bronze rub-strake over rubrail?

[drysuit2]

Let us know how you make out. I have been trying to find Bronze Rub Rail stock for a while, with no success. And I don't want Brass or Stainless Steel.

Thanks

[mattlydon]

My boat only has one strip of stainless rub strake across the transom. Where else is it located, standard, and what size?

I'd DEFINITELY like to get some up front - I'm going to have to replace the rubrails up there, as they're WELL worn down, and would rather do it only once.

I saw Jambalaya mention 5/16ths.....this match everyone else's? Just on the outside of the rubrail, or inset?

Anybody have some pictures of theirs?

TIA,

Matt

[Ron M.]

I was able to find 5/8, which is about as large as you can go.......1/2" wood be fine.
________
Washington Dispensaries

[Jerry Albright]

You can find Brass Half Round at www.hamiltonmarine.com , comes in widths from 1/2" to 1 1/4" in 6' and 12' lengths.
Just do a search for half round on their site for price and sizes.

Jerry Albright
Mobile , Al.
"Amazing Grace"
CD30C, B Plan

[hughesw]

Thought I would resurrect this thread to see if anyone knows of a source for brass hollow back half oval rub strake.

On my CD-22, when the mainsheet fiddle block flops around it has a tendency to damage the teak trim in front of the traveler. I am looking for a a way to protect the teak and thought covering the trim with a rub strake may be the solution. I have found brass solid back half oval at a few locations, but I would like to find the hollow back variety.

Thanks in advance,

Warren H.

[gates_cliff]

Regarding removing bronze rub rail for refinishing the wood, be very slow backing out the screws, especially if brass. Maybe even use a brace and bit if your driver fits the screw head. They strip out very easily.

They should come off easy enough if they are not 5200'ed or something silly like that. Set aside and do the brightwork nice and then replace. If your screws are stripped in the wood, try either filling the holes with epoxy and redrilling or going up one size screw. You may need to countersink the bronze though, If it is a small diameter that could cause more problems then it is worth.

Good luck,
Paul

I need to reattach my rub rail in several,places. Either missing screws entirely or are loose. When I used to do carpentry work, say replacing a door, if the screw hole was stripped we'd just put a tooth pick in the whole, cut it off flush and rescrew it. Was thinking I could just shave some small pieces of teak off some scrap I have and do the same. Any reason not to do so?

[John Stone]

You can do anything that works. The question is what will last. The way I have and would do it, is to drill out the hole in the teak rub rail with an 3/8" fostner bit or integrated 3/8" counter sink that has a drill bit in the center. Then glue in (with either Tite-bond III glue or epoxy) a standard 3/8" wood plug and tap it in place with a mallet. Let it dry a couple hours if tightbond III or if epoxy over night. You can also do it with 5 min fast set epoxy in the dual hardner/resin tubes you can purchase from Home Depot. You would only need to let it cure for an hour or so and then you could reinstall. Chisel off the plug flush and reinstall the rub rail drilling a new hole into the wood plug.

Keep in mind the ambient temperature is important when gluing so don't do it when it's cold out. You can sometimes warm the wood with a heat gun (be gentle) and apply light heat after you install the plug to aid in epoxy cure. Remember that significant heat (~140 F) is the enemy of many glues and all epoxies.

Every boat owner would benefit from having this simple to learn versatile and highly useful skill.

[gates_cliff]

Thanks John. I've used that approach when repairing hardwood flooring so as not to,have nail holes. Most guys would just face nail it and use putty to fill the holes but I never trusted that because it would inevitably lead to squeaky floors. Although, I'd drill a hole, screw down the flooring then glue in a bung that matched the existing flooring.

I'll take the rub rail off and assess it.

Thanks again

[sloopjohnl]

golf tees and Titebond III work great at filling stripped holes or if the screw only has to be moved 1/2 hole in any direction

[Steve Laume]

I have used solid backed, brass, half oval in a bunch of places on Raven. If it is being applied over a rounded area, I first plane a flat for it to sit on so there is never a need for hollow backed stock. The stuff looks great and serves it's purpose well.

I wasn't going to comment on filling screw holes but I couldn't help myself. I have been a carpenter for many years and have often sliced off a sliver of pine with a utility knife, then glued it into a stripped out screw hole for better holding. That works great for home carpentry. I do not do this on boats. Pine, tooth picks and golf tees are all soft wood that will rot pretty quickly in a marine environment. This will leave you with a screw, sharing an oversized hole with a wet sponge. While using teak plugs to hide a miss drilled screw hole is a great solution I wouldn't ever drive a new screw into a plug. First of all the plug would have to be the full length of the screw to engage all of the threads. It would likely split and reduce it's holding strength either immediately or given some time.

If I encounter a screw hole that has lost it's purchase, I simply mix up a little thickened epoxy and push it into the hole. Once it is hard, You can re drill the correct sized hole and feel pretty certain the screw will hole for a very long time. It is a very easy fix that works well, Steve.

[John Stone]

Steve, I agree tooth picks and golf tees are a poor solution. But, I would not use epoxy either. You can't get the epoxy very deep into the hole as there is no way to get the air out. You have no way of knowing how deep into the hole the epoxy has gone. So the hole is not going to be filled to its full depth. In a large hole you can sometimes use a syringe if you can get the tip of a syringe into the bottom of the hole and fill it from the back and keep flowing the epoxy in as you withdraw the syringe. But the real problem is the epoxy has a different density than the wood. So it is unlikely you'll be able to drill right down the original hole. The drill bit is usually thrown off. Also, the only epoxies I know of suitible to drill and screw iis gflex or T88. All the others are too brittle and tend to crack. That information comes from the technical section st West Systems.

If you use plain sawn plugs, vice quartersawn plugs, they will not split, provided you drill a proper sized hole for the fastener. I would also drill the plug hole for as long a plug as I have and since I cut all my own plugs they are quite long. Now, if it's a really big deep hole then I would go with a wider deeper plug. I have a number of plug cutters up to 1" in diameter. Essentially, you make a graving piece which is another option but almost certainly not necessary for this kind of repair.

[gates_cliff]

After thinking about the excellent advice regarding not using soft wood, I ordered some teak plugs. I had plug cutters but some how they have gone somewhere!

I agree with John that epoxy poses some problems. The last time I needed to add bungs, I used recorcinol glue (spelling?) but that was quite a few years ago. I see Gorilla Glue advertised when searching for recorcinol, would this be suitable?

[John Stone]

I would not use gorilla glue. It has a lot of expansion. I'm not a fan of it. I'd consider tightbond III or use epoxy to glue in the plug. It's not going to come out.

[Joe Myerson]

I couldn't find bronze half-round stock, but brass is readily available, and it works well, at least as a rub strake for the top of my coaming, where my jib furling line was wearing through the teak. I used silicone bronze screws to attach it.

Good luck,

Joe

[Steve Laume]

Gorilla glue is great for some applications. I tend to use an epoxy mix for teak. Gorilla glue is at it's best when a joint is not as tight as you might like it or it is difficult to clamp. You really don't want to press the joint too tightly. It is also easy to use too much and end up with a mess. There is a sweet spot when it is firm but not fully hardened when it is fairly easy to remove any excess with a sharp chisel. I recently watched a video where a guy glued up a butt joint but left gaps where he added hot glue and then just stuck the thing together. We have all sorts of adhesive options these days, Steve.