead of relying on force. A heat gun boils the water in the wood to
: bend without having to wet the wood. This allows you to glue immediately
: without having to wait for wood to dry as you would it you used a
: wet/steam heat method. The heat gun applies local heat to a small area so
: you don’t need a large box or other apparatus. There is no waiting, no
: spring-back as in wet bending. Northern white cedar is the best wood to
: utilize the heat gun method of bending for the already stated natural
: bending properties. But also, because NWC is typically air dried, the
: natural glue (lignin) which holds the wood fibers together can be
: reactivated by heat. Kiln drying wood alters the lignin and it will not
: respond as well to heat/steam bending.

: Using 3/16” strips RELIES on the proper use of a random orbital sander to
: level and smooth the strip surface. A random orbital sander works like no
: other surfacing tool by riding on the high spots. The round pad and random
: stroke will not cut into a surface as long as the full pad is held FLAT
: against the work surface. IF the ROS is HELD FLAT against the surface IT
: WILL produce a fair surface. THIS IS CRITICAL TO SUCCESS. The ROS is moved
: over the surface until a uniform sanded surface results. You must assess
: the progress VISUALLY. The original unsanded surface is your visual
: reference letting you know when to move on. This will happen JUST as the
: lowest center of each strip is sanded in each area. Then you must move on.
: This sanding method takes off very little wood. Rough sand the surface
: with a random orbital sander and 60 grit paper. Then WET, I mean WET the
: surface to raise the grain. The cut marks from the 60 grit paper will
: disappear. All dents and staple holes will raise and close. After the wood
: dries you can sand with 120 grit because the soft wood needs no courser
: grit to proceed to finishing steps. I finish the surface with 220 paper to
: bring out the deep luster and beauty of the wood.

: Other sanders or the ROS itself CAN be very aggressive if weight and power is
: applied with an edge or only part of the sanding pad. This will result in
: an irregular surface. It is common for people unfamiliar with sanding to
: use a fine sandpaper grit and when it does not level the surface quickly,
: to use an edge of the sanding disk to aggressively remove a blemish to cut
: into a low spot. This is a mistake and will leave an unfair surface. This
: is why use of the ROS calls for a courser 60 grit paper which will level
: and fair the surface quickly. It is important to use a soft backing pad on
: the ROS because this will conform better to the curved surfaces of a boat.
: After rough sanding with 60 grit the wood should be WET down to raise the
: grain, raise dents and close any staple holes.

: These stripping techniques and the random orbital sanding method I describe
: above are the foundation of the boat. Each step is interlocked into the
: next. If you can’t bend strips you can’t align the edges and if you can’t
: align the edges you will have to sand more or plane to establish a common
: surface and you will destroy the natural fair surface created by using
: wood strips. If your strips have not naturally created a fair surface the
: ROS will follow the irregularities of that poor surface.

: I urge you to focus your attention on tacking each strip solidly to your
: stations and pre-fit, clamp, bend and twist each strip with the heat gun
: so you can align each edge as perfectly as possible. This will reduce work
: on every future step. Less IS more in strip building. If you work to align
: your strips the surface will be very near perfect and you will have less
: work smoothing the hull.

: AFTER you have stripped your hull, if you have strips that are mis-aligned
: 1/32” or more, then fix the strip alignment before sanding. Use a razor
: knife and cut on the joint, apply glue and realign the strip edges.

: If you use 3/16” strips they will be more flexible, if you use northern white
: cedar it will be even more flexible and if you also use a heat gun to bend
: and twist strips into place you will find it very easy to strip a perfect
: fair hull or deck. Any one of these suggestions will make stripping
: easier. If you will use all three suggestions you will find stripping a
: totally painless dream.

: I’m not trying to put down others working technique. WE all love boat
: building here.
: I’m offering you a look at the ideas that guide my work process.

: I’m suggesting that by understanding the basic theory of strip building By
: looking at WHY we are doing something, we can focus our labors in areas
: that are most productive and eliminate random and counterproductive steps.

: I hope some of you, especially new builders will find this useful.

: If you are happy with the way you are currently working then by all means,
: continue.

: All the best,
: Rob Macks
: Laughing Loon CC&K
: www.laughingloon.com