Gunnel/Rub Rail rebuild

I neglected the boat outside without a cover. The gunnel's were ruined.  They were teak, and I really hate that.  They were 10mm boards laminated with sealant of some kind.  The middle board was too rotted to restore. 

Here is a scarf joint that failed.  The standard is 12:1 and this one was less than half that.  I don't know the glue used, but I will epoxy mine. They will be about 10 or 11:1.

I searched Nashville for some hardwood and found some Ash at a reasonable price in the size I think I want.  It may be a little thick, but we'll see how that works out in a few days.

The boards were unfinished on one side, and 4.5" to 5.25" wide and 12 feet long, ready to rip to the width I wanted.




I borrowed Jakob's table saw and started ripping.  I made a big pile of sawdust in short order.  I ended up with two boards 2" wide and six 2.25" wide.  Very observant people will notice that one of the rails is narrower than the rest, and I'll have to have make up a story about how the dog ate one of the boards, or something.  Your creative ideas are appreciated.  LOL




I started making the scarf joints with Dad's radial arm saw.  Oops, it wasn't powerful enough and I ruined the motor - amid lots of smoke from the lumber.  Maybe it needed a new blade as it seemed to be burning through the lumber more than sawing it.

No problems, Charlie Jones, a professional furniture and boat builder from the Trailer Sailor Bulletin Board showed me how to make a jig for the table saw.  

After a few tries, I got an angle I thought was acceptable and started cutting the scarf joints.

More sawdust!  The clamp made a pretty handy handle.  I was working on the ground and had a fancy work table fixed up with milk crates, a battery box and anything else I could find that fit the height requirements the jobs demanded.  

Now I have all the boards with scarf joints on both ends waiting for me to cut and glue them.  That will be a job for tomorrow.  

I'll use the little scrap left over pieces to make an inner and outer template for the gunnels, so I can cut them to length.  

After I cut them to the approximate length, I'll groove them on the bottom side to make a relief for the fiberglass hull to fit into.


Yeah the scarf joints aren't perfect.  But these are the first I've ever made, so they'll have to do.  I have plenty of sawdust to mix with epoxy to make my inadequacies disappear. Well... and varnish!  You know, I like to make my own dock lines.  They aren't perfect. They look hand made.  "Yes.  That's right Mr. Mariner.  I did make my own dock lines.  Thank you."  And so with these gunnels...   Besides, I have 2 scarfs on each board and only need one.  So I'll just choose the best one.  :)

I finally got some decent weather to glue my scarf joints.  I put some neat epoxy (unthinned) on the wood, let it soak in a few minutes, then added some colloidal silica to some epoxy for strength and clamped them together between two 2x4's.

I put wax paper between the pieces of wood to keep them from sticking together.  I have to say it worked better than I thought it would!  Just a little sanding was required to get the wax paper off the glue.  

This is the first time I've done anything like this, so I'm pretty happy with the results.  I have some saw dust I can mix with epoxy to fill in the low spots and make it prettier.  Of course I can select the prettiest side to put on the outside.

I now have 4 pieces that are 23' long.  I the outer gunnel pieces need to be 18' 4" and the inners a little shorter.