I've been practising woodworking and getting some nice roundovers on my thwarts. Now I feel that the rails (gunwales) look rather like, well, bits of lumber glued to the side of the boat.
I'm thinking of putting a quarter inch roundover on them. I think it'll look better and the sharp edge won't get snagged on things, & chip. And I don't think it'll reduce strength. Could there be implications for the oar locks and rigging later on?
Anyone else consider this?
I used a 3/8ths roundover bit on a 1/4" trim router on the rails and seat edges on a Peeler Skiff. Having the same radius on all the roundovers is a nice touch and I don't think they effect strenth. Didn't have to worry about oar locks because I understand the Peeler rows like Cleopatra's barge.
Are these rails already installed? If so, do not use a router or any type of rounding plane. The wood on the edge that you want to shape is in tension. You run the risk of tearout and large running splinters when you dramatically release the tension. A much better, but tedious approach is sanding to your final shape. Even if you did use a router with no problems you will still have to sand to remove machine marks. So you may as well sand from the get go.
Thanks for the feedback. The rails are installed. Maybe just give it a light roundover with the random orbital.
For what it's worth, on my Skerry I used my old Craftsman router with a roundover bit on rails that were already installed on the boat and had no problem whatsoever. I think I used a 3/8" radius bit (at work now - can't run out and check).
hokker
I do remember cutting the radius in several passes, the last one being very light.
hokker
Hi John, mine got chamfered with a block plane. Marked out top and side with a line 1/4" from the edge and worked down to both lines. Gave me a facet about 5/15" wide. I really like the way the facet catches light in ways a round over doesn’t. And I didn't have to listen to the @#%* screaming router. Your fingers with thank you for doing something to the underside of your rails too!
Cheers,
e
How about a few photos of your work guys?
Maybe when the weather clears
I used a 3/8" roundover bit, top and bottom, on my Skerry rails. It was a somewhat delicate operation, as I had to hold the router with the axis horizontal, so there was not really a flat surface for the router baseplate to rest on. I'm very pleased with the outcome, however.
hokker
http://i65.tinypic.com/nb1zdx.jpg
http://i66.tinypic.com/2nw0l8y.jpg
http://i65.tinypic.com/9tn3h4.jpg