Outer rails on a Rushton IG has no rabbets - so where's the canvas go?

[Howie]

My Rushton IG's outer rails do not have a rabbet. That is, the side of the outer rail that rests against the canoe is flat and the planking extends all the way to the top of the inner rails.

So the question is: Where do I trim the top of the canvas? If I trim to the top of the rails the unpainted inner part of the canvas will be visible - plus the trimmed part of the canvas is always a bit unsightly. But if I trim the canvas to be a bit lower than the tops of the rails then there will be a gap - especially where the tacks/staples are. These problems are solved if I trim the canvas closer to the bottom of the outer rail, but I risk making a mistake and trimming below the outer rail.

I was going to write that I'm certain the rails are original, but now I'm wondering. The serial # is 5213 - maybe 1915 or so? - so it's not as if the company was slacking off. The screws holding them appeared to be brass, but I guess that tells me nothing. They are certainly well shaped with a nice D profile, and they were steamed to perfectly fit the canoe's profile. The canvas was long gone when I got it, so there's no clues there.

I'm afraid the pictures I took of the canoe when I got it are not much help. When restoring I removed all the top planks (because I had to replace all the rib tips), and I have no recollection of where the top edge of the top plank came. When it came time to reinstall these top planks I did note that some did not extend to the top of the inner rail while some did. I assumed that this was an indication that I didn't get the height of the inner rails exactly right when I reinstalled them. Anyway, I repositioned the top plank's edge to be flush with the inner rails. But now I'm wondering if the top of the planks really did end maybe 1/4" below the inner rails, and maybe the canvas was folded somehow in this 1/4" space between the inner & outer rails?

Thoughts?

 

[Douglas Kestell]

Howie- is it possible it is a closed or double gunnel?

I’m personally not familiar with Rushtons

 

[Howie]

Douglas: Good thought, but no. The tips of the rails are/were visible.

 

[JClearwater]

Howie, our IG has the rabbit on the inwale which overlaps the planking and the canvas. The outwale has no rabbit. The outwale mates up against the inwale with no gap between. Watch the video. All things will be revealed. Is your canoe open gunwale?

 

[Howie]

Yeah, thanks Jim. I remember your video. Your IG is constructed differently. My inner rails have a trapezoid shape with no rabbet. Rib tips extend to the tops of the inner & outer rails.

 

[MGC]

I don't know if this helps?
Mine have a lip on that widens the profile of the outside rail.

 

[Howie]

Right Mike. That's the rabbet cut. Every canoe I've seen has 'em - except for those that have rail caps. And this IG.

Maybe what I'll do is trim the canvas to 1/8" from the top, then paint the cut edge. Might look ok... Or I could trim the canvas to 1/8" from the top. Then temporarily clamp the outer rails in place, use tape to note the bottom of the rails, then trim the canvas again to 1/4" to 1/2" from the top of the tape. I'd have to add new staples to secure the canvas and remove the old ones, but that's easy. You'd likely never know.

 

[Gary]

Hi Howie, I restored a UFO canoe that had the same issue with the outwales. My solution was to put a very thin bead of bedding compound or you could use paintable caulk at the top of the canvas after it was trimmed. I then painted this with a fine brush after installing the outwales. Of course you don't want a lot of squeeze out. Fortunately I was using Brightside's dark green so it didn't show as much as a lighter colour would have. My other reason for doing this was to prevent water from getting in there and then being trapped in an area that would be hard for it to dry and possibly prematurely rotting the canvas or the planking? Sorry I looked but couldn't find a picture from that canoe?

 

[MGC]

I wonder if they stopped making the rails with the rabbet in the latter years. Those are a pretty challenging shape to make. That lip is (on IG's) a very pronounced and easily damaged shape. I imagine there was quite a bit of waste fabricating those. Maybe they eliminated it as a time and cost savings measure? It would be interesting to learn if anyone else has a "newer" open rail IG with rails like the ones on your canoe?
I am certain those are original to the boat. They were on it when we picked it up at Rainbow in 1971.

 

[Howie]

Mike: Yup, I agree. I have no doubt that they are original. The damn screws were impossible to remove. I had to saw all but 2 or 3 off to remove the rails. I'm going to have to swap the rails side-to-side when it comes time to reinstall to avoid the threaded ends still left in them!

Gary: That's interesting. Though I see no need to caulk. I can just use paint. Good point about about the paint color: a dark green is the way to go to hide the end.

 

[MGC]

I'm going to have to swap the rails side-to-side when it comes time to reinstall to avoid the threaded ends still left in them!

On mine I found that they had taken a set that did not want to match side to side so instead of swapping them I filled all of the old screw holes and put them back where they were originally installed.... toothpicks and G-Flex.

 

[Dan Miller]

Here is an IG with similar gunwales. It doesn't seem that hiding the edge of the canvas was a problem.

Not sure I can match a sn to the photo, but as it has a floor rack rather than half ribs, it is probably in the 4000s.

 

[Howie]

Dan...I assume then that this isn't one of yours?

At first I thought that this IG has rail caps because they seemed to cover the left & right sides of the long deck. But now I'm thinking I'm seeing tapered mahogany outer rails extending all the way to the stem, and the sides of the long decks are actually flush to the tops of the inner rails. Thus they must be supported from below by wood attached to the inside of these rails. Interesting. My long deck portions were screwed onto the tops of the inner rails and extended to their outer edge.

Also, it looks like my rear seat is closer to the rear by 2-1/2 ribs. Indeed, the rear seat bolts were covered by the long deck.

 

[Todd F]

Look forward to seeing progress.