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HI John,
The inlay strips that you mentioned would work very well. The only problem that I have with them are that they are very thin. (1/28") Which dosen't leave much to sand flush, so your routed groove will have to be very close to that depth. I would recommend that you set the inlay strip very slightly below the depth of the plywood face, then very gently sand the ply face down to the inlay. Pratice on scrap first and develope a method that works for you. The advantage of making your own strips is that you can make them thicker, up to about half of the thickness of your okoume deck ply.
I don't believe that there would be any loss of strength in the deck as the inlay strip replaces any material that you remove. Okoume is very soft and relativly weak, however inlay woods are usually harder, stronger species. You may actually gain strength in local areas depending on the grain direction of the inlay.
I just finished doing a inlay in the deck of a CLC Chessie 17. I resawed my own venreer and planed it to 1/16". I find it almost impossible to do marquetry using 1/28" sliced veneer.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me at dan.ernst@worldnet.att.net
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Guillemot Kayak - High
Performance Wooden Sea Kayak Designs
