: I also happen to believe that the core material does
: have a lot to do with the final strength and durability of the product. To
: me this means that the outer skin, ie. epoxy/fiberglass, and the core must
: complement each other. In this way the composite will be stronger and
: tougher than any seperate material could be.

I think you're right. So what if instead of having the outside of the bamboo face out, you stack it on edge. We do the same basic thing with cedar strips. It might look funky though with bamboo but who's to say. Of course then you'd have 1/4" by 1/4" strips. Sounds like a pre-layup of the strips is needed. layup 3 strips at a time in a jig. later transfer them to the boat forms. One of the bamboo sights talked about composite bamboo wood. That might be the answer... depend on how it looks.

Roger