Making Your Own Strips

[WWheeler]

Strip building has become a fast and popular building method for canoes, and for large craft with speed strip planking. (There's another thread on this issue.) However, the cost of the "canoe strips" is more than exorbitant, it's criminal. Noah's quotes $560 for enough strips to make a canoe. Add to that, the cost of slathering it all in epoxy, and it's beyond belief.

I'd like to know if it's feasible to make your own. I've seen so-called router "canoe bits" that are used to make the tongue and groove needed for the strips. You have to cut the strips from a plank, then run them through the router to put the TNG into them. With this, you could use wood that's closer to home, such as Eastern white cedar. I guess that you could also make your own speed strip planking. The manufacturer of Speed Strip makes some claims, but I find it hard to tell from ordinary TNG. However, the strips are quite light, and easy to break. All cutting has to be fairly precise.

Any comments on the feasibility of this?

[ 09-30-2002, 03:43 PM: Message edited by: WWheeler ]

[Garrett Lowell]

WW, this is very feasible. It's actually called bead and cove; tongue and groove is square in nature, bead and cove is round.

If you have a decent table saw you can rip your own strips. If you have a router table, you can add the bead and cove as well.

When I have cut strips (admittedly, not for a boat but for a miniature replica of a 1920's Amilcar Skiff race car), the biggest problem I had was support of the strip after it was cut (a cheap folding table worked wonders here, but I still broke a strip here and there). I have two routers and a router table, so it was easy to add the bead and cove, but one router will work just fine.

Do you have access to this type of equipment?

[ 09-30-2002, 03:54 PM: Message edited by: Garrett Lowell ]

[Pete Dorr]

Is your time worth the money saved ?

Try milling a strip from some soft wood scrap. Cut to rectangle on your tablesaw, then make 2 passes on your router table (bit style does not matter). Time this operation and figure out your time per linear foot then multiply by what you would have bought to get a rough time to mill all the stock.

If you are ok with trading this amount of time for the money you would save then definitly mill your own.

Make sure you put featherboards in the right places so your strip's don't get milled wrong.

Don't forget earmuffs as you will have 2 loud tools going for a long time.

You will also need to buy the router bits so figure that in your cost. This cost would be negated if you did multiple boats or a strip built shed.

Let us know what you come up with for a per foot milling time. Might be useful for others thinking about doing the same.

[ 09-30-2002, 03:54 PM: Message edited by: Pete Dorr ]

[Jim M]

What else can be strip planked? A shed?

[Todd Bradshaw]

My unofficial guess is that probably 70% or better of the strippers being built these days are done with homemade strips. You need a good table saw or a radial arm that's big enough that it's head doesn't wander around (a problem with many of them), a narrow kerf blade and most importantly, a good in-feed/out-feed system, preferably with rollers. You need good light, good help and a high tolerance for sawdust. With a good set-up, it takes between ten and fifteen minutes to reduce a 20' 1x12 to strips.

Now the bad part....Irregularity in thickness can be a problem if the system is not extremely solid and stable. You need to be able to lean on, push and guide the boards through the saw without causing the saw or tables to wander. Strips that have thin spots are a real headache to work with. I suppose that if you had a planer or thickness sander it would be ideal, but I never had one. If you want bead and cove edges (you can also build a perfectly fine stripper without them) it's just a matter of buying the proper bits and setting up some sort of router table with at least enough in-feed/out-feed support to keep things in line.

For one boat, it's probably cheaper to buy strips than to construct the system that is needed to really do the job. It's also easier to learn the building process with really uniform strips, which is what you should both expect and demand if you buy them. On the other hand, I'm trying to remember whether I actually know anybody who just built one stripper and quit. There is always something you want to try on the next boat and who needs more reason than that to keep building?

[NormMessinger]

Well, yes, except for me at least, cutting the strip is not quite as complicated as Todd makes it out to be. Better to be pessimistic and avoid disapointment though I suppose. I cut all my strips by myself. I don't want anybody messing with the direction and speed of the output. Set up your infeed and outfeed supports and go to it.

I was going to question the need for bead and cove as well. Maybe that's what makes the difference between the living room furnature grade kayaks one sees on display at the boat shows and the stuff we aren't afraid to use. The epoxy in the staple holes are more bothersome to my eye than the tiny gap between strips on the outside of the hull. The concave side fits tight anyway.

And finally, a narrow kerf carbide tooth saw blade is a worth while investment. It'll cut down on waste, and take less power if you don't have a substantial saw.

Joy to ya.

--Norm

[WWheeler]

Excellent comments guys. Sounds quite feasible, and if I had to buy some more tools, that would be all to the good. The long feed out for the table saw would be a good item anyway.

