: I am a first time builder and have gone through the same exercise
: -- to use B&C or Rolling Bevel. I decided to use Rolling
: Bevel because:

: 1) I wanted very tight joints.
: 2) I did not care how long it would take.
: 3) I am a bit of a perfectionist.
: 4) I found that the guys who build wood strip Kayaks everyday
: (Guillemot, Redfish, and others) used Rolling Bevel for their
: own personal prize winning Kayaks.

: To prove that I could do it I created a "Practice" piece
: where I took about a two foot section of the Kayak and actually
: built a section using Rolling Bevel. I learned a lot from the
: process and made plenty of mistakes, but I now have confidence
: to continue with the real stripping.

: Attached is a picture of my test piece.

: Hope this helps.

: Mike

I've gone and started my own test piece and I'm finding similar things. I can do it, it's both easier and a bit trickier than I thought and it's going to be great fun! Reading and learning from others is great, but nothing beats the experience gained from actual hands-on work. Now, I just have to finish up my end forms and settle on a final design - tho it seems that as long as the design is finished before I start the deck, I'm golden.

I've also started a blog to follow my construction - reddragonsbuild.wordpress.com Pics of my own test piece (not as pretty as Mike's) are up. I should be adding to it in a bit of a flurry right now to get it all caught up, then added to regularly as I build.

J