Inwales, Breast Hook & Thwarts

The stations were unscrewed, the strong back removed and the frame assembly flipped right-side-up.

The station forms were jiggled loose and removed to reveal the free standing frame!

Next, the inwales are installed - they run inside the ribs and parallel to the gunwales.

The inwales require some trimming and adjusting to get the angles cut properly for the fit at each end. Some good tips for this step (and others) are available in Platt Monfort's video.

The inwales are installed and a triangular breast hook has been added to the bow and stern.

Here's a close-up of the breast hook.

I went back to the table saw to rip some oak and cedar for laminating these thwart pieces. I purchased most of the additional miscellaneous wood as individual precut pieces as needed. The oak used here was sold as bannister blanks.

The thwarts are attached to the under side of these thwart gussets. I made the gussets out of thin oak and modified the shape slightly.

This photo shows one of the finished thwarts epoxied into place. The thwarts were hand shaped using a Stanley Surform tool.

I added these dowels for strength and appearance - they were trimmed flush when the glue set.

Here's one of the carrying handles I made for each end to serve as a convenient hold or tie down. (reminded me of a Lincoln Log toy)

Here's the handle glued in place under the gunwale.

With the rub rails temporarily screwed into place, all the gunwale components and end pieces were shaped and hand sanded. (The rub rails will be removed, then put back permanently after the skin is applied.)