Wood for Gunwales

Hi Wooden Boat People!

What type of wood that is light in color is good for gunwales, and if possible, forgiving on a novice builder in terms of scarfing and bending etc.?  I building a butler projects clark fork drifter and am going for the wood types shown in these plans:

http://www.cajuneboats.com/plans-gallery/kingfisher-plans-17500/

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Permalink Reply by Rick Newman on January 18, 2014 at 7:17am

Austin, as I mention on Montana River Boats White Ash and White Oak are popular woods. When I did a search for gunwale woods here I got eight pages of responses. Take a look and see what you think.

Rick N

Permalink Reply by Lawrence E. Long on January 18, 2014 at 11:48am

Austin:  Rick  is right on the mark.    Don't let the lumberyard sell you red oak.  It is strong but if it gets nicks in the varnish the stuff stains black  due to the tannic acid in the wood.  If you can find very close grained DF it will also work.  I have used it on several boats.  Stay away from spruce - easy to work but dents easily.  Installing white oak inwales and outwales its nice to have a helper.  Trying to bend a 17' section of oak all slathered up with epoxy can be a real PITA.

Good Luck 

Permalink Reply by Mike Baker on January 18, 2014 at 1:24pm

Hey Austin,

I agree with Rick & Lawrence. I love the look of White Ash, bends well but can change color if oiled and if is not kept on top of. White oak is a little darker in color and also bends well (it looks like white oak in the pics. of Jasons boats). I have become a fan of pre-bending all my long stock by steaming (don't put the scarfs in the steamer) then clamping to the hull of the boat. After 24 hours you can take it off and it will have a nice bend built in making it much easier to do the final install. Not sure if that is an option on your build as I think that boat is built on a strong back.

Mike

Permalink Reply by Austin Waggoner on January 18, 2014 at 2:31pm
Thanks Mike! Unfortunately steaming is not really part of the plan... I'm not building it on a strongback, it's stitch and glue.
Permalink Reply by Phillip Westendorf on January 18, 2014 at 9:00pm

Austin,

What are the dimensions of the Logs?  I made mine a bit oversize (7/8" x 1 1/8" with a Parallelogram shape) from White Ash and had problems with bending them cold, they both broke after they were bent into position.  I ended making them from two thinner pieces to obtain the bend with out steaming. 

They were epoxied together and it worked out well.  If you look on page 2-3 of my posting "Dorfs Wooden Drift Boat" there is an explaination of the problems and what I did to get the chine logs assembled.

If you are not going to steam them, their dimensions (size) may become a factor.

G'Luck,

Dorf

Permalink Reply by Austin Waggoner on January 18, 2014 at 2:29pm
Thanks for the info! What is "DF"?
Permalink Reply by Mike Baker on January 18, 2014 at 3:48pm

DF is Douglas Fir. You might still be able to pre bend. After you get the hull shape you can steam the gunnels and dry clamp them to the hull just to get the shape then take them off and epoxy on. I have never built stitch and glue so maybe this is not possible but seems like you could. Certainly not necessary but might make the job esier.

Mike 

Permalink Reply by Mark Stosiak on January 19, 2014 at 4:06am

When I built my Kingfisher I used ash, 5/8 x ?. It bent without any problems. Choice of grain run-out is important. I wasted a lot of wood looking for the right grain.  my 2 cents

Permalink Reply by Lawrence E. Long on January 19, 2014 at 5:02am

Mark is correct on the runout.  Anything less than 18" and you are pushing your luck.  I have had some DF with 6'-8' runout that was salvaged from old warehouse timbers- great stuff to work with.

Permalink Reply by Austin Waggoner on January 19, 2014 at 6:02am

Thanks Guys! Much appreciated!

Permalink Reply by Jason Knight on January 19, 2014 at 6:39am
Maybe I have just been lucky with the wood I had, but I have had no problems bending chines, chine caps and gunwales using white oak. (No steaming - just pulling the sticks around the curves and clamping)
Permalink Reply by Marc Tittle on January 19, 2014 at 7:20am

Mike, I would be interested in any advice about steaming. I built a Nevills replica and just waiting for warmer weather and skiing interest to wane before painting and installing gunwales. I was a bit optimistic and went with 1" x 2" white oak, I did a prebend using tractor weights and chunks of rail and I am pretty close. But, the Nevills has a sharp bend in rowers cockpit area and a bit of steaming could make my life easier. Thanks Marc

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