: Wow, thanks for all the great reasons for not going B&C.

I really appreciate your thoughtfull answers to all my questions! I only plan on building one or two sea kayaks out of strips. One for day trips in surf and one for getting from point A to point B. for up to five day trips.

Thanks again.
Mike S.

You can do it either way, or both ways, but it is usually easier to plane the
: strip that is not installed. Once a strip is mounted it is a bit more
: difficult to plane right up next to the forms. Chip shows how he does that
: with a rabbet plane, which is one solution.

: Depending on where the strip was installed, and how long the strip was, you
: could heave either case.

: Depending on the directions of the designer, and personal preferene, the
: first strips you mount on your forms will probably be at one of three
: locations: 1) the waterline, 2) the sheer line, or 3) along the keel. A
: 4th possible starting point would be the centerline on the deck, but I've
: never seen anyone start there. None of these strips NEED to have any
: planing doen to them.

: It is likely that the next row of strips you install, which will reside
: alongside these first strips, will not need to be planed either. There are
: two reasons for this which I can think of: (others may think of more) One
: is that the first strips usually go on areas which are relatively
: "flat". The second is that even if the strip requires some
: curvature or twist the amount of deflection is not very great, and you can
: ompensate for it later by planing the third strip a bit.

: That bring up another point. You may be able to get away with planing every
: other strip. This cuts your planing time in half.

: If you were building a cylinder, you could plane an even angle along the
: length of ALL your strips. For this you would count the number of strips
: you need to go around the circumference, double that number to get the
: number of edges in all the joints (each strips would have two edges) and
: divide that number into 360 degrees to get the exact angle to precut on
: the edges of your strips. If you didn't want to plane them all by hand,
: you could cut the edges to that angle with a table saw. With all the edges
: pre-angled your cylinder would go together perfectly.

: Unfortunately a kayak or a canoe is not a perfect cylinder, While the center
: of the boat may be rounded like a barrel, the front and back are not, so
: the angle of the bevel will change a bit along the length of a strip.

: For appearance you can cut a bevel a bit too steep and then it is easy to
: math the strips on the outside of the boat, but there will be the
: appearance of a loose fit on the inside. Usually this is in an area of the
: kayak which is closed up, and the resin fills that little valley between
: the strips whn you glass. Over sanding the outside in this area may cause
: a gap to open slightly. but that is not a given.

: If you DO get a gap here it will appear as a slightly darker line between the
: strips. It will not be noticeable. And of course you can fill that gap
: from the inside, or the outside, with a mix of sawdust, white baking flour
: and resin. The white flour lightens the color, otherwise the sawdust looks
: a bit darker than the wood strip.

: I don't think so.

: Timewise, for the new builder it s a wash. I don't think the time spent on
: set up for bead and cove is worthwhile for a builder who is only going to
: make one or two boats a year. Overall you'll spend as much time building
: the boat with either way. Any time you save by stripping with bead and
: cove strips will be taken away by the time involved in shopping for the
: bits, and aligning the milling operation.

: On the other hand, if you are building several boats a year it would make
: sense to rip and mill LOTS of strips at one time. Or, set up a dedicated
: router table with the bead and cove bits already aligned. That calls for
: shop space and a commitment to buying tools for just that one purpose.

: Cost wise: If you already have a router and a router table then you'll just
: pay about $40 for the bits. I haven't seen many other uses for such bits,
: so I'd say they are fairly dedicated to just this one project. You might
: get most of your money back by selling them to another boatbuilder. Then
: again, for that same $40 you could buy a very nice plane -- and that tool
: could be used for MANY other projects over a lifetime or two. Of course if
: you don't have a router and a router table, or a shaper, then the added
: cost of those tools significantly increases the initial cost of the boat,
: although they too can be used for other projects later.

: The only jig you might want would be something simple to hold the strip on
: edge. There is a photo already posted showing one made from a 2x8. You
: could just as easily use a 2x4 with a slot or groove running down it. I'd
: like the slot to be a bit wider than a strip (maybe 5/16ths for a 1/4 inch
: strip) so I could tighten the strip in place with a few small wedges
: (easily whittled from scraps of strips.) Others seem to like cutting the
: slot very close to the thickness of the strip and relying on friction to
: keep it from sliding. Both ways work.

: Here's a plan: Shoot for cutting a nice, tight-fitting groove, about 1/4 to
: 3/8ths deep, and if you mess up and make it too wide, don't waste another
: 2x4, just cut a few wedges.

: hope this helps

: PGJ