Fruits Of My Labor (A-113)

[ebb]

Tony, those already milled mahogany strips are nearly 'square' at 2"X2.5".

Bet you can bend them cold on the sheer.
At the very most you'd only have to steam the foreward lengths where the wood has to make the tighter curve right to the stem.

Way to do that is to lever over-long pieces so that the curve is continuous.
So that when you cut to fit the wood has a full curve memory. Maybe only steam can do this.
Tried to do that with the rather huge bull toerails on litlgull.
But ended with the very front ends running outboard (running straight) not following the molded toerail as I wished.
The curve on an Ariel gets more radical approaching the stem.
Honduras mahogany is not known for steam bending well. (see Steam bending mahogany, woodenboat forum.)
Determine the easy bending side of your strips - there will be one - scarf these sides so that the full run length wants to naturally curve that way.

No doubt you have to scarf pieces to get your 30' length.
The scarf can be in the chainplates area.
So if you determine you actually need to steam the rail, only the pieces forward of the plates need it. Am positive the remaining run aft can be bent on cold.


Cut maybe 30 or 40 L shaped pieces of good quality plywood. Screwed one leg right angles to the deck all along the toe rail, stem to stern.. And clamped the rails to the up leg. Because the deck has a crown, to get the rail to stand up right (say, 90 degrees) the L pieces are less than ninety. Didn't have near enough clamps for each helper, but it doesn't matter since the mahogany is pulled against them and won't need clamping.

All kinds of adjusting, shimming and drilling can be done this way: Violating the deck with hundreds of
screw holes. That's what epoxy is for. The rail can be fitted tight and predrilled for fastening & then suspended in place (if your up legs are tall enough) this way for final gooping, allowing the underside of the rail to be gunned standing below!!!.....then lowered into place, easy as pie.
Think the L jig pieces make control of the new rail additions much easier. Allows total removal if necessary (chamfering holes and/or priming) while working them.

Milled a mild concave into the bearing surface of the mahogany using a table router.
I believe it helped to 'register' the rail onto the fiberglass toerail.


Have now been looking for too long at litlgull's bullwarky toerails.
Certainly know that mahogany looks gorgeous when varnished.
Also know that tomorrow I'm not going to want to get on my knees to do the honors.
After initial varnishing, the toe rail extension can be painted like the deck, up to the varnished cap.
Or that cap, if teak or ipe, left to gray out.

Varnishing the new rail outside would continue until patience ran out.
If you end up with a cap rail AND a rub rail (to cover the seam) they could remain varnishable
and the new rail addition outside coated to the color of the hull. I'll probably end up doing that on litlgull.
Because I got no time to VARNISH!


If you are not working on the boat, but have some long benches set up (or use the vertical two-by studs on the shop wall), would it be possible
to jig the tables to start cold pre-bending the deck curve into the pieces?
[Don't remember if I yattered about this: but I made up litlgull's rails scarffed full length
and steambent only the front of the rails in the steambox at the shop. Only partially successful, as mahogany never gets actually limp like oak.
And after dry trundled them down to the boat on the Yakima racks for fitting.
I must have had some springback after taking them out of their bending jig
- because I didn't get the front bends radical enough. BUT, only you and I know that!!!]


Rail ends at the bow are a problem: I see you may be using the 2X2.5 pieces as cap rails. If most of the shaping & rounding is done prior to mounting
there would be less wood to bend and therefor more easy a cold bend onto the toe rail curve, even if bent on the wide.
If the pieces won't bend up at the end in the bow, then perhaps they could be left rough and shaped/carved to the perfect curve
with the new rail fastened in place?
Better may be special shaped pieces for the bow, scarfed on to the ends of the new rails, carved on the bottom to fit the tight toe rail curve
- with custom built-in fairleads and chocks.

Sorry for the length of this.