to cap or not cap the inwales and outwales

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vann evans
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Joined: Fri Oct 17, 2008 8:52 pm
Location: Chapel Hill, NC

to cap or not cap the inwales and outwales

Post by vann evans »

I 've read several posts lately that mentioned "capping"the gunwales by creating a rabbit in the outwale and letting it sit on top of the hull and join with the inwale. I thought this would look nice, but decided on a different system with the same appearance. I thought about it before starting the stripping, so I made the first strip at the sheer out of ash. Now, when I glue the outwales and inwales to the hull, all three pieces are ash. Once I sand the top edge of the sheer(inwale, outwale and hull) smooth, they look like one continuous piece of ash.
I am finishing up my Freedom 15 and will post pictures eventually.
Vann Evans
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Patricks Dad
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Location: Warrenville, Illinois

Post by Patricks Dad »

So you followed the sheer with your first strip rather than let it form a "natural curve" under it's own weight? Some pictures would be great. thanks!
Randy Pfeifer
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vann evans
Posts: 45
Joined: Fri Oct 17, 2008 8:52 pm
Location: Chapel Hill, NC

Post by vann evans »

Yes, I followed the sheer line on the forms with the first strip. the Freedom has a relatively flat sheer line, so it was easy to use the ash strip and let it conform to the required sheer profile. I used full length 1/4" strips with bead and cove routing.

I am just finishing the deck plates and hope to install them Thursday-then I will install the inwales and outwales this weekend.

Vann Evans
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Glen Smith
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Post by Glen Smith »

On one of my builds I cut the sheerline 1/4" too low then glued on a 1/4" X 1/4" strip to cap the sheerline. Looked great!
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Jim Dodd
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Post by Jim Dodd »

Should be fine ! It just goes to show, theres more than one way to finish the shear !
Good luck !
Jim
Keep your paddle wet and your seat dry!
sluggo
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Joined: Tue Sep 12, 2006 11:17 pm
Location: Vancouver BC

Post by sluggo »

I just let the cedar sheer show, sandwiched between ash and cherry gunwales. I also had to add some thickened epoxy to fill in a few gaps. I thought it would look pretty dorky, but in the end, it turned out pretty stunning. The dark cedar and even darker glue/epoxy looks great between the lighter ash and cherry. Definitely lots of different ways for things to look good!

Image
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