replacing wood gunwales on 11ft row boat

[nyx2k]

ive just aquired an 11ft row boat and the gunwales need replacing entirely.
they are loose and rotting and make from teak.
can i replace in less expensive wood and would this keep the strength needed to row her when needed.
lastly how do i bend the wood to curve around to the bow.

thanks nick

 

[TQA]

can i replace in less expensive wood and would this keep the strength needed to row her when needed.

Yes strip pine will do esp if the West system epoxy saturation technique is used.

lastly how do i bend the wood to curve around to the bow.

Laminate the whole gunwale from strips of pine maybe 1/4 inch thick. Try one side dry to see if it deforms the shape of the boat before laminating.

For a real pro job make a former from MDF laminate against the former and finish sand before attaching to the boat.

N.B. The original was propably steamed then bent to shape. But lamination is easier and much stronger.

 

[andygc]

You would be better using hardwood and steaming is dead easy - much easier than laminating.

You will need to make some sort of internal moulds - cheap plywood bulkheads - to keep the shape of the hull before you take the gunwale out. You will also need lots of clamps - preferably the quick-clamp type.

Get green oak from your timber merchant at the right size for the job. Get a length of plastic drainpipe a little longer than your piece of timber (so more than 12 feet), wrapped up in old duvets or blankets to insulate it. Prop it up at an angle of about 30 degrees, attach a wallpaper stripper's hose to the bottom - nothing clever, just wrap a few layers of polythene around to make the joint and seal with tape. Boil. Once there's steam coming out the top in a good flow, slide in your wood (with a bit of string to pull it out with) and put a rag in the hole. Steam for 1 hour per inch of thickness. Pull out the wood - you will need gloves - work quickly, cramp into place on boat. You can then fasten it at your leisure with copper rivets - a two-man job.

 

[nyx2k]

both ways are a little daunting but it needs to be done but will leave it till next month and get some use out of it.

 

[Lakesailor]

Found my original steaming thread Here
Have a gander through that.

 

[Ruffles]

Found my original steaming thread Here
Have a gander through that.

Was anyone else expecting a steamier link?
Just me then.

Sounds like a pleasant job for the Winter. Suggest patching it with gaffer tape while the Summer lasts.

 

[DownWest]

You don't say what the hull is made of. But for my ply 15ft double ender, I used two layers of maranti for the outer section and one for the inner. If yours is ply or GRP, shape the wood, then glue/bed the inner and one outer to the gunnel with screws from the outer through to the inner. Then glue the second outer to the first. Hides the screws. The sections I used were about 25mm high and 15mm thick. No steaming needed. Use sticks across the hull to keep the shape. Lots of clamps. As mine was a new build in epoxy, I used no screws, just clamped it all together. Not too sure what you mean about the prow, might be easier to carve a solid bit for it. If sharp, laminating is a fuss, can you just bring them to a point? Teak is not very friendly to epoxy, iroko is a bit better. Both need cleaning with solvent prior to glueing, as they have oily content. Maranti is cheaper and glues well, varnishes up nicely. If it is GRP, then polyurethane glues are fine (ply too, but opinions differ) If a classic wood build, use the copper rivets as above.
A

Ah, the humourists are posting. I assumed a serious reply. But in the past, Lakey has put up most of the better steamy threads, albeit tastfull ;-)
A

It is a bit hot to get my coat.........

 

[neil_s]

I used 3/8 inch x 1 inch cheap mahogany -type wood from Covers for a similar sized dinghy. One layer inside and one layer outside the gunwale. It bent to shape cold around a not particularly beamy boat and I fastened through with s/s self tappers which were slightly too long, but the angle grinder finished off the protruding ends. I only had a couple of G cramps, so lots of props and bits of string were necessary to get it all clamped together for fastening. Props were especially necessary to maintain the shape of the gunwales before the wood was fastened, but when the screws were in the boat kept its shape, while the gunwales were still slightly springy. Rowlock swells were also fastened on with long self tappers, as were breasthook and quarter knees. It gets an annual coat of boiled linseed oil. Quick to do, not very expensive and still good after five years!

Neil

 

[nyx2k]

a small pic of said boat.
made from grp with a million coats of apaint in the inside that a sanded down today and slapped on some blakes bilge paint.

 

[oldharry]

I doubt very much if you will need to steam that, given the weight of the timber you would use. Start from the bows, using clamps to pull the timber in to position before you place the fastenings. Once you have three or four fastenings in place it will stay put, but dont try to pull the timber in with the fastening, you will not get it firmly in. Seemples really, done it to several dinghies, and a chubby 20 footer with a much sharper curve at the bows and much heavier timber than you need for this job.

 

[electrosys]

Get a length of plastic drainpipe a little longer than your piece of timber (so more than 12 feet), wrapped up in old duvets or blankets to insulate it.

The people who keep perpetuating this myth have clearly never actually tried doing this.

What happens - in practice - is that as soon as the steam get going ... the bl##dy plastic pipe melts ! Well, seriously sags is perhaps a better description. I now have two lengths of 'artwork' drainpipe that I have decided to keep in order to remind me not to believe everything one reads on the Internet.

Suggest you make your steamer out of wood or something similar.

 

[andygc]

The people who keep perpetuating this myth have clearly never actually tried doing this.

Actually, this one has. You just need to make sure the pipe is supported. 40 years ago I used metal drainpipe, a gas burner and a custom-made water boiler, because that was what was readily available. An alternative is just to place steam wallpaper strippers at intervals along the length of timber and wrap everything up in polythene sheeting and blankets. Not done it myself, but that was the method used locally for a repair to my boat's stem and the bulwark of a Bristol Pilot Cutter a few months ago.

Having now seen the boat, the method to use depends on the wood chosen and its size. oldharry's probably right, you'll probably choose something thin enough to bend without steaming, but if you decide to go for something durable like oak, I'd still steam it. As I said and other have repeated, it's important to maintain the shape of the boat by putting in temporary moulds or cross battens.

 

[nyx2k]

thanks so much for all the good advice.
i'll try local timber merchants and see what they have.
its only a cheep dinghy so if hardwood is too expensive i'll look at pine strips as i dont mind changing it every 2-3 yrs.

thanks so much , nick

 

[srp]

The people who keep perpetuating this myth have clearly never actually tried doing this.

And so has this one - in fact I've used the same piece of 100mm plastic soil pipe many times. Yes, it softens a bit, bit I lay it on my sloping driveway with a couple of battens each side for support. I agree that a proper steam chest would be better, but I tend to use my bit of pipe infrequently, maybe twice a year, so I can't be bothered to make one.

 

[Lakesailor]

What happens - in practice - is that as soon as the steam get going ... the bl##dy plastic pipe melts ! Well, seriously sags is perhaps a better description. I now have two lengths of 'artwork' drainpipe that I have decided to keep in order to remind me not to believe everything one reads on the Internet.

Whilst you are quite right, I overcame this in my MkII steamer. I bought a cheap wallpaper stripper from B&Q which provides a good 10-15 minutes of steam and used plastic roll-centres from bale-wrapping plastic. I realise these may not be lying around, but if you nip down to a farm which cuts silage now, I can guarantee there will be some lying about. They are 3 ft long and of very thick and dense plastic. Laid end-to-end they make a great steamer.