In reply to "gunwhale installation", posted by Simon on July 16, 2001:
>I am having some problems fitting the gunwhales. I am using vertical grain doug fir in 16ft lengths. I have had three boards split and I still have the outwhale to install. Is this a common problem. Maybe I'm not doing something quite right. This is the only real problem I've had so far and I just cannot see a reason for it.
>
>The only thing I can think of is that my boat is a little smaller than yours. It measures 14ft from the top of transom to the top of the bow and measures 6ft 4in at the widest point where the gunwhales will be fitted. Maybe there is too much bend for the wood at these dimension.
>
>Any suggestions would be most appreciated.
Danny had trouble bending the gunwales too. I think the
reason I don't (have troulbe) has a lot to do with using more clamps.
I must have close to 50 C-clamps, that I've collected
over the years. When I bend gunwales I start a at the
middle and work out to the ends a little bit at a time.
Get a few more clamps and try that. You won't need 50,
but more does make it easier.
You have also (apparently) scaled the boat down some,
so it is only 14' long. This may or may not add stress
to the gunwale. There is a foolproof (and stronger) way to make radical
bends:
Make the outwale out of two 3/8" strips, glued on
top of eachother. 3/8" fir you could bend around
a barrel, almost.