Speed Strip tongue-and-groove strip planking

[Jeff]

Reading the latest Professional Boatbuilder, I see "Speed Strip" tongue-and-groove strip planking being used from Maritime Wood Products http://www.maritimewoodproducts.com/speedstr.htm

Has anyone worked with this or similar? What are the drawbacks if any?

[james_r]

Since no one else has replied I thought I'd throw in my 2 cents worth. I've worked with both bead and cove strips and plain rectangular strips. To keep plain strips aligned you have to drill a hole and push in a dowel bedded in epoxy. This is messy and time consuming and no matter how careful you are you'll still have extra work when it comes time to fair the hull because of slightly misaligned strips. Bead & cove is much better but still requires some dowels in places of severe twist.

I've never used speedstrips but it seems to me that it would be a quicker way to build a fairer hull (compared to the other methods above). Speedstrips probably cost more than plain strips. Only you can decide if that extra cost is more than made up by the savings in labour. If you're paying someone else to do it then it probably is. If you're doing the work yourself you have to decide how much your labour is worth. When calculating the labour costs don't forget to include the difference in time required to fair the hull.

[Jeff]

Thanks very much for the reply James. I have to confess that I don't yet have any hands-on experience building a large wooden boat (though hopefully I'll remedy that in the future.) From looking at them, it seems from both a strength and ease of alignment point of view the idea is a natural. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything.

I have never used speedstrip but it seems to me that as you plank around a curve you open up one edge wich eventualy will be filled and faired with epoxy. The wood and epoxy expand and cntract at differant rates showing the seems. I have tried several diferant methods and found cove and bead to be the easyest and best method for a smooth hull.
SG

[Polarity]

this stuff called? I saw a hull built in this and it seemed to go pretty quickly...

[james_r]

Hi Polarity. Those are bead and cove strips. When building you actually apply them to the mold the other way around - it makes it easier to apply the glue.

SG, it is true that, with speedstrips, the outside edge will open up as you plank around a curve however, I don't think it is that much of a problem. In practice, several layers of veneer or glassfibre are applied to the outside of the hull hiding any gaps or seams in the strip planking. After painting the hull your biggest problem will be with the weave of the top cloth layer printing through, if you happened to paint your hull a dark colour. The seams in the planking will simply not show through at all.

If you're building a canoe that will be finished bright then the seams become more of an issue and bead and cove would be my first choice. But, you'll still have to mix some wood dust with epoxy to fill gaps. Those thin edges are fragile and do break in sections during both the machining and building processes.

Hi James R
We did a boat a few years ago with out the cove and bead and even with a layer of 1708 fab mat we could not hide the seems. The boat was algriped a dark green. I think the darker the color the more the seems came and went from the heat. I agree that if you cold mold over the stripplanking you could control the print thru. But thats a lot of work. Much easier to use cove and bead. We are currently building a 35 sport fish with this method. SG


I would post a picture If I knew how

[Jeff]

> I would post a picture If I knew how

First welcome to the forums!

If you take a minute and register (with register button at the top right or on the forum homepage) you will then have an option to attach a photo when you post.

Posting as a logged-in user has a few advantages including being able to attach files & photos and being able to edit your posts if you see a mistake, etc.

If the register form looks too long, please note that only the top 5 blanks are required - everything else is optional and can be set later if you desire.

If you have any problems, just let me know.

[Evolution Yacht]

Thanks Jeff
I guess I had my cookies shut off. We just set up the stations for this boat. I will post more pics and details about cove and bead if any one is interested.
SG

[Jeff]

Yes - always interested

BTW, VBulletin is the best forum software available right now (IMHO) but occasionally you will still see the cookies get reset - it happens to me once every few months but it's not a big deal to re-login as long as it doesn't happen too often.

Any idea what a appropiate strip width for 19mm (3/4") thick strips is? Is the strip too narrow you waste time gluing the hull and if the strips are too wide you need more time sanding later. Guess it also depends on the hull shape (curvature). Any suggestions?

Cheers,
Karsten

[gonzo]

The rule is about 1.5 times the thickness.

[paladinsfo]

Bead and cove works better, I have found. My 45 foot Channel cutter was built this way, although I added two layers of veneer over the strips at 45 degrees for and aft....then followed by three layers of Xynole fabric to above the waterline and two layers above..
If you are working with a large boat....20 feet and up...it may be advantageous to purchase the double acting clamps advertised in Woodenboat magazine. One side clamps to the frame while you work, the other exerts a continuous pressure on the last strip installed....

[nero]

I am using 18 mm strips that are 50 and 40 mm wide. My hulls have lots of curves and these strips seem to work well.

One must note that when fairing the strips for sheathing, the wood thickness will be reduced when rounding over the seams. And if you sand the inside smooth, additional wood will be lost in tight radius areas.

My strips are slightly beveled with no bead and cove. The cove would help hold the resin until the second strip is seated and fastened. Do not use any edge fastening ... except if I am end jointing on the mold. Then I drill two holes and use two long screw angled in from the opposite side. This way, I can keep stripping. The next day, I pull the screws, so there is no hardware burried in the wood.

Do your best to remove excess resin that has squeezed out. It is much faster to scrape it off with a plastic spatula than to grind it off later.

[justinbauer]

check out www.bcwoodstripsinc.com