Hey John,

Chiming in on what Mike said, consider the time trade off. I'm new to woodworking and am building a stripper, and since I had access to a table saw I decided to mill my own strips. I saved a ton of money picking over lumber at Menards to find big clear boards, but it took a few trips to find. Ripping all those strips and putting a bevel on them took me a couple days. A more experienced guy with access to clear wood could handle this in under a day. For him it's a no-brainer. I bought the forms because they were too cheap not to relative to what it would take me to get them right (but be careful who you order from).

When buying things as you need them, materials and tools, you also spread the cost out over many months vs. cutting a big check up front. Blunts the financial impact.

: Bob thank you for your thoughts and the careful accounting of your
: expenses. It helps clear the fog.

: I hope some others will chime in as well.
: This forum has been my hobby for more than a few years, love
: lurking. Some of the kayaks are true works of art/crafsmanship
: of the highest level.