: Thanks for your thoughts John, I appreciate your taking the time.

: I understand the idea of using a flexible batten to identify the
: fair curve of the maple line, in other words the fairness of the
: border curve between the dark and light cedar. I am not too
: worried about that aspect of the fairness. It is the fairness of
: the dark and light cedar surfaces that I am concerned with, not
: the fairness of the curve of the boundary line between them. I
: anticipate that the surface shape of the initial section(s) I
: put in should be fine because I can support the strips for one
: or two stations past the cut line before making the cut. By
: supporting the strips well past the cut line until the entire
: section is filled and the glue is dry, the shape of the deck
: surface after the cut should be pretty much exactly what it
: would be if the deck were continuous rather than divided into
: light and dark sections. My concern is that the final deck
: section which is butted to the cut line may not be shaped the
: way it would if the deck were continuous because the strips are
: not forced to flex the same way past the cut line. Because of
: this, the dark and light surfaces may not be fair across the cut
: line. Perhaps I am concerned with something that is not really a
: problem, but, as this is my first boat, I thought it prudent to
: ask before doing the work.

: Thanks for any advice you or anyone else can provide.

: Best regards,

: Allan Edie

John's advice is a good one, while it seems easy to make a fair curve it's really one of the most difficult things in boatbuilding and any unfairness you'll instantly see when the boats outside the shop and you can get away from it. Now that I've got a bigger shop again, I can start collecting various long battens. Each has different bending characteristics so you use what works best. Actually the PVC (vinyl) trim sold in the big box lumber yards works pretty well for flexible battens, it has no grain to alter the curves and is pretty flexible, also cheap and doesn't change shape with humidity changes, all problems with normal wood battens.

Bill H.