I was being a bit tongue and cheek. The question I would ask is are the glue edges rough sawn or is it the surface (exposed edges) that are rough sawn? I can not question what works best for you the results speak for them self. I personally use a heavy band saw with a carbide blade to resaw my strips. The kerf is very narrow. I never could get over milling the strips from a 8 inch wide board and re-bundling the strips after sawing and planing and yielding a 4 inch wide grouping. To me running the strips through the planner yields a very even thickness and would aid in lining up the edges on the forms.

There has and I'm sure there will be an ongoing debate about using a tablesaw verses bandsaw for cutting strips.

Yes, wood can be expensive and I understand the feeling that your money is turned to sawdust as the boards get smaller and smaller. I'm guilty of wasting more wood by being stingy. Trying to figure out how to get exact amounts to reduce waste only to run short, work with unexpected flaws, and milling problems caused by cutting it too close. Milling off center B&C and using the strips. I've done it all.

I worked for a general contractor where I learned a lot of good things along with "time is money" and how to squeeze every material penny.

Ever present thoughts about keeping cost down, guided my choice of wood, how I used it and potential waste. Ideas pounded there by my old contractor boss.

I few years ago I had a revelation. A cable TV program by a furniture builder showed him choosing wood for panel doors on a cabinet. He had a cardboard "window" the size of his panel and he moved it over a 24" x 5" walnut board choosing two non adjacent pieces. The "contractor" in me hated to see all the waste that would be created by choosing non consecutive pieces.

Even though I kinda knew choosing for grain and matching color were important from my own furniture building, it struck me in a new way, how it's all about the wood on a stripper.

Since then I've focused on the beauty of the wood, I changed how I buy and cut strips and I like the results.

So much work goes into every other part of building a stripper it's easy to overlook the obvious, it's all about the wood!

The wood is the first thing and the last thing you'll see, so worrying about a few dollars of sawdust is penny wise and pound foolish.

Wood is the first thing you think about and buy when you build a stripper. It will be the last thing that leaves a lasting impression. I urge everyone to take more time looking for wood (inspiration) and not worrying so much about saving a couple dollars which will be long forgotten while people will continue to admire your beautiful boat for years to come.

All the best,
Rob