: . . . I like the idea of scarfing/scarphing the whole board
: cross-ways and then cutting the strips. Will try that next time I rip down
: larger stock. . .

You were worrying about the visibility of the joint line. When you rip one board in half and flip one half so your joint is cut on the two halves from the same end of the original board, then you have a really good match of color and grain pattern, which goes a long way to disguising the location of the joint.

After you scarf 6 or 7 strips (which is really all the full-length strips you'll need) you'll never want to do it again. Unless you get the alignment just right, and keep the area free from glue squeeze out, it just takes too long to clean up the area around each and every joint. Ripping nice long strips, with perfectly aligned, and disguised, joints is much less hassle and far faster than doing a lot of individual strips.

Oh, and why do you just need 6 or 7 full-length strips? Because it is much faster to work with simple butt joints and shorter strips once you get started with full length strips on the keel line, top edge of the hull, or waterline. After that you just stagger the joints, kinda like you would build a brick wall by staggering the joint lines, but with really long bricks. You don't need any kind of blocking behind the joint, as the strips on either side reinforce these joints.

Some people make all the joints over a form, and use staples to secure the ends of the strips. Others make the joints between forms and use short staples (1/4 inch) to hold the ends of the strips to the adjacent strips. I tried that ofr a few joints and ended up shooting a staple through the strips and into my fingertip. After that I went to using clamps to hold the ends in place until the glue dried. No staple holes in boat or builder when done that way

Hope this helps

PGJ

PGJ