I used 2x4 boards that I purchased at a specialty wood dealer. They were a bit more expensive than some of the other places, but they had the best wood and let me spend over an hour handpicking my boards. I decided that I was going to use 5/8 inch wide strips rather than 3/4 inch because they are supposed to be easier to strip with. The grain I wanted was on the 4 inch dimension of the wood, so I cut each board down into 5/8 x 1 3/4 strips (the 2" side is actually 1 3/4). Then I cut those down to 1/4 inch thickness. If I were to do it again, I'd make the strips just a little over 1/4" and run them though a planer to make them all a consistant 1/4 inch. I used featherboards and they turned out ok, but I think a planer is a better way.

Like the other guys, I did cove and bead on the router table. Feather boards are critical here to hold the wood against the fence and down on the table. I also found that feeding them in the direction the bit is spinning gives a much better edge, this goes against what I'd normally do for a router, but it works much better in this case. Just be careful not to let it shoot out away from you.

I also did my deck by planning square edges, I don't think that there is a better way of doing it if you are going to have any kind of pattern on the deck. As the others said, by the time I got to the deck, I had enough confidence to go at it with a handplane and my sanding table.

Depending on the boat you plan on building, I would also recommend maybe milling some strips that are 1/2" wide x 1/4" thick, I didn't but will for my next boat. I found that in those areas where you are bending and twisting the wood in a fairly quick transition(hull/stern), the thinner strip would've made the project much easier.

I found that the best bit of advice and I got a lot of it here, is just to start the project. You'll learn more that way than any other. My boat was started on Thankgiving weekend last year, that's when I started milling strips and it looks like it'll be done sometime over Labor Day weekend. I have a young daughter and so I did the majority of the work after she went to bed, an hour here and there each day. When I started fiberglassing I had to steal some family time in order to take advantage of chemical bonding of the epoxy layers, but nothing that's created any problems thus far with SWMBO.

: I'm preparing my materials gathering for my first project, and have a
: question about wood. It seems like the best way to save money is by buying
: lumber locally, rather than getting precut strips (from places like
: Newfound). My question is for the people who cut their own strips... do
: you also cut cove and beads (that's the term.. right?)? How many people
: out there just use the rectangular strips in their kayaks? It looks a lot
: easier (always a plus on the first boat) using the curved boards.

: One more question... how thick do you get your wood from lumber yards? 1/4
: inch? Thanks.