Teak Handrails, No drilling?

[SailingwithSoul]

Happy Monday,

I’m looking to instal a teak handrail to the starboard, interior cabin roof on my boat, but I do not want to drill into the roof. Would using 5200 alone provide enough holding strength for the teak rail to be used as a hand rail and/or anchor point for lee cloths, or am I risking and damage/injury by going this route?

Thanks everyone!

[Target9000]

I'd def mechanically fasten the handrail if you're going to have lee clothes attached.

I looked up 3M's 5200 specs and it lists the max tensile strength as 700psi and an elongation factor of 800%. Since the hand rail will likely have a very small footprint for attachment you may want to calculate it all out. I'm no engineer but it doesn't seem like those figures are going to add up when you consider an adult human being slung against lee clothes in the event of a knock down or God forbid, a rollover.

[GordMay]

No, tenacious as it is, 5200 (alone) won't suffice.

[Cheechako]

Big NO! Worse than not having a handrail...

[SailingwithSoul]

Thanks guys. The plan was to install one of those 5 loop handrails with just the 5200. My reason for not wanting to drill is due to my concern for making too many holes and places where water may leak in. I figured 5 loops would act as sufficient places for the glue to hold and distribute any weight.

[Target9000]

I'm assuming your Pearson 300 has a cored deck as do most boats. When you install fasteners in the interior, as long as you do not penetrate all the way through the core you will not introduce a place for a leak. If there is a leak and water drips out of those holes, well.... You'd have wanted to know about it anyway right?

[minaret]

Sometimes you can fiberglass a strip of steel plate to the underside of the deck and drill and tap it for machine screws. This leaves no penetrations in the deck and is plenty strong, but the headliner setup has to be right. It also requires a bottoming tap.

[SailingwithSoul]

Originally Posted by Target9000

I'm assuming your Pearson 300 has a cored deck as do most boats. When you install fasteners in the interior, as long as you do not penetrate all the way through the core you will not introduce a place for a leak. If there is a leak and water drips out of those holes, well.... You'd have wanted to know about it anyway right?

Quite right

Originally Posted by minaret

Sometimes you can fiberglass a strip of steel plate to the underside of the deck and drill and tap it for machine screws. This leaves no penetrations in the deck and is plenty strong, but the headliner setup has to be right. It also requires a bottoming tap.

This is a great idea, but I don't yet have the skill to make the end result look neat and professional if I went this route.

I'll go with a combination of short screws and 5200 to ensure secure holding.

Thanks!

[Cheechako]

Murphys rules of 5200: when you need to take something off, it will not budge and may peel gel with it. If dont want something to come off, it will peel right off cleanly. Despite all te bitching on this forum about inability to remove it, ive experienced both conditions many times.

[Nemo55]

Keep in mind that what ever you glue to, has a specific surface tension, like paint,,,if you gorilla glue something to a painted surface,all you have done is fasten the object in question to a certain quantity of paint.
If the paint lets go, so does the object.

You can always drill 3/8 plug holes and fit and glue 3/8wooden dowels into the holes and then fasten to them, at least that is my way of dealing with tricky mounting situations. JMHO

[SailingwithSoul]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Murphys rules of 5200: when you need to take something off, it will not budge and may peel gel with it. If dont want something to come off, it will peel right off cleanly. Despite all te bitching on this forum about inability to remove it, ive experienced both conditions many times.

I'm all too well acquainted with Murphy. No matter how many times I have thrown him overboard upon the sea, he somehow manages find his way back onboard

Originally Posted by Nemo55

Keep in mind that what ever you glue to, has a specific surface tension, like paint,,,if you gorilla glue something to a painted surface,all you have done is fasten the object in question to a certain quantity of paint.
If the paint lets go, so does the object.

You can always drill 3/8 plug holes and fit and glue 3/8wooden dowels into the holes and then fasten to them, at least that is my way of dealing with tricky mounting situations. JMHO

Good suggestion and you're right about adhesive and surface tension. In the case of fiberglass, I usually rough-up the surface to get the best contact and grip.

[denverd0n]

A handrail needs to be able to support your entire weight, perhaps even the weight of more than one person, thrown suddenly against it. Depending on 5200 for that strikes me as remarkably unwise.

[sww914]

Even if the 5200 held, without screws through the thickness of the handrail the wood will split and the handrail will come off. Screws sandwich the wood it's self together as well so it won't peel apart.

[Cheechako]

I might consider just screwing the handrail from the bottom up with large screws if not using it for lashing a dingy etc. But really they should be thru bolted. A fender washer underneath is plenty. It's not that hard, but removing the cabin liner is harder often!

[Blue Stocking]

If the liner is thick and rigid enough, you may be able to use a keyhole bit. I have done this. If you are not familiar with the term, look up router bits in the Grizzley tools catalog.