Cracked Inwales

[KAT]

So, the inwales on the Canadian have cracks at several places along the outside of the rail, both sides of the boat. The cracks don't go through to the inside of the boat, and seem to mostly be where the nails were pounded through. My thought is to syringe epoxy resin into each crack, perhaps thickened somewhat, rather than replace both inwales completely. I do need to replace about 18" of the tips at both ends but really don't wish to do the entire rails if I can avoid it.

Thoughts?

 

[Dan Miller]

I expect you can do that and get away with it fine - pre-drill pilot holes before you nail the new rib in...

But, look at the grain runout there...!

 

[KAT]

So... new inwales would be the best choice? Any idea what wood it could be for a pre-WWII canoe?

 

[dtdcanoes]

Oh, I think not with so many alternatives that add structural integrity and will not be seen, eg. drill for say 1/4" dowels from under the wale to within an 1/8 of the top surface, and epoxy them in. OR take a dowel with the same diameter as a sanding bit/drum we have for a drill. chisel off some sections on the side of the dowel to match the length ( and not to the top surface so it will not show ) and DEPTH of an insert whose grain will go perpendicular to the grain/crack, epoxy it/them in and sand flush. Put in as many as you see fit along the testy grain area, say, maybe 3-4" apart. Open gunnel may allow you to see these. OR instead of a dowel use a flat insert in a hardwood with the grain similarly oriented to the crack . The trick is to get a nice slot cut and again not to the top surface of the rail.....choose your width if the cut can be made easily, you could fortify most of the width between the rib edges and not have to interfere with the nearby rib nails. If you do not like any of this, hey, replace the rail....but remember to have fun in any case.

 

[Douglas Ingram]

This sort of splitting is actually pretty common. You could choose to leave it alone and it would be no big deal, actually,m but it would bug you to no end forever. Replacing the entire gunnel is pretty major and changes the canoe significantly.

My suggestion would be to expose as much of the area needing attention as possible, grab a heat gun, and roll the canoe up on its side. Pre-heat the gunnel in sections, then apply epoxy. As much as it will take. The heat will expand the gasses in the wood, when it cools it will draw the resin back in further than you can inject it. Heating the resin will lower the viscosity of the resin, and encourage early set up, too.