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1/16-- I've been playing around with trimming unnecessary weight. I built this sample of the gunwales I plan to use to test stiffness. Starting on the left is the outer gunwale at 5/8" square with a bevel top and bottom. Next is a strip of cedar representing the hull. To the right of that are the scuppered slots at 3/8" and the inner gunwale rail at 5/16" X 5/8". It seems pretty minimal, but I started with a lot more mass and then trimmed it down, all the while testing for stiffness. By the time I got it down to this size I hadn't noticed a significant increase in deflection but I stopped here because I was becoming concerned about overall strength. I think most wood strip canoe gunwales are overbuilt and decided to trim some weight there. If I'm wrong, well, I'll be the one with all the extra thwarts... |
| 1/26-- There hasn't been a lot of visible progress for the last two weeks, but I've been busy. Sanding the inside
of the hull and starting to machine the trim. I'm taking advantage of some nice weather to set up outside to get the
20' on either end of the table saw required to cut the gunwales. I've made some decisions on woodwork: Ash for the outer gunwale, inner gunwale rail, yoke and thwart with mahogany for the scupper blocks. Cherry and maybe a little walnut on the decks. For now, I'm making seats from ash with 1/2" black nylon webbing. I may build some traditional cane seats later if I decide to make a sliding bow seat. |
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Seat prototype. This is using 1/2" nylon webbing woven through slots in the seat frame. Easy to make, easy to repair or replace, and it'll look good too. (apologies to traditionalists; I may do cane seats later, but for now, this will do) I'll probably reduce the fore-aft rails to 1" and the slots for the webbing to 3/8" from the edge. |
| 1/28-- When I started, I only had a couple of clamps... |  |
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2/4-- ...But I guess I need them all today. The inner gunwales glued into place. I'm not using any screws, just gluing directly to the hull. That will save weight and make it easier to repair, should the need arise. I doubt the screws add much strength to a glued gunwale, other than to hold it securely while the glue cures. |