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Photo Manual

Compumarine Boat Plans
Cedar Strip Small Craft Construction

This pictorial illustrates all of the different steps of construction involved in the process of building wood strip/epoxy/fiberglass sheathed round bottom hulls. Our pictorial starts by showing a selection of small hand held power tools used in the construction of wood strip hulls. Only very simple, easy to follow techniques are used to produce these beautiful clear finished hulls.  No previous wood-working experience is required.

We then show methods of cutting 1/4" x 3/4" wood strips from 1" x4" clear cedar boards.  This is the only operation that will require the use of equipment other than hand tools.  If you do not wish to cut strips yourself you may purchase them from a number of different sources.  You will find several sources for wood strips on the links page in this web site for materials and supplies.

This pictorial then illustrates how to lay out and cut the station molds, build the strongback, set up the molds on the strong back and bending the strips in place over the molds. Then we show you how to fiberglass the hull outside and in then how to install all the assorted parts such as gunwales, seats, knees and other add-on parts to complete the boat.

You will see a number of different types of hulls in this pictorial including the various styles of dinghies, canoes, and the Compumarine "Fisherman Car Topper" small craft design.

An Assortment of hand power tools used for strip boat building. Only simple hand and power tools are required to do the job. Building strip hulls is the easiest form of round bilge small craft  construction. You simply glue together 1/4" x 3/4" wood strips over a form consisting of station molds set up at equal intervals on a strongback.

We are ripping the 1/4" x 3/4" strips from Western Red Cedar 1" x 4" boards in this photo, using a radial arm saw. It helps to enlist the aid of another person to guide the long pieces through the saw. The strips are cut a little oversize so that both surfaces can be run thru a planer. That helps to eliminate a lot of additional sanding after the hull is stripped. They may also be run thru a router setup to cut them to a bead and cove shape. You may use the rectangular shape strip with no problem if you use hot glue for edge gluing the strips. Hot glue has very good gap filling characteristics but the finished hull needs lots of cleanup to remove the excess hot glue. Also the cracks between the strips will require some wood dough fill before finishing. I now prefer to use carpenter's glue for edge gluing the strips although it does require the use of a lot of clamps. The bead and cove shape for the strips works well when using carpenter's glue and clamps for edge gluing.

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Last updated March 6, 2008

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