Mistake on inwales. Help? Advice?

McFLY · Post by **McFLY** » Thu Dec 03, 2009 1:57 pm

Last night I "finished" cleaning up the scuppers on the cherry inwales for my Freedom 15'. I decided to go back and reread the section in Canoecraft about installing and finishing them, since that'll be next. It wasn't until I got to the section about installing the decks that I realized my mistake.

A couple days ago, since the bit was already in my router from working on the scuppers, I put a 1/4" roundover on the inside edges of my inwales. It'll be easier than doing it after it's mounted to the canoe, right? Yeah. Too bad I did this along the WHOLE length of the inwale, including the parts that should butt flush up against the decks! Now I have two beautiful cherry inwales with lovely scuppers that will have a weird round over gap along their length where they meet the decks.

I've already tapered the hull-side of the inwales at the bow and stern. They go from 7/8" down to 3/8". I've considered increasing the taper that's already there, but to remove the roundover I'd have to take the width down to less than 1/4". I'm planning on doing decks that are about 16" long.

Should I just continue and round over the edges of the decks where they meet the inwales, creating a rounded V? Should I use use a 45-degree chamfer bit to create a sharp V at the joint? What if I taper the last 16" or so of the inwales, taking the wood off the top, so they'd be something like 3/8" thick at the end as well? This might mean thinner decks as well and now I'm worried about breakage when lifting out of the water, etc.

I guess that's what I get when I work through dinner and like using my router too much. Grumble grumble...

I was hoping to mount them tonight (I have a lauch deadline of the 12th!) Any advice you guys can offer would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

-Brian

vann evans · Post by **vann evans** » Thu Dec 03, 2009 2:26 pm

I also built a Freedom 15. I installed my deck plates before I put on the inwales or outwales.I screwed them from the outside of the hull and glued them tight against the inside of the hull. When I installed the inwales, I let the inwales die into the deck plates. I incorporated a handle that was the same as the inwale shape and size- mitering them at the corner joint.see the pictures at
http://picasaweb.google.com/cboaternc/F ... StripCanoe#
look at the eighth row down , second picture and tenth row, third picture and eleventh row third picture

I think this is your best option-not a mistake but a design feature. It makes a nice clean look.

I would not put a roundover on the deck plate-it would create a surface too small for glueing or attaching to a roundover on the inwale and it would be a concave surface to attract and hold water.

But, every boat is different and there are no wrong ways-Hope this helps

Good luck-let us know what you decided.

Vann Evans

willo · Post by **willo** » Thu Dec 03, 2009 2:39 pm

i like Vann's idea unlessyou wan't to waste the cherry. i don't know what it costs where you are but here it is quite pricy as we are not in it's growth range. I always say every boat has a story now yours does and no one will know unless you wan't to tell it.

Glen Smith · Post by **Glen Smith** » Thu Dec 03, 2009 3:00 pm

When I built my first canoe I broke one of the inwales as I was attempting to bend it to shape, about 6" broke off one end. I camouflaged it by shortening the inwales and setting them into the decks. Luckily, the decks weren't already made.

McFLY · Post by **McFLY** » Thu Dec 03, 2009 3:14 pm

Vann, that's a good suggestion. I especially like the way you've done your carry handles.

Willo, this poor canoe has so many stories, I could make a novel! "That red spot? Oh, I cut my finger on a spokeshave and didn't notice. Most of the blood sanded out. "That slightly larger scupper? Yeah, my router bit slipped out of the chuck and I had to widen it to clean up the gogue it left." "All those dark spots? Well, you see, I actually used staples to hold the canoe to the mold..." LOL!

Glen, thanks for the tip. Was it similar to what Vann did or did you basically taper them to a width of zero along the decks? I don't see a thumbnail, and can't "Click to enlarge" on your post, for some reason.

Thanks for the advice guys! I'll let you know what I come up with tonight and get some pictures up some day!

Rick · Post by **Rick** » Fri Dec 04, 2009 9:21 am

...now I'm worried about breakage when lifting out of the water, etc.

One option, depends on how rounded the inwale edge is... going with a rounded-edged deck to match the rounded inwale will mean less gluing surface at the joint... the deck could be more securely glued in by having a rabetted edge on the underside of the deck so that there's more glue surface with the rabetted lip in contact with the underside of the inwale (the edge of the deck will have an L shape). The lip that fits underneath the inwale could also be formed by gluing on another piece of wood.

Shouldn't be visible from the outside and thickened epoxy should keep the deck in place so that it doesn't break away. C-clamp should keep the deck pressed tight against the inwale's underside for a good bond.

Several options possible, good luck!

Don · Post by **Don** » Fri Dec 04, 2009 4:53 pm

Hi
A further option would be to rout a groove on a contrasting piece of wood and use it as an inlay filling the gap between the round over and the deck. It would give more definition to the deck and increase your glueing surface.
Regardless of what you do, if you tell people that was what you intended, they will believe you and think it looks great.
best
don

Rod Tait · Post by **Rod Tait** » Sat Dec 05, 2009 10:40 pm

I prefer the method of installing the decks first and then having the gunwales meet the deck. It saves the trouble of getting the ends of the gunwales to fit nicely to the stems.

On these decks I added the handle feature right into the deck