I don't just scarf strips, I scarf anything I have a mind to. The idea being I want to keep my scarfing ability sharp. So even if a scarf is not technically necessary I'll do it anyway. I have a homemade 7° (8:1) mitre that fits on my table saw. I have a homemade 7° fence for it too. I've also spent many nasty hours hand planing scarfs on full sheets of plywood. That is one part of my repertoire I don't intend to repeat any time soon. All my scarfs are the traditional cross-grain type that are in the how-to books.

: Hi,

: I have (finally) bought home my WRC strips for my kayak builds - pla at
: present is for a Micro Bootlegger and Mystery.

: One question I'm pondering is which way to scarf the joints in the wood -
: diagonally across the strip (easier, but still almost a 'but' joint but
: longer, and will leave a visible line) or through the strip from inside to
: outside (more work, but more surface area and if I'm careful they'll be
: invisible).

: I'm leaning towards option 2, despite the effort, although I've seen good
: results in going across the strip - I could place the strips so that the
: line runs un broken through the boat and provides a nice accent.

: So, any thoughts from those who've done this one or more times before? Real
: question is: should I make the effort to plane all strips front to back,
: will it become invisible and is it worth the effort?

: Thanks,
: Darren
: Melbourne, Australia