Top Rails

I found some 1″ x 6″ x 16′ treated lumber for  the top rails – the  only problem is that they are about 3 inches  too short overall as shown below at the bow and the stern. Longer lumber is available upon request at a lumber mill about an hour and a half away, but then it would have to dry out before painting it so I’m going to scarf some lumber together to make what I have longer.

Short at the bow:

Short at the stern:

Here is a board after it has been scarfed at a 12 to 1 ratio (board is tapered from a 1 inch thickness to a sharp point at the end over a length of 12 inches):

There are many ways to scarf wood, I used a power planer, a hand planer and finished off with the sander:

The 1″ x 6″ lumber has been scarfed, epoxy applied and the boards clamped together to cure for a day or two:

The epoxy has cured so the clamps were removed:

Here is a shot of the boards after the excess epoxy has been removed:

This is a side shot after the excess epoxy was removed:

Here the scarfed 1″ x 6″ is located on the starboard side of the skiff for marking and to drill pilot holes for fastener installation, outside view:

Starboard side rail fit-up

Below is an inside view of the starboard rail before installation:

inside view of starboard side rail fit-up

Outside view of the starboard rail after installation:

Starboard rail installed - outside view

Inside view of the starboard rail after installation:

Starboard rail installed - inside view

Bow portion of the installed starboard rail, inside view:

bow view of starboard rail, inside photo

Below is the port rail after installation:

Port rail installed

This photo shows the interior of the skiff after frames and bow stem have been rough trimmed and the temp frame has been removed:

Skiff interior

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