Mike,

I would not use scarfed strips for 'aggressive' bends. The result will not be as fair as an un-spliced strip. Similar to bending a strip with a knot in it.

Experiment with a heat gun and different materials. If just going for a few curved strips where weight won't really be a factor, use clear ash. If you really want to go crazy, steam, soak or boil those strips before bending/clamping in place. But, you will have to wait a while 'days' for the wood to dry out[shrink back to size] before proceeding- gluing. Beware, Soaking-etc. may leech some of the color out of the wood.

Don't be afraid

Lew

Lew

We had the exact same thinking before starting our Shearwaters.  The most an 8 foot length of 3/4 by 1/4 cedar wanted to bend without twisting or seeming like it needed to be steamed, etc. is about 12 inches which is not a dramatic curve, but equals the curve of the shear strips.  Considering my inexperienced wife is building her boat, I decided no curves.  If we still want a curve, we will paint it.  A strip I cut down and routed for the king strip does not bend much better.

Lew, the shrinking-back-to-size part of the steaming equation is logical - in hind-sight...  I could have used the info nugget before embarking on my Hybrid Night Heron. http://cmharlan.blogspot.com

I'll keep it foremost in my mind for my next project.

Chris

Lew,

I'm planning to use a heat gun to do any bending, just some simple curves to separate areas of different color. I guess some experimentation is in order before the build.

Chris,

NICE BOAT! A full stripper is in my future at some point, but I'm using a hybrid to get some experience first.

Mike

Mike, my Night Heron is a Hybrid as well... a step up from the Passagemaker DInghy I built last year. My next project will also be a full stripper... thinking about the solo version of the microBootlegger.  //Chris