Contouring/adhering wood to inside port/starboard walls

[dreyn09]

I'm in the process of constructing a new bow seat on my 1991 Ski Centurion Falcon Bowrider XP. At the moment, I'm trying to attach/adhere two 1" X 2" lengths (48") of wood to the inside port and starboard walls. The purpose is to serve as ledgers that'll support the outside of the bow seat. My first obstacle is the inside port and starboard walls have a slight bow/curve to them so the lengths of wood don't naturally contour i.e. there are gaps between the wall and wood. Can anyone recommend how I can make these lengths of wood contour? Once I get the wood to contour and adhere, my goal is to glass them in.

Just to provide some context/background, my first attempt was to apply liquid nails to the wood and wedge the wood up against the fiberglass walls using other pieces of scrap wood I had lying around. I left this overnight in the hopes the liquid nails would adhere the wood to the walls and in doing so, keep the contour. Needless to say, I checked on things the next morning and was bummed to find out the liquid nails didn't do the trick. The lengths of wood immediately snapped back to their natural position as soon as I removed the pieces of scrap wood I was using to wedge them up against the wall. Any feedback/advice is greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Dave

 

[thrillhouse700]

Re: Contouring/adhering wood to inside port/starboard walls

Why not get some 3/4" ply and cut it to the contour sitting the edge against the wall. Then pl and glass it in. Will be a ton easier than trying to bend wood.

Only way I know how to bend wood is to soak it in water, then clamp it around your contour and then apply heat, but this is more of a furniture grade wood kind of process and will more than likely ruin a pine 1x2.

 

[bananaboater]

Re: Contouring/adhering wood to inside port/starboard walls

You can try kerfing the wood. That is to saw across the length probably 2/3 deep, not all way through. Make as many cuts as necessary to bend the wood easily. Since it will be covered the kerfs can be on the inside or outside of the installed bracket.

http://www.woodworking-news.com/woodworking-questions/cutting-kerfs-to-bend-wood.shtml

Another method would be to laminate several layers of thinner wood to a pattern that matches the hull curve.

Albert