All of the prep work has really paid off on this first layer of stripping. The first day I had some snapped strips, which is a real pain, especially when you are racing the clock with the epoxy kicking off. The board snaps and the epoxy is setting and you have to pull a whole board. Bad stuff. That first day I started by using lath screws. After the snapping, I switched to drywall screws, which really helped. After a couple more mid-board snaps I started pre-drilling holes as well.

The combination of drywall screws, pre-drilling, and being extra careful on strips that followed a more complex curve in my rhythm, really paid off. After that first day, I didn’t have any of the 1 1/2 strips snap on my as I screwed them into place. Woohoo!

Epoxy before each strip.

Getting ready to drive home the last screw in this strip

Trimming the strip in place.

Getting another strip ready

Putting down the paper so I can get an exact “rub” from each missing piece.

After the Paper is in place, I simple rub and trace the missing shape.

Collecting the rubbings.

Trimming each rubbing down to size.

Placing the trimmed rubbings onto the right sized board.

Cutting the key pieces based on the rubbing.

Planing to fit.

Checking the fit of one of the “key stripping pieces”.