> I built 5 strip kayaks with flat edge. The joints are as tight as can be.
> Nick's brother is also an outlaw and builds with flat edge.I'm sure
> there's a lot out there. The Original Gilpatrick book that I learned from
> used flat edge. Setting up for cove and bead and doing it takes a good
> amount of time and I dont want to deal with it. I don't even like ripping
> all thet wood. IBead and Cove has major advantages in alingment but
> disadvantages on tapered ends. I like being able to make on-the-spot
> decisions about my wood choices as I work and don't want to have to rely
> on a pile of beaded strips only. With flat edge you do have to bevel which
> takes a little skill and some time. but you get really fast.

I agree with all the arguments not to use cove and bead - and the more artistic you get with the strips, the stronger the argument.

I haven't built a stip boat yet (next project), so please bear with me if this sounds ignorant:

I would imagine those stips are very flexible and somewhat fragile. Is it unusual to break strips while planing the edges to match the previous strip? Also, is it difficult to hold the strip while planing?

It just seems to me that it would be hard to keep the strips steady through all this. From experience, I know that a plane will chatter either when it starts to dull, or the wood grain isn't exactly straight. And if the stip isn't held straight, the chatter would probably be worse. When it chatters, the plane exerts pressure on the wood, which could break the stip.

Maybe it's not that big of a deal. If so, someone please put my mind at ease.

Then again, with the torque exerted by a router, that probably does some damage, especially if there are knots.