i got my bits from MLCS (do a google) they were the cheapest i could find at 39$ with free shipping. lee valley had 37.5 with 5$ shipping which is more.

the bits worked out great and would easily do several more boats. the cedar is soft and i noticed no loss in the quality of cut from the firt to the last strip.

i did not thickness plane anything because i dont have one. it wasnt necessary becasue youll have to plane the whole boat round anyway. thickenss probably doesnt matter. but i did like the way the thicker strips fit together. more snug. i did all the strips in about a day, but ran out of "good" stips about half way thought the deck and ended up milling some more.

just make sure you do a bunch extra so you can color match and select for the combing.

use lots of feather boards and adjust the router table well. some of my strips i did not cut deep enough, and the second batch was much better than the first. they were slightly thicker and depper bead and cove. i suggest you doo afew strip and gle together some panels to see how thwey fit then sand and plane them. you can use them for the cheek plates and will be goo practice to see if the router is set up well and weather you should worry about the thickness.