: Thanks for the input Bill, I think you are probably right with the 1/8th
: being too limber. The bootlegger has extra forms as Nick Schade built the
: first from 1/8" mahogany strips, which would help with sagging, but I
: think maybe 5/32" may be a bit better size, and get me to a not too
: heavy hull.

: My calculations, with my dodgy math skills, have led me to figure that NG
: Rosewood is 62% heavier than WRC, so 5/32" should result in an only
: slightly heavier hull.

: I do have a quite a bit of carbon cloth and foam core pre laminated with 400
: uni glass lying around. and was wondering whether I should either glass is
: some carbon "stiffener" frames at certain intervals, or use some
: of the duflex core to reinforce certain areas.

: With 5/32" strips, where is the likely weaknesses? Is the structure
: likely to distort? or is it more an issue of holding shape during
: stripping?

Afterthought (happens alot it seems lately) you might try using internal stringers glassed in after you skin the inside. Will make installing bulkheads a pain in the butt, but should compensate somewhat for the loss of stiffness. I'd use as light a wood as possible for the stringers and they don't have to be real thick either, perhaps the same as the strips, maybe 2 or 3 per side. Likely they all won't go all the way to the ends, don't matter.

Bill H.