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Permalink Reply by Randy Dersham on February 28, 2010 at 8:31am

If you are going to oil the interior of your boat, the answer is no. Leave the ribs natural and oil them after the boat is assembled.

If you are going to epoxy and then polyurethane the inside of the boat then the answer is yes. Put a soak coat of epoxy on the ribs but avoid the profile edge where the rib will be attached to the side. Do that edge when you attach the frame. Once the boat is assembled I sand out, put on one more coat of epoxy to seal all joints and cover thin spots from the sanding and then polyurethane with a great UV protection ploy in either clear or colored.

Many people have used the encapsulation method with varnish which is a great look when the boat is first complete; however, varnish is brittle and will crack in the joint areas when stressed allowing water into the wood which can eventually cause rot. I do not recommend the encapsulation method with varnish.

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Permalink Reply by Shawn Jensen on March 2, 2010 at 11:08am

I asked the same question a short time ago in this forum (alternative to white oak for chines). It is usually difficult to find long lengths, but you can find 9'-10' lengths easily and scarf them. Several great suggestions were given about how to scarf them. I have since tried it and it worked very well.

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Permalink Reply by Ryan M Geider on March 2, 2010 at 3:42pm

how did you scarf them together? is there a easy way?

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Permalink Reply by Shawn Jensen on March 2, 2010 at 3:52pm

You will need to cut a 1:12 slope on each piece. I made a jig and was then able to pass them thru my table saw on edge to cut the slope. I then epoxied them as per AJ's instructions that he gave me in the post. Worked excellent.

Shawn

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