Gunwale cross section dimensions

Its Me · Post by **Its Me** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 2:32 pm

I believe Bear Mountain recommends 3/4" x 3/4" for both inwales and outwales.

Gilpatrick, I think has the the inwales at 3/4' x 3/4" but the outwales at 5/8" tall x 3/4" width.

The 3/4" square outwales just seems to not look right as imagine it my head. What dimensions work best for the gunwales on a 17' canoe?

Glen Smith · Post by **Glen Smith** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 2:48 pm

Bear Mountain suggests 3/4" X 3/4" inwales. The outwales are 7/8" wide X 3/4" high and the outer face is only 5/8" high which means that the bottom portion is bevelled. You can also taper the outwales along the length so that the last 32" (approx) goes from 7/8" to 3/8" for a finer appearance.

Post by **Patricks Dad** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 2:53 pm

We milled our gunwales over the weekend for our Redbird. They started as 7/8" wide by 3/4" tall 18' long pieces of cherry. The sheerline of the Redbird is about 1 foot shorter than the overall length of the canoe so our gunwale stock was excessive.

We beveled the bottom side (up and away from the hull) at about 11 degrees and then rounded over the outer edges. Scuppers are 1/4" on the top and about .4" on the bottom (funnel shaped scuppers). We intend to taper the last 30 inches or so of the gunwales before bending them to fit the recurve of the Redbird (1/4" wide on the inside to fit the inner stem).

We test bent an outwale along the mid-ship (station 5 to station 5) and didn't have any problems.

I don't have a picture of a cross-section to post but hope this helps...