: Hi everyone,

: I started installing my strips and I hand bevel each of them. It takes me
: about an hour to 1.5 hours to do one strip to ensure a very good fit. How
: long do you suggest leaving the clamps on. I would like to do multiple on
: the weekend, but I am concerned that the strips especially at the stern of
: my Return will pull away.

: Andreas

Hi Andreas,
I have my first two strips of 1/4"x 1" accent walnut put on the shear. That is a hard bend. My bend is extreem with a 28" beam and 12' length and then an upward swoop at the bow and stern, and I am building without staples. After clamping the strip, I heated it with a heat gun to see if it would relax enough to keep its shape. It didn't. Then I steam it with an iron and heat gunned it and no luck. What did work was putting wet towels on it while clamped overnight, then drying it with the heat gun and it kepted its shape. Then I just tacked it in place with hot glue.

Hank, who contributes on this board said that he used a 6" wide drywall putty knife with 120 or 150 grit sandpaper stuck to both sides on one, and another with sandpaper on just one side. He slides the papered blade between the wood and sands for a perfect fit. He has only tried this on S&G plywood but doesn't see why it won't work for strips. I will be trying this next week.

John