On, Out, Repeat

Clamp them in, take them out. Repeat. Getting the inwales cut to the right length and angles takes some time. The pieces of cherry started out being 3/4"x3/4" and I used a plane to taper them both in thickness and in width at each end. the shape of the canoe is something that the strips don't want to take and it takes a lot of clamps to hold them in place. The thinner they are, the easier they are to get bent in place.

When I got the ends cut just like I want them I screwed them in place with #6 screws through the hull. All those screws will come out and be put back in when I glue them in permanently. When I'm wrestling the strips of wood into place with a coat of thickened epoxy on it it helps to have all the screwholes predrilled.

I'll glue and screw both inner pieces and use both screws and clamps to hold them in place until the glue sets. Then I'll glue and screw the outwales to the outside of the hull using screws long enough to go through and fasten to the inner pieces. Fastening the gunwales and the decks will take from 70 to 80 screws. Overkill maybe but I never lose any sleep worrying about the gunwales coming off a boat.