Preparing the Toe Rails and Rub Rails

October 31, 2015

The next item on the to-do list was to fabricate the new toe rails and rub rails.  Having just a little bit to work on the boat prior to: 1. watching the first half of the Gator game, and 2. trick-or-treating with my kiddos, I got right to work in the....mid-morning - sleeping in on the weekend is still important to me :)

I gathered my mahogany boards (3) and proceeded to the wood shop.  I selected the 2 boards to be used for the toe rails and the other for the rub rails.   

Over the previous weekend I took measurements on the rails, and I also took notes on the shape and dimensions of the originals rails.  The original toe rails measured 1 and 1/8" in height by 5/8" width.  The new toe rails would take the 1 and 1/8" height, but would measure nearly 3/4" in width.  I ran the toe rails through the planer to take off the cupping that was evident in the boards. I planed the boards to just proud of their eventual width - 3/4".

After planing all the rails I used the finish sander to clean up the markings caused by the planer.

The next step was to joint at least one side of the boards, and I attempted this on a small jointer I have.  However, the boards were of such length and the jointer disproportionately sized for the job that I eventually relented to my hand planes for achieving a jointed edge.  After several passes and constant measuring I achieved the result I was looking for.

With at least one edge jointed on edge of the boards I proceeded to rip the mahogany stock, creating blanks for the toe rails.  I ripped the toe rails to 1 and 1/4" (height), and ended up with 9 pieces in total.  I will need 3 pieces for each toe rail, so I have enough pieces to select the best of the lot for each toe rail.

One of the two mahogany boards ripped into 5 blanks for the toe rails.

I had selected one of the three mahogany boards for the rub rails, and followed the same preparation steps.  The rub rail blanks were ripped to 3/4" (height), with a base width of 7/8".  I ended up with 8 blanks for the rub rails and will need three pieces for each rail, thus I will have two left over pieces. The next step will be to cut scarf joints in the material selected for the individual toe and rub rails using the template I have prepared.  I created a template on top of a sled that I will push through the table saw to create the necessary scarf joint (see earlier post on this scarfing sled). 

As a public service announcement....NEVER! stand directly behind the table saw as you cut your stock! :)  Sometimes the material can be under a lot of pressure due to the way the grain is running, and as one cuts, this pressure can be released and cause the board to ride up against the blade...producing a missile launcher effect!  Yikes!

I had to pull this out from the exterior of the shop!

Total Time: 5 Hrs.