Scarfing the Strips

The third and final preparatory stage of the strips was scarfing cutting the strips so that they are able to be glued together. The ratio of length of the scarf cut to the width of the board should be 8:1, which I learned from my advisor. Cutting the boards in a sled which was able to run along the table saw, (I need to take a picture of it and post it later) After cutting the strips the next job was all the strips needed to be brought upstairs to the garage to be glued together. At this point, I have completely taken over the entire garage.Ted Moore's in Canoecraft advises that the strips be a foot or more longer than the canoe itself, thus I only used strips that would make the strips to be 17 foot and longer. After gluing the joint together with Titebond III, it was then clamped together with clothespins. (My dad's idea. I was going to use a heavy weight sandwiching the strips between two sheets of wax paper) The clothespins were brilliant because they were easier to work with. After 24 hours of drying, the clothespins were removed and the scarf joint was sanded on a belt sander for a smooth surface. And as posted before, I have 62 17' and longer Western Red Cedar strips.