Teak... Surely not the first time

[zeehag]

if the rails are not specific f or your boat, you may need steam bending---some boats donot have grab rails in the bend--as is the way mine issert up. if that is cas, premade ones are sufficient.
why you changing them out? are they destroyed??

[JardiTancat]

Originally Posted by Z1Krider

Thank you to all for the candid and colorful input. I am about to mount new hand rails. Debating on how to go about curving the rail to match the shape of the boat. Can I just bolt in the first two then start bending and placing bolts or is there prebending that needs to occur before mounting?

Cheers!
Clayton

Good morning Clayton. A few years ago on my C&C Corvette 31 I replaced my grab rails. The new ones were pretty robust and I had no trouble at all getting them to bend to the curvature of the cabin top. The one thing though that I had to be careful with was aligning them perfectly with the interior grab rails as they were interconnected from the inside. As the fasteners are worked from the inside, it is very much a two person job. And it's mighty important to get the teak to deck seal right because once you get them installed you don't want to take them off to fix a leak. Good luck and send photos when done.

Cheers, David

[Z1Krider]

Zeehag, when I acquired the boat it was missing the rails along the starboard side (among other things). I did some extensive searching, but wasn't able to find a match for the ones left on the port side, so we purchased all new rails.
So I hope to get these mounted this weekend and all the windows put back in too. I'll post pics when it happens

Clayton

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by Z1Krider

Thank you to all for the candid and colorful input. I am about to mount new hand rails. Debating on how to go about curving the rail to match the shape of the boat. Can I just bolt in the first two then start bending and placing bolts or is there prebending that needs to occur before mounting?

Cheers!
Clayton

I think you'll find teak handrails bendy enough wo force around at will. I hate fiddling with them and would choose SS tube as replacement when ours have had it.

[Geoduck]

If you find that they wont take the bend, pre- bend them in a jig for a couple of days. Make a pattern of the bend, transfer to plywood, nail down some 2x4's - whathave you- and clamp the rails to the pattern. Cover with rags, towels etc. soak in hot water for awhile and you've got it. (poor mans steam box)

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by Geoduck

If you find that they wont take the bend, pre- bend them in a jig for a couple of days. Make a pattern of the bend, transfer to plywood, nail down some 2x4's - whathave you- and clamp the rails to the pattern. Cover with rags, towels etc. soak in hot water for awhile and you've got it. (poor mans steam box)

I predict you won't have any problems because the hand rails are skinny, small cross sections. I was abla to force a bend the hard way on 5/8 thick X 3-1/2 inch wide toe rails of teak. Looked great untill the thing ruptured from end-to-end. Current laws prohibit import of all wood that is not kiln dryed. Once dried, teak cannot be made wet or supple in water soak or steam. Our boat was built in '83 where green teak could be imported. Original rails were 60 feet long & one piece. I had to replace with short, wide sections cut to the curve and interlocked.

[Z1Krider]

Well, we finally got all the teak re mounted. Minus the bungs being placed. But that's ok, we took Moonglider out for her first sail on Sunday since the middle of March when we sailed her from the haul out to her slip. Full topside rework is coming to an end.

The teak rails bent very easily into place. Had I been a little more patient I may have tried to bow the shorter rails too.
Happy to report a solid 7+ knots in 18-20 knots of wind was made reaching across the bay.

Cheers,
Clayton

[Ocean Girl]

Good job Clayton!
Mrs. Rain Dog

[ketchdoc]

I have a 47 foot Vagabond with teak decks in Lake Ontario. I use a product called teak guard. It s a little challending to apply the first time but all you need to do to keep it up iswashitand aplly two coats once a year.