[ 09-30-2002, 04:35 PM: Message edited by: WWheeler ]

[Paul Scheuer]

Never actually done it myself but I'll put in a word for making a pair of bead & cove planes. Nothing like a long, slow, quiet, dust free walk down a piece of lumber with a sweet-smelling curl rolling out, to reward your efforts.

[Carl Simmons]

WW,

I built my stripper by ripping my own strips from cedar lumber bought directly from my local lumber yard. Since the cedar was rough sawn, I would first rip off the edge then begin rippin my strips. I didn't bother with the bead and cove either, I just filled the larger gaps in with thickened epoxy. I also used wider strips where there wasn't any compound bends to cut down on waste.

Here is some pics of the finished canoe.
http://www.geocities.com/simmonscarl98/Canoe/Canoe-Bottom.jpg

http://www.geocities.com/simmonscarl98/Canoe/Canoe-Profile2b.jpg

Carl

[Dale Genther]

I've built two strip plank canoes, both from strips I made myself. The first one I used my tablesaw to make the strips. Evan with a thin kerf blade there was quite a bit of waste. For the next canoe, as an experiment, I used my band saw to cut the strips. I carefully set up the bandsaw with a fence and feather boards and a good blade. The only difference in the strips was the bandsaw method had the saw markes on the strips, but with the sanding I have to do to fair the canoe, they all dissapeared. The end result was thet both canoes (Both Wee Lasses) turned out looking the same, but the second one used a good bit less wood. I used the bead and cove router bits that Grizzly sells as canoe making bits, which worked out well

[180]

I'm still sanding the outside of my "Wee Lassie". I ripped my own strips, then coved and beaded them. It really wasn't that difficult. It took a couple evenings to do...
Ripping the strips on the table saw was easier than I thought it would be. Running the strips across the router table was not so bad either. Keep the strips supported with tables. I bought my bits from Lee Valley Tools. Also make the strips a hair wider than 1/4 inch. It'll mean more sanding later but the edges of the groves will be easier to keep from being damaged. Take Mac's advice, when you start stripping the canoe run the beads up not the groves. Those groves are very easy to damage.

I used a 7-1/4" thin kerf blade on the table saw but I still ended up with a lot of saw dust. Between ripping and routing, I have an entire 32 gallon trash can filled to the top with saw dust.

Also, in the overall scheme, the wood is not really that expensive. It's less than half of the cost. Don't skimp, buy good lumber. Consider western red cedar, sassafras, or red wood. smile.gif

[JimD]

Originally posted by Todd Bradshaw:
You need a good table saw or a radial arm that's big enough that it's head doesn't wander around (a problem with many of them), a narrow kerf blade and most importantly, a good in-feed/out-feed system, preferably with rollers. With a good set-up, it takes between ten and fifteen minutes to reduce a 20' 1x12 to strips.

Now the bad part....Irregularity in thickness can be a problem if the system is not extremely solid and stable. You need to be able to lean on, push and guide the boards through the saw without causing the saw or tables to wander. Strips that have thin spots are a real headache to work with. A timely thread for me because I will soon be amassing home made strips for a sloop which I will also bead and cove. I'm thinking if I feed a 2X4 throught the table saw I can make 3 strips 1 1/2" by a little over 1" with minimal concern about irregularities in thickness because I won't be cutting a wide enough board for a minor wabble in the cuts to turn into a big problem. Does this make sense, I mean using something like a 2X4 instead of 2X12?

[JimConlin]

Another argument for milling your own strips is taht you have control over their color. The store-bought strips I've known, while dimensionally perfect, are all over the place in their grain and color. Makes the boat blotchy.

Carefully select your boards for consistent color and grain. I try to get consecutive boards.

[Greg G]

I have helped on a few strippers and there are one or two things I found made the process easier. The first is to make a trough (sp? troff)out of a two by whatever (The width has to be wider than the stock you are ripping from) for accepting the strips and plank as they come off the table saw, if that is the way you will go.|__| The sides should be at least as high as the strips.The trick is to have it supported and leveled so there is no interruption in running the plank through the saw. The sides help prevent the strips from twisting and getting caught on anything and fully supports both the stock material and strip at the same time. We made our own legs to support the trough out of one by fours sort of sandwich board style with a wire spanning the bottom cross pieces, this way the hight relative to the table top can easily be adjusted by lengthening or shortening the wire./\--\ Also we used these same sandwich boards, only with a pice of PVC pipe screwed to the top, as infeed supports for the stock we were ripping the strips from. The PVC is slippery and smooth and works the same as a roller but doesn't have the tendancy to "dogwalk" your stock in an undesired direction as a slightly missaligned roller does. The second thing I would recommend if you are using a table saw to rip with is to get a good hollow ground combination saw blade. You will find that one of these blades is just about as good as a planer blade, at less of a cost and a thinner kerf. Just make sure it is well sharpened before using it. We found these blades don't make the stips chatter and will give a more uniform stip width as a result. As an aside, Lee Valley have a great blade trueing attachment which might be used on a thin kerf carbide blade to give the same result. I havn't used one so I don't Know for certain. But all the other tools I have from Lee Valley are top notch. Might be worth a try.

