Hello, I am building a wood duck hybrid and im getting ready to start the deck, but I was wondering if you staple the strips to the forms, how do you remove them later on. Is there a certain type of staple to use. it just seems like they would be very difficult to remove.
I used 9/16" staples, they need to be long enought that they stand proud of the strips. The size probably depends on how strong your staple gun is.
Don't pull the staples out with a office-supply type of staple puller, it will leave marks on the strips. I used heavy duty needle-nose pliers, grabbed the staple without touching the strips and just pulled them straight up and out.
One other thing I wish I had have known... When gluing the strips, don't try to fill any gaps between the strips with glue. The epoxy will fill any gaps, and will look better.
I just finished a WD 12 hybrid and minimized the staples/ nails by only nailing the 2 outer strips and the 2 middle strips and then I made a "u" clip out of 1/4 inch plywood and secured the strips with this clip and a clamp. I used copper brads 3/4 inch long on the outer and center strips and nailed them proud so I could pull them with needle nose pliers. I got this idea from one of Nick Schades books and Lou Farhood had a posting on this forum last winter. The clip/clamp method secured the strips very well and minimizes the holes in the strips.
Checkout my build at rodskayakadventure.blogspot.com
Thanks for that suggestion. I checked out your blog and your wood duck looks amazing ! You have great photos there, and I as able to see the clip you were talking about. I know im going to be using your photos as a guide during my build.