Inwale Spacers

Yesterday, I started working on the spacers for the inwale.  I want to use a nice, light and light-coloured wood.  Trouble is that spruce and pine are so soft and fibrous that the drills tear rather than cut cleanly.

With previous boats, I was able to set up a jig on the drill press and slide the wood strips to the proper place under the drill bit.  The bit would carve a nice arc into the end of the wood, and at the same time carve the arc into the leading edge of the next segment.  Worked well with fir.

I tried a number of drills and hole cutters, but each of them left a torn surface instead of nice and smooth.  I finally gave up and came in to supper.  This morning, I tried using a hole saw and that was better, but still required sanding or filing.

Online, I found nice router bits with round cutting heads, like a mushroom.  In order to try out the possibility, I experimented with one of my regular router bits.
I set up my router table and ran the end grain through the bit.  Came out smooth, rather than  ragged and torn.

The next picture shows my router table set up with the new router bit.  The piece of wood that I want to cut is clamped to a sliding guide which moves along the top of a board.  That board is clamped next to the cutting head.

The new operation has only a few steps.  Cut the piece to length on the chop saw.  Run the end of the piece (with the help of a fence, guide and a clamp) over the top of the bit.  Flip the piece of wood around and repeat on the opposite end!  Very nicely done.

 Sorry it is so blurry, but I hope you get the idea.

In this last shot, I have nearly 70 of these insert pieces all coved and clamped together so I can varnish the edges.  Once that is done, I shall glue them to the inside rim of the boat, in preparation for the inner rail.