Bead and Cove Strips

As kits and plans for cedar-strip boat construction grow more accessible to aspiring boatbuilders, we have installed elaborate automated machinery in our Annapolis factory to produce first-rate bead-and-cove cedar strips at reasonable prices. Our strips are made to very tight tolerances, always of uniform thicknesses and with precisely cut beads and coves for smooth hulls. These are the same strips we use for our display boats. Cedar strip dimensions are 3/4" (18mm) wide and 1/4" (6mm) thick.

Boatbuilders assembling Guillemot kayaks from plans will use these strips. Strips come in 6 to 7-1/2 foot lengths, and may be simply butted or scarfed to length as required by the design.

3-foot lengths of bead-and-cove cedar are primarily intended for hobbyists.

Not sure how many strips you'll need? Click here for a handy formula for canoes and kayaks.

CLC kayak designs like the Chesapeakes and Mill Creeks, with their cambered decks, are natural subjects for conversion. The formula is simple and the carpentry straightforward. You'll need a sheet or two of disposable particle board, the "sheer clamp planing guides" from your kit, and a bundle of strips in contrasting colors. Click here to see instructions for converting CLC kits to "hybrid" decks.

We will try to accommodate special requirements for colors upon your request. No two trees are alike so colors will vary wildly along a spectrum from very dark to very light. Like a fish market, what we have depends on what the truck unloads each week.

With high demand for the darkest colors, and no guarantee that harvested western red cedar trees will offer up consistently dark colors, we have added Walnut to our pallet of colors. Walnut and has a lovely red-brown tint under epoxy, perfect for dark accent stripes. Best of all, it has a consistent color and grain.

Bundles of Western Red Cedar strips WITHOUT bead-and-cove edging are also available, and we now offer the router bits for cutting your own beads and coves.

Many builders use stains on strip-planked boats to change or enhance colors. Read all about staining wood-epoxy boats here.