I use 1 1/8 strips all of the time. but I don't do the bending sideway (across the deck). that's the measurement with the bead and cove finished. I make kayaks with a pretty small radius chine and have no problem fairing them. I hit them with a small hand plane to cut the corners, sand with a makita 6inch right angle sander and then with a random sander to finish. I never try to get rid of the saw marks on the flats of the strips before I glue,by planing, you are going to be sanding the whole thing any way< but I do have a fairly smooth finish on the strips from the table saw. I use redwood exclusively. Keep Paddlin' David Barrett