: should i bother with 16 foot boards or just get 8-10 foot
: boards.

You'll do just fine with 8 to 12 foot boards. Joints are no big deal and look just fine. It's also easier to work with shorter strips. If you want a full lengh shear strip, just scarf a couple of shorter strips together.

: so my math says 3 strips per inch of board (ripped on a table saw) so a 10
: inch board will make 30 strips, at 16 feet i only need two - 1x10x16. that
: doesnt seem right.

: HOW MANY BOARDS OF WHAT SIZE ARE REALLY NECESSARY?

Go to the One Ocean site and read up on strips ... pay close attention to the dimensioning of the strip width and cove/bead fit. Use the calculator to find out how many strips you'll need. Estimate how many strips you can get out of a board of the size you intend to buy. Throw in a fudge factor for waste and unusable strips ... which you can have for many reasons. FYI, when using a thin kerf blade I estimate I'll get 15 strips from a true 6" wide board of which I assume 3 are gonna be unuseable (too thin, busted coves and grain run out are common reasons to scrap a strip) ... leaving 12 useable strips.

Also FYI ... pay attention to grain ... you wanna buy flat sawn boards. When you resaw the board into strips ... the resulting strips will be quarter sawn. I always make sure I buy too much wood.

Ken Blanton