: Merry Christmas Joe!. WRC does not steam particularly well from
: what I have read.

: Planning the stripping pattern is the best way to ensure a
: relatively easy build. The first strip determines where the
: others are going to go, but it's not always easy to anticipate
: what will happen down the road. Even after you are started,
: there are a number of ways around the problem.

: The purpose of cheater strips is to reduce the amount of bending
: across the width of the strip. That is the stiffest bending
: direction, although the hardest bends are the ones that are
: partly across the width and partly across the thickness because
: the strips want to twist, and it can be difficult to get enough
: leverage to control that.

: The force required to bend a strip is directly proportional to the
: thickness and proportional to the cube of the width; so the
: thickness isn't the most important dimension. The force required
: for a twist if proportional to the square of the cross-sectional
: area and that really multiplies up in a hurry as strip
: dimensions are increased. So be careful if you use cheaters that
: you are not creating more twist along the new path of the
: strips.

: Reducing the strip width can make a great difference and eliminate
: the need for cheaters, but some do not like the appearance of
: different widths of strips. Changing the wood type from WRC
: which can be stiff especially if very dry, to something easier
: to bend like some pine species, is also helpful. I used both
: these tricks to avoid cheaters.
Thanks for the information. I did try cutting the strips in half with a pull saw but did not like the way the end of the cut closes up seams like a big seam there. I think I may make some strips alot narrower maybe even 3/8 for the part where it needs to twist and bend into the keel line. I am a little nervous of doing a beed and cove on such a narrow strip though. Joe