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I have just begun stripping a Cottage Cruiser. It's my first, and I'm keeping it pretty simple, but I'd like to add a dark or light accent strip a few inches down from the gunwales. However, it turns out that all my cedar, even some of the "white" cedar, is a similar, light western red color. Could I add a darker accent strip of a hardwood (walnut, cherry) or would that be a problem at the sanding stage? I could also rip a spruce 2x4 to provide a more white accent - perhaps that would be a better idea?
I have used a walnut and basswood accent strip on one of my boats. I recommend using a cabinet scraper to fair the harder wood and a wood block sanding pad for the sanding. You should be able to get the hardwood to blend in well with the surrounding soft wood.
I agree with what Glen said. I used a accent stripe made up of three woods, cherry, sassafras and pine. I found that if you use a random orbital sander on the area, it will remove wood unevenly. The softer woods will disappear before you erase the lines in the hardwood.
I agree with what you've been told, and have an even more extreme example: I used a figured hard maple accent strip. A card scraper was indispensable in the fairing, since the maple was so much harder than the cedar. It looks great.
