Wooden Boat People

By McKenzieDriftBoat.com

Attaching Gunnels

I am starting to think about how I am going to attach the gunnel on my boat. I dont plan on using spacers between the inner & outer gunnels, but will be making a solid gunnel (I hope this makes sense).

What I was thinking is that I would attach them with 3M 5200 or something not as permenant like 3M 4200 and then countersink with SS screws and cover them with a flush wood plug. I dont plan on changing the gunnel at any point unless there is significant damage to them

I would rather have the clean look on the gunnels rather than carriage bolts & acorn nuts.

Has any done this, or does anyone foresee any problems with this technique?

Andrew

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Permalink Reply by Lawrence E. Long on April 28, 2011 at 3:28pm

Andrew:

Having just finished outwales and inwales on a peapod with "spacer" blocks on 5 inch centers your idea without acorn nuts is interesting. I would not reccomend using 5200 /4200 as a "glue". It doesn't flow at all, is a mess to clean up, once set is almost impossible to remove and in general is a real PITA to work with. If you use epoxy a heat gun and scraper/putty knife can be used to remove the material- used the techneque to pull off a plank on a canoe. You will need lots of clamps- I had 36 on 14" of gunwale. Fit, glue and clamp on the outwwale. After a few days pull of the clamps and then dry fit the inwale- using all the clamps to get a close fit- if you "measure" to get the length you will most likely be short- atleast thats what I find.. Glue in the inwale.clamp as you go and install the screws into the outwale- probably the thicker of the two. I start at one end to get a tight fir and then if a little "long" at the other end it can be trimmed to fit. One man can do it but having a buddie helps.