Good luck Greg

[180]

One thing that I did when I ripped the strips that I think helped was to remove the table saw fence. I C-Clamped a 12 board in it's place. That way it was easy to get the stock up against it for almost the entire cut without it wandering.
This set-up worked good when I ripped 1/8" by 12' long strips out of mahogany to make the laminated stems...

When I ran the strips through the router table I used a 4 foot board as a fence. I hope this helps... smile.gif

[Dave Hadfield]

Will, I have a shop with table saw, good infeed and outfeed tables/worbenches, and I have the 1/4" bead-and-cove router bits I used in milling the strips for my canoe.

You're welcome to use the facility. Tell you what: buy a new, very thin-kerf 10" saw blade, bring your wood, and have at it.

The saw mill in Petersfield was goin to have some cedar in. Have them rough mill to 1" and either plane to 7/8", or use my planer here to do it.

As for the edgeing, I used a rube-goldberg arrangement and a cheap router table, but with enough featherboards it worked. We can build whatever's required.

The deal is anything you break, you fix, and if you nick an edge on the router bits, you can have them re-ground.

You might also want to mill your gunwales at the same time. Be my guest. That fellow has lots of ash and maybe some cherry.

I'm just west of Barrie. The shop is away from the house so you can make as much noise and dust as you like. Mind you, you'll have to put up with me peering over your shoulder once in a while....

[Dave Hadfield]

JimD, sure, but there's better wood in a 2x12 than in a 2x4. These days they'll cut a little spruce and make 4 2x4s out of it. They still have to find a big one to make a 2x12.

[JimConlin]

For slicing, where kerf width is an issue, I found a 6 1/2" Bosch blade intended for a cordless saw. The kerf is about .085" . Cuts nicely.

Now and then someone will mention a magical Matsu****a blade sold by Dave Carnell. Could be worth a search.

[garland reese]

Are you building a kayak or canoe? It is entirely possible to turn out a vey nice small boat by using square edged strips. I did my Wee Lassie II that way. You will have to bevel some of the strips, but it is fairly easily done with a small finger plane to cut a rolling bevel on the strip so that it will fit up against the one below. There are other methods for getting a close fit too. Have you looked at the kayak building bulletin board at Guillemot Kayaks. they are pretty single-minded there (kayaks, kayaks, or kayaks mostly), but there are some very good, even exquisite examples of strip building there and lots of very useful ideas are shared. It is a good bunch and they will be glad to give you some advice.

[David Tabor (sailordave)]

I built my HIAWATHA (Ted Moore design) out of $100 worth of RWC from the local lumber/hardware store and ripped it (thin kerf blade is mandatory!) and then put a bead and cove on with the Craftsmen router and router table I had at the time. Believe me if I can do that with those tools.... you can do it w/ just about anything. Oh and put the bead on first so when you make the second pass through for the cove you don't damage the cove edges, they're real fragile! As someone else mentioned I had a jig and clamps/fingerboards to hold the strip tight against the bits.
If I were to do it again I would cut the strips a hair thick and surface one side in the planer to even up the strips, don't worry about the other side; use that on the outside of the boat where it will get sanded down. I've thought of building another boat and even considered buying them already milled...for many of the reasons above I probably wouldn't.

BTW I got my neighbor (and coworker at the time) to help me rip the 16-18' boards and real quick "took a break" SWMBO does a much better job as shop apprentice helping rip lumber than just about anyone I've worked w/. Doesn't like sailing but I think I'll keep her anyway. ;)

[cs]

Been following this thread with intrest, being as I'm supposed to be working on my canoe. After reading this I went down and ripped a test strip out of short piece of lumber and was pleased at how well it ripped. Haven't tried the bead & cove yet. I will have to make a router table. The one I have is a cheap store bought plastic one and the bits wont fit through the hole.

Let me backbrief you on what this post says to make sure I get it right.

First you need to get a thin kerf blade and adequate finger boards. Rip the strips just a little thick. You dont neccassarly need the bead & cove, you can just bevel the edge with a plane. But if using bead & cove route the bead first. Oh and don't forget plenty of infeed and outfeed support.

