In part one of stripping the bottom I did not need to worry about the length of the strip much, I just left them over long then trimmed them back when they were in place.
Now I need to fit into the space remaining. Therefore I need to taper the ends. Since I am book-matching the strips, I also need to worry about grain alignment.
Since this boat is using book-matched strips where the strips on one side are aligned with the grain on the other side of the boat and each adjacent strip line up with each other, it is important that this pattern be maintained. To do so I must cut the taper at each end quite precisely. I start by marking the alignment of the strip with some hash-marks that across adjacent strips. I then back of the strip so I marking the taper with the strip a little longer than its intended length. I mark the taper, rough it out with a jack knife and fine tune it with a plane. I then try the fit, checking that the taper is correct and the angle of the bevel forms a tight joint.
Once I get the taper correct, I work on the length, planing away at the taper until the hash marks line up. If I am careful to maintain the taper and bevel as I go I end up with a tight joint with the grain in the right place.
The next obstacle on the bottom is that each strip has two ends. I must go through the same process on both ends. So, after the first end is fitted, I clamp the strip in place and make hash marks on the other end so I can repeat the process.
Once fit, the strips are glued, clamped and taped in place just like the first half.
