Techniques tend to work together as a system. I have been building using an internal strongback, cove and bead strips and staples for a while. It works well and is quick. I don't find the staples offensive and the cove and bead strips generally make a very tight joint. However, sometimes the C&B actually make it harder to make a really tight joint and if you are trying for completely flawless (probably a pointless exersize) then the staples are a flaw (minor but still there).

Rob's hot-glue system is the most efficient I've heard for avoiding staples. His system needs an external strongback. And if you are going to avoid staples you should probably worry about getting super tight seams between the strips, and this might mean hand beveling each strip. Caring about one flaw leads to care about others.

The care to produce a truly flawless boat will always require more time than to build with less care and accepting a few minor blemishes. The difference between the final quality does not need to be that much and the time difference to achieve the varying quality also does not need to be that much. But, there is an attitude difference required.

My concern with first time builders who want to make a piece of fine furnature is that they will make the project endless. There was one former reader of this BBS who spent 450 hours building a drop-dead gorgeous boat, but swore he would never build another boat because he burned himself. And furthermore he probably won't have much fun using his boat because he invested so much care and effort making it he doesn't want to mess it up.

I have more fun with boats than with coffee tables. I generally want to use my boats fairly hard and as such care a little less about flawless construction. I feel that by being a little less concerned about the building process I make the boat more usable. While I don't like it when I hit a rock hard and make long deep scratch, I wasn't trying to make a flawless boat to begin with, so another flaw is no big deal.

Since I fully intend to scratch my boat once it is done, a few 100 staple holes and the occassional less-than-perfect joint is no big deal.

Each builder needs to evaluate what they want. If you just want a boat, don't get caught up in being too careful, you will do a better job with your next boat. If you want to make a work of fine art, take care with every step and try and be as close to perfect as you can with every thing you do. The pay off will be amazing. Choose what you want and do what it takes to get it.

BTW, even when I am really embarassed by the workmanship of one of my boats, all I get is compliments on how it looks. High standards of workmanship is something you need to do for yourself, because almost no one else will notice. The effort is worth it, but it needs to be a personal goal.