Hi Rich, I am just finishing the stripping on a Guillemot. I used 3/4" strips and decided to try building it without gapper strips (Nick Schade calls them "cheaters"). It looks good, but probably wasn't worth all the extra clamping, gluing, and swearing I did. Next time I would use the gappers.

If you are getting along well without them, then by all means, continue without them!

Shawn

> I am building a Redfish Silver, and I decided to use all 5/8 strips. The
> Silver has a fairly high bow, and it is usually recommended to use a
> gapper strip to reduce the bending of the strips at the bow. My strips
> seem to accommodate this bend without much stress. Should I bother with a
> gapper? Thanks for your recommendations.

> Rich Bechtold