Inwale dilemma: The canoe that I am building (Damselfly 13’) has thrown me a curve. The hull has a steep tumblehome that is carried all the way to the sheer. This is unlike the hull of the Merlin (for example) where the tumblehome bubbles out and then is softened to nearly vertical at the sheer.

My dilemma is this. I have cut my inwales ¾” square. My scuppers (1/4” deep) are cut and I have tapered the stock both bow and stern. The inwale has been fit to the canoe and it currently sits clamped up waiting for my next move.

There is no way the top of this inwale will ever sit level without a radical bevel cut on the hull side. If I cut this bevel now, I would cut off the top edge of my scupper cut (leaving ½” of material on top and ¾” on bottom). I would have needed stock 1” x ¾” to machine this inwale to sit level.

It doesn’t look bad but functionally my canoe will sit on the edge of the gunwales when car topped. That edge is going to get chewed up.

Further my seat hang and thwarts are going to be a tricky one to drill in that I will have to start the hole very near the hull planking to emerge centered on the bottom side of the inwale.

Ok. I am open to suggestions on how to deal with what I have. I am reluctant to trash what I have done so far, get thicker stock, and add weight in the process (currently I am at 30 lbs).

Just curious. I assume you have the same problem on the outwales too?

I think a bevel is the only way to fix this. I've done some research on this since I'm going to have the same problem on my build and bevel is all I can find as a good solution.

That said, it should be a rolling bevel where its greatest at the middle then lessens back to almost straight at the ends, so it won't affect the whole gunwale as much as just the middle.

If redoing a new gunwale is not an option, You COULD put a really thin strip attached to the canoe that is made out of the same wood as the gunwale then bevel that strip- then you're gunwale would attach to that and be straight - but think that wouldn't looks as good as re-doing the gunwale.

Grizz
Thanks for your interest and comments. You nailed it. I am stuck as there is no easy way out. Obviously you have given this some thought before finding yourself in my predicament.

Yes, I will have the same problem with the outwales. At this point, nothing is glued up. I have the option of "doing it right" or just doing it. Figuring out and machining a rolling bevel is a bit beyond my understanding.

I did look at a set of plans for a 12' foot canoe called the "Chemaunis". The designers show an inset diagram where the scupper spacers are beveled. I attached a link to that design. It looks straight forward even but machining those spacers for the length of the hull is a bit overwhelming.

Carrying Place Canoe and Boat Works

Here are a few pictures showing the need for a rolling bevel and what the inwale looks like without one. Also there is one showing the cuts needed in a thwart to have it lay level on the underside of the inwale.

I see you're scuppers are cut into the gunwale. God help you! This is making my head hurt!

What if you were to do like that illustration but in reverse? Get the top of the gunwale level where you want in and then put "shims" in from the underside. This would preserve your scupper dimensions. You could make the shims out of the same wood and then flush cut them neatly to fit level with the bottom of the gunwale and not sticking out into the scupper cut-outs. If you fill any void with thickened epoxy all should be well. This seems like a lot of work but I can't Think of any other way. This also avoids having to cut a rolling bevel.

Grizz

You nailed my thoughts on cutting shims and placing them from the underside. I will rip (bevel) 3/4" stock and try to get material that goes from about 1/4" thick to a feather. Then I will dry fit, mark as I go from the center out, lay them on the bench and glue them to the inwale. Dry fit the gunwale to the canoe and then (hopefully) glue it up with thickened epoxy (the boat builders friend)

You say, this is making your head hurt. Mine has been hurting. The canoe will look better with gunwales near level and this is what keeps me from doing "good enough".

heading to the shop after lunch. Maybe I can give you a report on success later in the day.

I really appreciate your interest in this problem as it might also be your problem. It is good to have someone to talk to. Thanks.

This might be a way to do it. Cut your 1/4 strip. Clamp up on gunwale. Make sure canoe is level side to side. The plane the whole strip vertically. Verify with a small level. Ice the strip is vertical, then put your gunwale up, and mark out where this shims are.

Voila! I think that will work

Grizz
Yeah I can see your idea working, but that will take a lot of fiddling.

I got the shim angle I need. The only kicker is working with the solid taper on both bow and stern. By the way, not only did I cut my scuppers, but I tapered the inwale both bow and stern (over a length of about 26"). In the taper area the angle needed on the shim changes as you approach the stem area (complicating the issue).

This would be a piece of cake if I didn't have the taper. I would simply glue 1/4" stock to the gunwale on the side facing the hull (and the side with the scupper cuts) and then use the table saw (set at the correct angle) to cut the hull side of the inwale to the correct angle............ job done quick and probably invisible to the untrained eye..........

still pondering the best and easiest way to go other than turning the gunwale into firewood

I beveled 3/4" stock at about a 15 degree angle (about 1/4" at the thickest spot) to make spacers for the inwales. This angle was a compromise of measurements from midships to the stems. I was not about figuring how to do a rolling bevel midships to stems. The inwale will be off level midships but get progressively better approaching the stems.

If I had to do this all over again I would have cut beveled spacer blocks for the scuppers rather than carving them in to the solid 3/4 x 3/4 stock. I thought I would save time by carving, but that was not the case.

Looks great! Won't be able to tell at all! Good job!

Curious to see how the outwales go...

Got it done. Gunwales fitted up, spaced apart and screwed. I will next take it apart and glue it up. Outwales will be a piece of cake compared to this. I will now post updates on my New Build thread.

HPD. How did the outwales turn out? Did you end up doing a bevel? I'm at this point now and trying to figure it out...

The outwales were originally ripped as 3/4 X 3/4 (before I tumbled into the tumble home dilemma). I took that stock and ripped it down using a 15 degree bevel. This was the same bevel I used for the inwale shims except now I had one continuous piece. That fitted up pretty good except for about a 2' span in the bow and stern. So, to make it fit properly I used a hand plane to taper the bevel down (over a 2' length) from 15 degrees to 0 where the inwale met the stem. That worked.

I did read about a genius way to do this w outwales that we didn't discuss before.

They said the clamp the gunwale to the OTHER SIDE. Then plane the face vertical. Then when switched back to the right side it should be bang on- assuming the canoe was level.

Being that your working on the outside and away from the canoe 3/4 or so, you could even use a power planer to do this in relatively short time.

I'm not going to do this :), but I thought it was worth sharing.

That is truly a genius way of getting the job done. Had I foreseen the problem, I probably would have given it more thought before hand. I wish you luck on your project. I am following your build so I will see the solution there.