Gluing Toe Rail

[Ed Gibbons]

I’m working on putting doe the toe rail on the Yankee Hero. My plan is to use CA glue about 2” at a time. Any tips or suggestions would be appreciated. I’m a newbie and still finding my way. Thanks. 

[Bob Cleek]

Using heat from a clothes iron or other suitable device, bend your toe rail to shape first, then glue it in place. 

[jhearl]

I use pieces of 1/32" brass rod to position the toe rail. Here's how I do it:

 

I place the forward end of the toe rail up against the stem (or wherever its final position is supposed to be). While holding it in place with one hand, I drill down through the toe rail into the deck beneath. (Be careful not to drill out the side of the hull but you want the brass rod to be in the deck deep enough that it won't easily fall out.)  I then stick a piece of 1/32" brass rod into the hole, through the toe rail and down into the deck, then snip the excess rod off leaving about a half-inch above the toe rail. No glue at this point.

 

Now, move aft along the hull and toe rail until you reach a point where the toe rail needs to curve inward. Hold the toe rail in place, drill a hole there through the toe rail and deck, and insert another piece of brass rod. Keep working your way aft inserting more rods as necessary to keep the toe rail conformed to the desired curvature. 

 

At this point, the toe rail should be lying nicely in place without you having to hold it at all. Carefully lift the toe rail off the deck a quarter inch or so, being sure that the brass rods don't come out of the holes in the deck. That will allow you to put your glue of choice on the deck or underside of the toe rail. Press the toe rail back down into place and wait for the glue to dry. I typically prefer small dots of medium CA for this purpose. I always put a dot on each of the pieces of brass rod where they go into the deck. If you prefer yellow glue, you may need to hold the toe rail tight to the deck with tape until the glue dries.

 

Once the glue has dried, snip off the remaining ends of the brass rod and file them down level with the top of the toe rail.

 

In the picture below, you can see a few of the brass rods I used for this particular boat after they had been filed down. No two boats are alike, so placement of the rods will vary.  If your toe rail has scupper holes, be careful not to put a piece of brass rod through the hole.

 

 

It is helpful if the hole you drill is just slightly smaller than the 1/32" brass rod. You want a snug fit but not so tight that you can't move the toe rail off the deck. Make a hole in a test piece before you start drilling into the model itself. This technique can work for rub rails as well. Figuring out just where to bend the rub rail can take a little practice, so you might want to do a test run on some scrap to get a feel for how it works  before you move to the model.

 

Hope this helps -

John

[Bob Cleek]

On 9/6/2021 at 1:21 PM, jhearl said:

I use pieces of 1/32" brass rod to position the toe rail.

An excellent approach! Thanks for sharing it.