One thing I do question though is which way to put the cove on the boat. Someone in this thread said to put the bead up. I would think that when stripping you would want the cove up so it would allow the glue to stay in the cove while you put the next strip on. Clarify please.

Chad

[Dale Genther]

On the two canoes I built, I put the bead up. This was to prevent the bungie cords I used to hold the freshly glue strips together from breaking the cove sides.

[JimD]

Originally posted by Dave Hadfield:
JimD, sure, but there's better wood in a 2x12 than in a 2x4. These days they'll cut a little spruce and make 4 2x4s out of it. They still have to find a big one to make a 2x12.Yes, that makes sense, Dave. Thanks for the tip.
jimd

[180]

Put the beads up. You can put a lot of pressure on them without damaging them. I posted photos of the Wee Lassie I'm building a couple weeks ago... See "Wee Lassie Progress" or
http://media5.hypernet.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=005525

I only used a couple nails (at the bend in the bilge) and no staples.

I used 4" C-Clamps with a wood wedge to temporarily hold each strip. Then I used ropes DIRECTLY on either side of each mold (not in the middle between molds or you'll end up with a real funny shaped canoe) to secure the strip while the glue hardened. I secured the ropes to the canoe with a half hitch. The ropes were quick, easy, and you can really pull the strips together without damaging them. I think you can get them a whole lot tighter with ropes than with staples or nails because of all that tension in the rope. I only put one strip at a time. One in the morning before work and one in the evening. I don't think this system would work if you wanted to put 3 or 4 strips on at a time.

Like Mac said in his book...Put the beads up. You'll be happier with real tight joints and no damaged coves.

Also I routed the beads before the coves, by accident, I guess. In hindsight I'm glad that happened. :eek:

[cs]

What I have done for clamping is I have cut a series of wholes in the forms which I will use for clamping. I also read somewhere to use duct tape to hold individual strips on. Now remeber I ain't started stripping yet so this is all theoraticly.

Chad

[Barrett Faneuf]

I built one canoe and two sea kayaks out of homemade strips.

In all cases I used homemade fingerboards both before and after the tool to control the strips through ripping and routing. Quite a bit of wood ended up on the floor (and on me, in the air, etc etc). Lots has been said about that part.

I also did not want the staple holes visible in my bright-finished products. For light cedar strips for kayaks and canoes, i have 2 words: Hot Glue. Yup. No fiddling with ropes or bungees or holes in the stations. Just a dab of hot glue on the station and press the plank in place. I also did bead-facing-up construction, and used many spring clamps in an unconventional fashon to hold one plank to the next to close the glue seam properly. Worked great. When all's planked and sanded and glassed, a light prying blow is plenty to pop the hot glue from the stations and on you go.

Good luck!

[ 10-02-2002, 04:31 PM: Message edited by: Barrett Faneuf ]

[180]

Barrett,
I like your hot glue on the molds idea...
Very innovative solution... smile.gif
If I build another strip canoe, I'm definitely going to try that. Thanks...

[Steve Lansdowne]

Barrett - what do you mean by "many spring clamps in an unconventional fashion"? I'm debating how to clamp my Wee Lassie and don't want to go the staple route. Do you have any pictures?

[Barrett Faneuf]

Got dozens.. but they're all old-fashioned and i haven't a scanner.

Ok.. . Holding clamp open, press the hinge down against the plank - aka straddle the plank with the clamp jaws. While still holding down firmly, release clamp. The clamp jaws hold in a fingertip fashion on the (already installed) planks. Simple friction keeps them from sliding up. I needed something like 1 or 2 spring clamps between stations to hold the planks in place.

A timid attempt at ascii art:
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[Barrett Faneuf]

Ok, that was weird. It looks different between preview and actual post.

it's supposed to look like this:

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[Barrett Faneuf]

Odd..

Why does it say i'm unregistered???

Death code! death code!

[Barrett Faneuf]

one last, tired try.

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[Barrett Faneuf]

i give up. I'd erase those other posts.. but i can't.

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[Meerkat]

(ASCII art looks good in the text entry box but loses when you post it because the text entry box is a fixed width font and the actual post uses a proportional font.)

[Steve Lansdowne]

So, as I understand it, the spring of the clamp is against the edge of the strip being installed, and the tips of the clamp are pinching both sides of a previously installed strip that is adjacent to the strip being installed. Is this correct? Sounds creative. Any problem damaging the bead edge with the spring?

