Ripping and Sorting Strips

The 2" strips were too wide for the kayak I am building so I ripped them in thirds. I will be "book matching" the strips on the boat, so I am keeping the strips in the order they came off the plank. As I rip the strips into thirds I sort each third into groups of corresponding thirds from all the other strips.

To help maintain the order of all the strips I number them individually. Since each strip may be cut into several pieces I repeat the numbers in several locations along the length. Some of the strips will be flipped over to make the mirror-image pattern on the kayak so I repeat the numbering on the other side of the strips.

A reference line is drawn across the strips to facilitate easier alignment of the grain when installing the strips on the boat. I put single reference lines on one side and double lines on the other to help mark which side is which.

The groups of strips are then bundled together ready to be used on the kayak.

This whole process took all day for enough strips for one boat. This is a bit of a tedious task, but the effort can produce quite a striking effect and all the prep-work saves time in the long run and helps prevent mistakes.