When the remade third laminate had well and truly cured I moved it from the house into the workshop and cleaned up the scarf joint with the new length of Sapele, and made the 1/8" bevel along the bottom of the new wood.
I marked it up for temporary screws every 12 inches, but only drilled every other one in case I could get away with using fewer screws and have fewer holes to plug.
Then I test fitted it most carefully.
Last time it fell off the rail and being tethered at each end it twisted and snapped into three pieces, so this time I took great care not to allow that to happen again.
I used several ratchet clamps to hold the laminate in place against the rail. As in this pic.
The clamps worked really well, with the laminate still loose enough for adjustment but unable to fall away from the rail.
I fitted the temporary screws and it was immediately evident that more were needed, so I drilled in situ for all the screws at 12" intervals and refastened the laminate. No more gaps, so all was well for gluing it in place.
I used a couple of scrap wedges to hold the laminate away from the rail for gluing, and a piece of stiff wire to keep it aligned with the screw holes, like this.
Plenty of glue was applied to the rail and the laminate screwed tightly into place, as here looking aft with the ratchet clamps removed.
That went well with no drama, so now I need to leave it for a few days to cure properly before I cut off the overhang at the bow to allow installation of the starboard rub rail.
We're getting there!
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