One half of the deck

The rest of the port side went on with out a hitch.  Tape is a good clamp.   Got other projects for the rest of the week so the other side will have to wait for a few days.

I'm back!

Took a few weeks off this project in order to get the big boat ready for the water.  Also started another mothboat for a fellow up in NY.   The strips are going on nicely.  I had to stop here because the bend at the bow was getting severe and I needed to let the glue dry before any more go on.  I think I have enough strips to finish the deck.  We'll see how that goes after the port side gets done.

                                                         Big boat!

Stripping the deck

It always looks like you got a lot more strips when you cut them up.  But just put them on the boat and they disappear from the pile real fast.  I got 26 strips on.  That's a good day for me.  Two hour max is my work limit with strips.  They get on your nerves fast and then you start to make mistakes.  Besides, I ran out of glue.

Cedar strips

A few weeks ago I got some cedar from Lowe's .  Whenever I'm in the store I visit there cedar rack.  They usually have a full selection of boards in most sizes.  I look through the 6 inch wide pile and pull out all the best sticks.  I look for minimum knots ans good color.  I  usually find one or two great boards.  An 8 footer costs about 12 bucks.    That's compared to a specialty lumber store that has clear cedar for about 4 bucks a foot.  That comes to about 32 bucks for the same lumber.  When it's cut up into strips you can't see the difference.  The two boards gave me about 38 strips.  I cut them 4 mil thick.  I'll probably need two more sticks. I'm going to butt join the strips.  Not going to do bead and cove.  The curve is shallow, not like a canoe where you need the bead and cove to make the tight curve.