: . . . I have two 8' long, 30" wide, 2"
: thick mahogany boards that I've thought about using. Due to the increased
: weight of Mahogany vs cedar, could I use 3/16 thick strips and still have
: enough strength?

First, If you have 2" thick mahogany boards which are indeed 30 inches wide, this is not the project to use them on. Boards that wide are very valuable. Sell them on e-bay and you might get enough to buy another small British car.

But, assuming this was a typo and your boards are either 10" wide, or (3" wide) you can certainly go for 3/16" strips. In fact, you can go even thinner.
3/16 is a common thickness for cedar strips on many canoe and kayak designs. Working with a stronger wood whould allow you to go down to nearly 1/8th. I'd set my saw somewhere between 1/8th and 3/16th (let's say 5/32). That way any aggressive smoothing or fairing would still leave me with a workable thickness of wood.

I'd first set my saw to rip 3/4" pieces from the 2" boards. That would give me 3/4" x 2" boards. These I would flip 90 degrees and rip my 5/32" strips from them. Then I'd end up with nice 5/32 x 3/4 strips. I'd have quite a few boards which were all the same size, so I'd set my fingerboards to give even pressure and run all of them thru for the first cut. Then I'd re adjust the fingerboards for the second cut, and again run all the strips (which should again be the same size as the first strip). This way I'd get a lot of cuts between setup changes, and all the strips should be nice and even in size.

The alternative would be to rip your strips 5/32 x 2", (readjusting the fingerboards with each pass) and then rip all those strips into narrower ones. If your wood is a nominal 2', and really a bit over 1 1/2 inches, then you could rip each strip in half to get 5/32 x 3/4 strips. If it is indeed a full 2" thick, then you might rip each 2" strip into thirds and get pieces a bit under 5/32 x 5/8. But I think that is a lot of time on the saw, more sawdust, and less useable strips from your boards.

As for glass. Look at your surroundings. If you are expecting a lot of really rough landings on rocks, use 4 ounce glass and double up the bottom for added ding protection. Otherwise, 6 ounce glass will be heavier and use more resin, making it heavier still. We just don't hear about 4 ounce glass failing, so I'd stay with that. 6-ounce may be more than you need.

Some people have suggested that mahogany may be a bit oily and that after you've sanded it fair, it should be wiped down with a rag soaked in acetone (which is allowed to evaporate) just prior to your application of the seal coat of resin. After you've sealed the wood you would treat additional applications of glass and resin in the usual manner.

Hope this helps.

PGJ