I think you and the sawmill will break some pieces just because they're more fragile, no matter what...but then you can usually use those short pieces too. If you have a long, thin pieces, you might figure out some way to support them as you move them about, perhaps by taping several pieces together and laying them on the forms together, and then moving each strip into place carefully.

I don't think you'll be able to staple them, so you could use keepers (Nick uses them in his videos) and tape. Since they are thinner, they will be easier to hold in place.

You might try steaming them and bending them into shape before installing them if there's a big bend. Use a cheap iron. You can get one at places like WalMart for maybe $12. Don't use the family iron, as it will pick up a deposit from the wood. I set up a piece of scrap wood right on my forms as an ironing board and steamed each strip right next to where I was gluing it.

Good luck.

If you are only going to  use a few strips, it might be easier to just cut them at home and then plane matching angles on adjacent strips.  I think trying to get cove and bead on thin strips is going to be iffy.  Not to mention the cost of milling.  

Please let us know how the experiment comes out.

Ed

Quite a few years ago, I had a woodworking shop mill 1/2-inch white cedar bead and cove strips for use as accents on two cedar strip Wee Lassies. The result was worth it. They were no more fragile than the standard 3/4-inch strips. I just started another cedar strip project, and this time I'm going to mill my own strips and try for the 1/2-inch accents. The bigger challenge, I think, is milling the tapered "cheater" strips for the few places where it makes more sense to fill in a gap than to torture the standard strips into place.

Jim

check out Grain Surfboards site.  They use 1/4 cove and bead cedar strips for the rails of their boards.  pretty much the same curves as in a kayak, maybe even more complex.  I bent a piece pretty much into a half circle around the nose of my board that I built.  I used steam from a little steam cleaner my wife has.  Just clamped it down as it bent.  They can probably ship you the strips insetead of milling your own.  If I remember, some of the strips were 8 feet long.  They do look really nice against the wider strips. 

Thanks for the tips guys.  I think I've worked up the courage to try to trim down the stips myself with a block plane (I don't have a band saw or table saw). When I finish I'll post the results for all to see.

Thanks!

HBP