Inwale/varnish question

[patrick corry]

I'm restoring an old Chestnut Bob's Special/Ranger (don't know which) and although I have a way to go with replacing ribs and many rib tops, I made new Spruce inwales and test fitted one side. Anticipating the day when I'm ready to permanently install, I'm wondering if it's standard procedure to varnish the face of the inwale against the ribs since properly sealing the inwale is problematic (or at least, sloppy) after installation. Perhaps varnishing the less accessible underside as well at the same time makes sense. I will be sanding the inwale/rib tops/outwale as a unit after installation so I will not varnish on the top or inside face because of the round over at the upper corner, and the eased lower corner. I guess this question will also apply to the interior, rabbeted face of the outwale prior to installation. Thanks for your thoughts.

Old inwales, decks, and new inwales drying on the form at the bench:

Test fit:

Sorry for the distracting background... canoe work is competing with my day job- leftover building materials!

 

[Howie]

Yes, absolutely varnish the insides of the inner rails! I've never ever seen a canoe in original condition with these parts varnished, and it's a shame as doing so would have delayed the rotting process. I've even seen canoes where the undersides of the seats, the decks, and even thwarts were left unvarnished. Obviously this was done for cost cutting reasons, but there's every reason why they should be protected from the elements as any other wood.

 

[patrick corry]

Thanks Howie, I too have never seen the inside parts of inwale/outwale varnished. I will still need to coax the sweep of the inwales up a bit on one end. That end of the inwales I simply soaked in water for several days before clamping to the form. The other end was soaked for several days then soaked in boiling water for an hour prior to clamping to the form, which held the curve better than the non-heated end!

The overall shape is looking good with inwales temporarily clamped in place:

 

[Rollin Thurlow]

You might want to varnish the top couple inches of the the rib tops and stem at the same time.

 

[patrick corry]

You might want to varnish the top couple inches of the the rib tops and stem at the same time.

Yes, hopefully I wouldn't have overlooked this, but a good point!

 

[patrick corry]

New inwales are temporarily fitted and I am getting ready to make the stem/inwale joint. I plan to shape the top of the stem into a tenon which will have the inwales shaped to fit, hopefully coming to a neat finish at the outside face of the stem. Looking at my sketch, is there any reason NOT to drill and glue a softwood dowel through the final-fitted joint? Perhaps not traditional but it will never see daylight again until this stem repair rots away at some undetermined time in the future!

I had to repair the rotted tips of the original decks. Scarfed on new tips of Ash leftover from a failed stem bend!

 

[Todd F]

I am digging those wood floors! Oh, the canoe parts look good too!

 

[Worth Gretter]

I like the curve on the deck scarf joint - it's a nice touch.

 

[Michael Grace]

You can certainly put a dowel through the tips as you propose but even though many people have tried to improve upon this joint over the years, there are numerous old canoes out there that have survived very well over the past 100 or more years with their original construction. Often this meant simply that the top end of the stem simply buts up against the underside of the inhale tips. One possible issue is that by drilling a hole through all these pieces you're opening up more end grain where moisture can get in but since that area is all within half and inch (or less) of end grain already, a little more might not matter much. However it all comes together, it's best to keep that area as dry as possible.

 

[patrick corry]

Todd, yeah... I like 'em too! I often opine about replacing with tongue & groove 2x6's since the lumpy original threshing floor of my barn makes moving things around or leveling sawhorses difficult, but I'll probably never do it. I like the antiquity.

Worth, I too like the gentle curve but I can't take any credit for that. The flat plane of the saw blade when it meets the gently crowned deck surface results in that arc.