I'm strip building an expedition single and I have very little practical experience with wood working tools. So far, I've built the stands and the box beam and I'm working on cutting out the forms. Looking ahead to the next steps, I've priced out some Cedar for the strips. I intend to do the milling of 10' 2x4s or 2x6s to save money. While reading a couple of different resources, (Nick Schade, The Strip Built Sea Kayak, Canoe Craft by Ted Moores and the Internet), I notice that the cove and bead dimensions are given to match the wood diameter - 1/4". I also noticed that the cove edges are often called thin and fragile. Also, I wondered about the ability to precisely mill 1/4" coves in strips which will be dimensionally variable due to my inexpert handling and cutting. I wondered if the cove could be made larger, say 5/16" or 3/8" which might have the following advantages:
1) The cove edges will be shorter and thicker and therefore stronger
2) The larger radius might allow a bit more latitude for dimensional variability in the strip thickness when cutting the cove.
3) The larger bead and cove may not fit together as tightly as a 1/4" joint, but the joint may still fit tighter than a lap joint.

Can anyone save me time by telling me why the 1/4" cove was selected, and whether a larger cove and bead is an option?

Thanks
Sion