Chris:

> 1) Cost of wood - I read a message that indicated that $30 wood was enough
> for a boat and another message that said $70 of wood = $3000 of strips.
> What would I expect to pay for enought pre-cut strips for Guillemot. I
> dont own a table or band saw, so to cut my own boards I would need to buy
> one (or find somewhere else to do this). How long would this take for a
> novice?

I think Ross gave a reasonably accurate estimate of the cost of strips for most designs. If you can find a lumberyard, millwork, or local carpenter, you might be able to get strips at a reasonable price that is less than buying bead and cove strips, but it will be more than buying the boards. Many lumber yards will give a few free cuts. They will charge for making many cuts. Work with them on the cost of these cuts and see if they will rip your strips for you. if they want to charge you a buck a cut, then tack $160 onto the price of the uncut lumber and you can have 160 10 foot strips. It might be cheaper to pay them $40 to $50 an hour. In two hours you can easily get enough strips for a boat. In this case you would tack $80 to $100 on the cost of the lumber.

Check in your local telephone book for carpenters and call a few. Tell them what you are doing and offer $50 an hour plus the price of the wood for them to rip the strips for you. If you stress that you are not in a big hurry, and they can do this when they have slack time in the next two weeks, you should be able to find someone to help you out. When dealing with a professional carpenter you might even get them to pick the lumber for you, and deliver the cut strips to your house. There are a few people in your area who read this board who might be willing to cut your strips, too. Maybe you can negotiate a price for their services, or offer to swap labor on (help sand) their boat project.

> 2) Do I have any chance of accuratly creating form templates from the
> table of numbers or will I save huge time and agravation by buying plans/
> precut forms.

If you struggled with highschool geometry then buy the forms. If you are trying to save money, this is an area where you can swap time for money. Laying out these things is more time consuming than difficult.

> 3) If cove and Bead boards are not used, are the straight edges planed to
> close the gaps on the outside of the boat?

Sometimes. A hand plane is almost a necessary tool. The cedar is very soft, and planing the edge of a strip to make the edges match a bit better is about as difficult as sharpening a pencil in a pencil sharpener. You have about 70 to 80 (full length) strips to install. If you could do each one in a minute your boat would be stripped in under 2 hours. This aint going to happen! Fitting a strip will take a few minutes, and you will be using the plane to make the strip fit. Beveling the edge, if necessary, is part of that process.

> 5) I have a finished basement that no one uses.

But can you get the finished boat out without tearing out a wall? Check this first.

Best of luck with your building. Take some pictures are you go along. Holler if you need help.

Paul G. Jacobson