Cedar for canoe

[kenfrommaine]

Hi
I have some nice white cedar that i would like to saw out and turn into cedar strip canoes over the winter. Question is how thick should I cut the boards so that they dry enough to use this winter?   Going to be fiber glass over the cedar strips if that makes a difference. Thanks for you thoughts on this.

[hersnsh#590]

Ken:  If you're going to "bead and cove" the strips, the router bit  you use must be considered.  I seem to recall my boards were 1" thick, and I planed them to 3/4" thick, then ripped them to 1/4" for the strips.  Gil Gilpatrick's book is a good source.

Dale

[69bronco]

I've done several strippers over the years, my opinion is that anything much wider than 3/4 is a pain to bend.I cut my stock at 1" and plane to 3/4 then rip on table or band saw to 1/4". No need to smooth as you will be doing plenty of scraping/sanding later.