CHAPTER 17. Adding the gunwales

This differs between the boats that are fully decked at the bow and stern and the other options. All boats start the same way with the first of the gunwale laminations being applied while the hull is on the mold.

You may find that the sheer plank will protrude a couple of mm beyond the sheer stringer on the mold. The kit planks has been machined with this little extra on them. The recommendation is to leave this little extra there rather than trying to plane it off. Not only would it be awkward to do but the small deviation from the plan is of no consequence. The rigger is individually fitted to the gunwale and easily accommodates small variations in gunwale height and width.

When planning for full decking at the bow and stern, it is best to leave the outer gunwale lamination off till after the fore and aft decks are on. For boats with the open format or with well decks both laminations can be applied before the hull comes off the mold. Apply the first lamination with the edge of the gunwale flush with the edge of the ply. This is readily felt with a finger or thumb as you hold the gunwale while clamping. The kit gunwale components have the upper bevel on each lamination already applied so that the amount of planing to bring the gunwale to its designed section is minimal and does not require the use of a rebate plane. For boats with fully decked bow and stern, where the decks are to be fitted, the first gunwale/ply lamination is planed down by 4mm. This means that that the deck and gunwales form a neat continuation without a step at the end of the deck ply. The edge of the deck ply is trimmed down to match the outer surface of the inner Western Red gunwale lamination. The Celery outer lamination then goes on and covers the exposed edge of the ply in the deck. The top of the outer gunwale lamination is trimmed down to be flush with the ply of the deck. For open and well decked boats, the outer gunwale lamination can be added and clamped on while the boat is on the mold. The kit outer gunwale is also machined with the designed bevel and the inner surface has been machined to have the same dimension as the outer edge of the inner lamination. This means that it should glue on and both the upper and lower surfaces should be flush. If there is a small deviation, it is probably easier to keep the bevelled surfaces flush because it will be easy to thrim the upper surface of the gunwales when the hull is upright. The upper surface of the gunwale is perpendicular to the sheer plank When adding the outer gunwale lamination to the hull when the fore and aft full decks have been added, clamps can only be used where there is no deck. Once the deck is reached it is necessary to use screws at about 150 to 200mm centres to maintain a good glue line. Pre-drill the outer gunwale lamination do that the hole allows the thread or shank of the screw to pass without significant binding. It would be good practice to pre-drill the inner gunwale so that the screw grips well but does not try to force any splitting. This also means that bulging of the wood and any swarf is minimised and this also helps in maintaining a good glue line. Use washers on the screws just as happened along the keel so that the wood around the screw holes does not become crushed or bruised. Once the glue is dry, the holes can be plugged with wooden pegs. To avoid making a lot of little wooden pegs, if you have access to suitably small diameter wooden dowels, these would serve the same purpose. Once the glue is set on the dowels, they can be cut off and sanded flush. The result is strong and light as well as being paint and maintenance friendly. It is recommended to measure the spacing for these screws as the regularity is not distracting. When planing the gunwales to the finished profile, it is possible to add a gentle taper at both the bow and the stern. This taper can be as long as 400 to 500mm and take the outer gunwale lamination from full thinkness to half its thickness. The bevelled lower surface of the gunwale can be increased in angle so that, despite the tapering outer gunwale lamination, the outer depth of this lamination can remain constant and not increase due to the bevel being half removed. The lines plan has the gunwales drawn with these tapers. When fitting the outer gunwale after the fore and aft full decks have been added, it is necessary to screw the outer lamination to the inner lamination where the decks are because there is no easy way to clamp or strap the lamination in. In this case, just as with the keel/garboard plank, use screws with a generoud washer. The washer will protect the surface from crush damage and the screw hole can be plugged with wood. Plugs could be made with a plug cutter to match specially drilled holes. However, if the holes are left small and some timber matching the outer lamination is cut to a size close to that of the screw hole, the thin piece of wood can be made close to a round with a knife and tapped in with glue. The small amount of end grain showing is negligible. Spacing the screws evenly at about150mm is effective. When trimming the deck ply down to the gunwale take care to ensure that the ply is not planed below the surface of the inner gunwale lamination. This will ensure an excellent glue line. The following picture shows clamps through the centre of the boat (before the rigger mounting laminations are in place), screws where the deck is, and sand paper surfaced blocks near the bow to allow for a conventional clamp. A screw at the very end has been used as well and may well be an assembly aid as much as a pressure device.

The same procedure is followed at the stern: