Strip Build Wood Size

[beekeeper]

The strips are usually 1/4" thick / 3/4" wide, correct? If building a flat panel they do not have to have a bead and cove edge, correct? Is a panel constructed with strips stronger than a solid board of equal size?
How many usable strips are typically produced from a 1"x4" board? Unless you were building for the strip built look, seems you could plane or mill the boards to the thickness desired,build,and glass over.

beekeeper

 

[oldsparkey]

1" x 3/4 " is normal for a strip when making a stripper.

Going from the Red Wood boards I used to make the stripper pirogue.
Actually the 1 x 4 is 3/4 x 3 1/2 inches. The edges are rounded so you lost two strips off each board. Those strips can be used inside the boat as a support to lay a deck on when assembling the boat since they are out of sight. Or as spacers behind the inside railing.

Depending on the type of saw you use it will determine the amount of strips you get from each board , A wide saw blade will produce less strips then a narrow one , a wider cut , more wood wasted.
If you use a band saw then use the thinness and widest blade possible , a narrow blade will want to move around on you causing thick and thin spots as you cut the strips. I found that out the hard way which caused a lot of sanding with a belt sander to get everything just right.

I cut mine out , layed them on the work table and glued them together , when the glue set then I sanded them and finally put on some epoxy and glass. The whole process will give you a lot of wood flour to use later for fillets if you empty the dust bag from the sander into a zip lock bag.

Chuck.

Working with cedar or red wood wear a mask , the oils ( natural ones) in the wood can give you a really bad headache from breathing in the dust. They can even be toxic to some folks.

 

[gbinga]

Working with cedar or red wood wear a mask , the oils ( natural ones) in the wood can give you a really bad headache from breathing in the dust. They can even be toxic to some folks.

We should all try to protect ourselves from sanding dust as much as we can, regardless of the species. Chuck is right about certain species being more of an irritant than others (add mahogany to the list) but all wood dust is bad for your lungs.

George

By the way, if you are ripping with a table saw, a good quality thin kerf blade would probably be money well spent. Thin kerf will save wood, and a good quality blade designed specifically for ripping will do a smoother job and save some sanding. Lee Valley Tools would be a place to look.

 

[islandpiper]

bee, the reason you make strips it to allow for compound curves. the wider the stock, e.g. plywood panels, the more difficult or impossible are the curves. Witness the curves on a stripper canoe, impossible with plywood or even with two-inch wide strips....easy with 3/4" wide strips, easier (to form the curves) with 1/4" wide strips, (but lots more work and glue). OK?

piper

 

[Coal]

I guess that I'm still having a geezer moment trying to figure out the strip size for strip building. Oldsparkey stated that the normal size is 1" x 3/4". I realize that if you start with a 1 by, the nominal thickness is 3/4". Then, don't you cut the strips to 5/16" thick, leaving some sanding material? Then lay the strips down, on the sawn face, and glue what I would call the "factory" edge (3/4" thick) together. What's throwing me off is the 1" x 3/4" size. It doesn't take much to confuse me anymore.

 

[oldsparkey]

I said.......Actually the 1 x 4 is 3/4 x 3 1/2 inches. Anyway it was on the redwood boards I used....

With the board laying flat you slice off the 1/4 inch thick strips which are really 1/4 inch thick and 3/4 inches high or the thickness of the board you are cutting the 1/4 inch strips from.

I hate to phrase it this way ...... BUT.......
Think of the board as a London Broil steak laying on your plate , what thickness do you slice off at a time to serve to everyone. Normally it is 1/4 or 3/8ths of an inch per slice for the steak.

The board which is 3 1/2 inches wide , with luck you will get about 8 to 10 strips from. Remember the thickness of the saw blades takes away a lot of wood.

1/4 inch is plenty unless you really like to sand wood. Careful sawing sure saves a lot of sanding.... Unless you have a planeing machine to run the strips threw to make all of them uniform. The the factory edge will be 1/4 inch thick ( Not 3/4 that would make some thick panels ) which you glue (epoxy) to each other.

 

[tx river rat]

Here is a pic of the strips on my top deck

here it is glued

These strips are 1/4 thick and 3/4 wide
Ron

 

[Coal]

Chuck, thanks for setting me straight. I thought that I had it all figured out, but the top line of the second post on this topic is what through me off, (1" x 3/4 " is normal for a strip when making a stripper). I'll catch on someday.

Ron, thanks for sharing your building techniques. I've been following all of your builds with interest.

 

[Coal]

Interesting canoe building pictures here:
http://www.summerbeam.com/boats/index.html

 

[Jimmy W]

Beekeeper, I can't answer all of your questions, but there are other ways of making lightweight wood boats. J.H. Rushton and others were building lightweight boats back in the 1800's without epoxy or fiberglass. At least some of Rushton's boats were planked with 1/4 inch thick by around 4 inch wide cedar boards. He was able to bevel the edges so that they were no thicker where the edges of the boards overlapped. He produced some 11 foot long canoes that weighed 18 pounds over 100 years ago. A beautiful example of one of Rushton's guide-boats built in 1892 is here. http://www.vintagecanoeworks.com/restored/92jhr_saranac.html

 

[Wannabe]

If you use a 7 1/4 inch thin kerf skilsaw blade in your tablesaw you will have as thin a kerf as you can get.
Bob

 

[beekeeper]

Wannabe and Jimmy W
Thanks for your replies. I deleted the post not realizing you had posted. I was thinking too far outside the box and realized I knew the answers and did not want to confuse or waste anyone's time.

beekeeper