Wooden Boat People

By McKenzieDriftBoat.com

Wood for Gunwales

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 Mike Baker on January 19, 2014 at 9:50am

Marc, I build a steamer out of PVC pipe. Plug one end and make a hole for some high temp hose on one side and a small drain hole on the other side at the same end. Hook the hose to a tea kettle on a camp stove. The general rule is 1 hour of steam per inch of thickness. Time this after steam is billowing out then put the wood in and time (loosely plug end with rags). Be sure you are ready to bend cuz you only have a few seconds to get it bent. Be sure you don't put the scarf in the steamer.

Like most here I have built plenty of boats without steaming but steaming makes it so much less stressful.

Mike

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Permalink Reply by Andreas Bachelez on January 25, 2014 at 7:21am

For making steam the laundry room's clothes steamer works great, too. Just make sure to wipe the wood dust off before putting it back :)

Andreas

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Permalink Reply by Marc Tittle on January 19, 2014 at 7:39pm

Mike, I will definitely try this out. Should make my life much easier. Thanks Marc

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Permalink Reply by Lawrence E. Long on January 20, 2014 at 5:19am

Mike is right on the PVC- support it full length with a 2x4 or it will "sag" like a wet noodle. A 5 gal oil can with a radiator hose outlet set on a turkey fryer will produce lots of steam and you don't have to worry about the tea kettle running dry.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Baker on January 20, 2014 at 8:34am

Forgot about the support part. If all you have is a camp stove you can put a pot on the other burner with warm water. I can get a good hour out of one tea kettle fill.

Mike

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Permalink Reply by tungsten on January 21, 2014 at 7:35am

What about just soaking the wood in warm water or wrapped in towels?Seams much easier then a steamer and has a much longer open time to get the bend in.

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Permalink Reply by Bill Craig on January 27, 2014 at 7:12am

I have good results from wrapping the area to bend in wet towels and using a steam iron to drive the moisture into the wood.

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Permalink Reply by Eric Loudenslager on January 27, 2014 at 7:00pm

According to the woodworking texts I have on wood bending, it is heat not moisture that facilitates bending. Heat "melts" the lignin permitting the wood to be bent. Once the lignin cools down it holds fibers in the bent shape.

Steaming is a vehicle to get wood hot enough to make the lignin fluid.

The same effect can be achieved using towels and an iron, sunlight, etc. It just doesn't work as quickly or for large (aka long gunnel stock) pieces.

You can get some bend by simply hanging the gunnel stock from a centered fulcrum in a warm garage for a couple weeks.

I don't glue gunnels on boats - at least canoes and dories - I attach them with screws or bolts so they can be removed when painting and it helps when replacing. Gunnels that have been on for a few years have a bend that conforms to the boats sheer when they are removed.

The gunnels on my dory are clear Doug Fir 3/4 inch on the outside and 5/8 on the inside. They were not steamed or otherwise heated when they were attached to the boat. I started at the center and worked toward the stem and transom - clamping, drilling, bolting. I have replaced gunnels on canoes using eastern ash - 3/4 x 3/4 stock using as straight grained as I could find. No steaming to accomplish a bend - clamping and screwing.

Often white oak is used for gunnel stock. I believe ash bends easier, but tends to darken when oiling and varnish are not kept up. I would use Port Orford Cedar, Alaskan Yellow Cedar, or Sitka spruce to keep the weight down. The soft woods do dent, but after the first few I get over it. Doug Fir is OK, but it likes to splinter when worked. I like working POC and Alaskan Yellow Cedar better than Doug Fir.

All of these woods work, in the end personal choice/tradeoffs determine which is used. I epoxy coat the gunnel, then finish with varnish. In my most recent refurbishing I used General Finishes 405 exterior waterbased varnish. It is holding up OK.

I use epoxy and varnish 'cause I live in a very moist climate - coastal Cal redwood rainforest - and the oiled gunnels had mildew bigtime when I took the cover off the first spring. Refinishing after mildew was horrible so I sealed things up as tight as I could.

Good luck with deciding which route is best under your circumstances

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Permalink Reply by Austin Waggoner on January 28, 2014 at 2:51am

Thanks Eric,

Since this is my first go at it, I chose a simple 14' stitch and glue and design. I have worked with sitka spruce, mahogany, redwood, white ash, and okume in the past so I'm leaning towards sitka, however I do like the idea of white oak not denting as much, and white ash bends real well but turns yellow after a few years.