Gunwale Rubrails

Start fitting the rub rails by laying them out along the gunwales and clamping them on flush with the tops of the gunwales.  Drill pilot holes for the screws through each rib, plus one in each side of the breasthook.  These should not go all the way through the inwale; rather, they should stop about an eighth of an inch short.  These holes also need to be countersunk enough for the heads of the bronze square-drive screws to be flush or just below the surface of the rub rails.

Trim the rub rails even with the ends of the gunwale and stem.  Then, remove the rubrails from the boat and round the outer two edges.  Do NOT round the edges that will be against the canvas.  The outer rounding is so when you bump your hand on the rubrail while paddling - and you will, occasionally - it will be soft and more comfortable.

At this point the rub rails are ready to be oiled or varnished.  Both sides, 2-3 coats.

Shaping the Ends of the Boat to Fit the Bronze Rub Rail

One of the very last things to go on the boat is the metal rub-rail which wraps over the breast hook and along the stems onto the keel stringer.  When you bend the piece in a vise, you can't quite get a sharp 90 degree angle, so what we do is round the top of the stem and gunwale to match the curve we do get.  Do this now, before you oil the frame and other parts.  Use the metal part as a guide, and sand by hand to get as close as you can to the required radius, but don't beat yourself up too much if its not perfect.  As long as the arms of the metal piece lay flat on the stem and breast hook, it will be fine.

The installment of this piece will be covered later; for now, I just want you to have shaped the ends before oiling.

Note: when you do this shaping, you can save time later by putting the wooden rub rails on while you do the shaping, so they will match the profile of the bow and stern.  Also round them off nicely on the outside.

This is what you'll need to do if you forget to round the rubrails when you round over the bow and stern.  It seasy enoughn to go back and mark themto match and round off the ends to match the boat.  A little Waterlox touch -up with a small brush will be required.

Floorboards

The floorboards are constructed separately, from strips of ash, 1/4" thick by 1" wide. Actually, you could have a lot of variation in these - 3 wider pieces instead of 5 narrow. Whatever prevents you from sticking a foot or paddle thought the open grid of the boat frame and provides a platform to sit on. We usually place the three cross-pieces (1) under the paddler, (2) near front thwart, and (3) in the middle. Make sure they will fit between the ribs of the boat, so they will lay flat.

The ends are left relatively unsupported so that they can bend up and twist a little to conform to the narrower boat ends. The pieces are rounded on the upper edges for comfort and the tips are rounded off a little - no sharp edges or points.

The pieces are secured to each other by pre-drilling holes and using copper tacks driven through and 'peened' over on back side.  They are glued with waterproof glue at the same time.