[ 10-06-2002, 01:48 PM: Message edited by: Steve Lansdowne ]

[capt jake]

It's really quite easy, once you have everything set up. I used 2 router tables, one with the bead bit, the other with the cove bit. Set up a nice long infeed and outfeed table for your say. It goes really fast. I can't recall exactly, but I beleive i spend about $80 on enough Ceday to build 1 and 1/2 kayaks. My Kayak (http://home.attbi.com/~jwentz4/kayak.htm)

Maybe something here will help.

[NormMessinger]

Wow! Capt. I was going to agree, yes it's easy enough but is it necessary. Then I looked at your kayak. Whew! Can't argue with success. What a beautiful boat.

--Norm

[capt jake]

Thanks Norm!! It really is very easy to do. I spent about a half of a day milling most of the strips. I then found it better to mill them as I needed, as widths changed. Leave the 2 router tables set up until the end...

Fun project! I am still using the left over strips in the present project (sail boat).

[RandallG]

WhenI built my cedar strip cano I found that I got a lot better quality of grooves from the router process if I cut my strips a little thicker to allow them to be passed through a planer that would make them consistent thickness. The grooves were better and I had less trouble fairing the hull in prep for glassing. Good luck!!!
There is a pic of mine on my cotact page of my website.

[WRB]

Something nobody else has mentioned, If you want to try something really challenging. In the old days, early 1900s, the builders would actually taper every strip to the form of the hull, similar to carval only a lot thinner. I will give this a go myself at some stage...

[mhoffman]

I started using clear packing tape instead of staples or clamps or bungee cords. It is very "stretchy" and thus can be used to horse a strip into place easier than clamps and remain under significant tension as the glus dries. Plus, no residue, no holes, no marks, and you can get rolls for about 69 cents apiece. Cheaper than staples and easier to remove. The fiber-reinforced stuff is a lot stronger but doesn't stretch.
Carrying the strip idea a step further, enter cold-molding where layers of strips are used to create "plywood" in shapes plywood never dreamed of, and using wood species plywood companies never would dream of, and if they did, I couldn't afford. (Think mahogany runabout...)
When cutting your own strips, bandsaws cut way, way down on the waste due to kerf thickness. Used hobby saws are easy to find and have adaquate cutting depth for strips and other boat parts. Get a good blade for resawing though.
Matt

[mhoffman]

I started using clear packing tape instead of staples or clamps or bungee cords. It is very "stretchy" and thus can be used to horse a strip into place easier than clamps and remain under significant tension as the glus dries. Plus, no residue, no holes, no marks, and you can get rolls for about 69 cents apiece. Cheaper than staples and easier to remove. The fiber-reinforced stuff is a lot stronger but doesn't stretch.
Carrying the strip idea a step further, enter cold-molding where layers of strips are used to create "plywood" in shapes plywood never dreamed of, and using wood species plywood companies never would dream of, and if they did, I couldn't afford. (Think mahogany runabout...)
When cutting your own strips, bandsaws cut way, way down on the waste due to kerf thickness. Used hobby saws are easy to find and have adaquate cutting depth for strips and other boat parts. Get a good blade for resawing though.
Matt

[Dave Hadfield]

"staples are fine," "staples are fine," "staples are fine," "staples are fine," "staples are fine," "staples are fine," "staples are fine," "staples are fine," "staples are fine," "staples are fine," "staples are fine," "staples are fine," "staples are fine," "staples are fine," "staples are fine," "staples are fine," ..........

[capt jake]

if I cut my strips a little thicker to allow them to be passed through a planer that would make them consistent thickness. The grooves were better and I had less trouble fairing the hull in prep for glassing Ah yes, I did the same! Makes a big difference! As for the planer, wiat until the Cedar is totally dry. The water has a funny way of beating itself to the surface.

[cs]

I started milling strips last night for my canoe. I got (12) 5/16" out of a 10' 1x6. This yealded a loss of 1-3/4" total which translates to a little over 1/8" per cut. So by the time I get through scarfing these pieces I will have (6) 20'+/- strips from one 10' 1x6.

I kinda of layed a couple up on the stations to see how they fit and I do believe that I will forgo milling them with the canoe bits I bought from Lee Valley. They seemed to fit pretty good at the worse spot, so all I should have to do is slightly bevel one edge.

Chad

[Vindo Joe]

Just wanted to echo an earlier suggestion to use hot glue for temporarily holding the strips in place.

The ship wright in my yard suggested the use of dowels and a hot glue gun to make a 3D pattern for a holding tank on Tucana. Ever since then my 30 year old hot glue gun has been seeing regular use for all sorts of projects where I have to quickly glue something in place temporarily. Before that I almost forgot I had the thing!