Another question from the house amatuer

[PeninsulaPaul]

Hello,

Paul here with my ongoing project.

I am looking into replacing the metal rails on my boat. Many of the mounts are cracked, pitted and basically worn out to the point they let the rail wiggle too much.

I have a set of rails on the upper deck that are square in shape, a set on the side of the boat that are straight and a set on the bow that are shaped like the bow of the boat.

I want to replace them with wood because a local marine salvage place has a bunch of them that I can cut to size (thanks to all who suggested the salvage place....WOW!)

What about the bow though? I had a carpenter friend tell me I could buy a wood rail and have it steam bent (not familiar with that) or he said I could just buy thinner pieces and assemble them together and epoxy them.

Has anyone made a curved wooden rail before?

Thanks as always!

 

[jonesg]

Re: Another question from the house amatuer

Bending laminated strips is suited to gentle curves, I did some wingtips for a piper cub like that, it works great.

 

[PeninsulaPaul]

Re: Another question from the house amatuer

Thanks Jones, this is an adventure to say the least..lol

 

[Bifflefan]

Re: Another question from the house amatuer

Steaming is out because you need a steamer box that is large enough to fit the whole piece in at once. While you can build it out of a piece of PVC pipe and a LP gas flame of some kind, its not something your going to use again and could be a expensive investment.

Laminating is a good idea but, the strips will be with the edge up and may not look good when finished.

Id go to a furniture maker and see if they have a set of knives in the profile you like, then have them cut it out of one piece of wood with the curve in it.
It will look a lot better.

 

[PeninsulaPaul]

Re: Another question from the house amatuer

Bifflefan,

Showing my ignorance here but "set of knives". I am not familiar with the term aside from cutlery. Thanks for the info and Semper Fi!

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Another question from the house amatuer

An 8' piece of pvc pipe, 1 end cap, Towel, hot plate, tea kettle, heater hose. White Oak. Steam Bend it. If You can find a 16 foot long piece of white oak that is 1" x 1" then it CAN be done. Been there and done it!!!

I'm just sayin...

 

[PeninsulaPaul]

Re: Another question from the house amatuer

Woodonglass,

Thanks, I would really appreciate some more detailed instructions. Do you mind if I send you a list of questions?

Paul

 

[jonesg]

Re: Another question from the house amatuer

Laminating is a good idea but, the strips will be with the edge up and may not look good when finished.

.

Glass it with 6 oz cloth/resin , paint it.
For me, I'd just buy a used stainless rail.

 

[PeninsulaPaul]

Re: Another question from the house amatuer

Bifflefan,

I thought of the edge facing up too but it would look really good if I were to use alternating shades of wood dark/light/dark and then epoxy them after gluing.

 

[jonesg]

Re: Another question from the house amatuer

Bifflefan,

I thought of the edge facing up too but it would look really good if I were to use alternating shades of wood dark/light/dark and then epoxy them after gluing.

But then you have to paint because epoxy has no UV protection, it will shrink and crack. Stainless is tough to beat.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Another question from the house amatuer

You can always send me a Private Message and I will be more than happy to answer any questions you might have. I been working with wood for over 40 years so I think I can speak from experience.

I'm just sayin...