Maybe I was lucky May be not. Was able to obtain a white gold Bell Wildfire in need of work today at a good for me price. Hull shows low use on the outside. looking good so far on the inside. The canoe was stored outside for t.he last little bit and has never had the gunwales oiled since the factory. They are salvageable with a little sanding. Rescued this canoe just in time. Tried out a small spot in the worst area today. Would like to be able to remove the gunwales from the canoe to do this and be able to oil the side of the wood that is next to the gel coat and other wise unreachable. The issue with removing the gunwales is the epoxy at the underside ends of the gunwales on the bow and stern that basically glues the gunwales to each other and to the canoe at this point. Anyone ever had luck removing and not damaging Bell wood gunwales?
The approach that has worked in the past for me in restoring other wood work has been to use high end masking tape (Frogtape) and very thin sheet of metal from the hobby shop. First protect the adjacent area with the masking tape so the metal will not scratch it. Slip the metal between the two pieces then you have a sanding guard to protect the surface that should not be touched by sandpaper. The issue with this method is it will not allow oil to be applied to the hidden part of the gunwale.
The approach that has worked in the past for me in restoring other wood work has been to use high end masking tape (Frogtape) and very thin sheet of metal from the hobby shop. First protect the adjacent area with the masking tape so the metal will not scratch it. Slip the metal between the two pieces then you have a sanding guard to protect the surface that should not be touched by sandpaper. The issue with this method is it will not allow oil to be applied to the hidden part of the gunwale.