Over the last 3 days I set about the task of cutting my 50 3/4″ strips down to 1/4″ thick. I now have 118 strips measuring 1/4″ x 3/4″ x 16′. These thin strips will actually create the hull for my sailboat. If you look closely you can see that packs of strips are wrapped together. Each pack of strips is one plank of wood. I’ve kept each cut up plank of wood together so that I can lay the strips on the boat in book-matched style. The extra effort this involved will be worth it in the end, as the hull will have a very distinctive look.
The third and final phase of milling the cedar strips is next. I will have to run both edges of each strip through a router, cutting a cove on one edge and a bead on the other. This will enable the strips to fit together seamlessly as I lay them on the frame to shape the hull.
Time to cut the 118 strips: 8 hours over 3 days.
Total project time: 21 hours.