Chafe Protection for Teak Coaming

[Joe Myerson]

Hi all,

Since I outfitted Creme Brulee with a roller furler, I've had a problem with the furling line wearing off the finish (and some of the wood) on my cockpit coaming. Last year, I purchased a product called the "No Wear Guard," a strip of stainless steel sheet with an adhesive backing. Unfortunately, this product did not adhere well to my coaming and it simply came off when I was working on the teak this spring.

I was wondering what other folks have done to solve this problem.

One thought: would a piece of leather work, and if so, how would I attach leather to wood?

Any other ideas?

--Joe

[Paul D.]

I don't have a photo, but my brother screwed on strips of bronze to his bowsprit for anchor chain chafe protection. I imagine something like that or even copper, installed with copper tacks, may work for a line protection. If using leather, I think I would use contact cement with a couple of #8 screws to adhere it to the coaming.

[tjr818]

How about a picture? Our roller furling line secures outside of the cockpit, so this is not a problem for us. However, where the genoa sheets feed off of the winch drums the line does wear at the top of the coaming. I have some 1/2" brass half oval that I plan to inlay into the top of the coaming right behind the winches. I think a 4" strip should be enough. The half oval will match the top of the coaming and I can fasten it with a couple of #6 wood screws. Maybe something like that would work for you.

[Steve Laume]

Joe, the best and most traditional way of dealing with your chafing issue would be to cap the combing with a piece of brass, half oval.

I intend to do this on Raven once I sort out what I am doing with the dodger. She already has a few pieces in various places. I did the rub rail up at the bow for the mooring pennant, the top of the toe rail at the stern for dock lines and the rear combing where the wind vane lines just kiss the top and I stand sometimes. I have a couple of more pieces made up to install behind the stern chocks to stop the rubbing when the dinghy painter jumps out but need to move the chocks forward a a bit before installation.

The stuff is easy to work with as it is pretty soft for metal. You can cut it with a hack saw and file then sand nice rounded ends or leave them straight cut as the situation dictates. It helps a lot to have a drill press to drill and countersink the holes. For the combings you probably want to use a block plane to create a slight flat area. You don't need a piece as wide as the combing. 1/2" or 3/8" would do a very nice job. You could either cover the entire combing or just do a short section where you need it most. If you are going to do a short piece, then you might want to make vertical cuts and then create your flat area between them. This will allow the half oval to blend right into the profile of the wood. The color is right for our boats and you can take the stuff off when you go to refinish your teak if you like. If you use oval headed screws and line up the slots it is about as classy as you can get, Steve.


http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/us ... do?pid=222

[Joe Myerson]

Paul,
Where did your brother get strips of bronze. That might work. I considered using contact cement if I go the leather route ... still pondering it.

Tim,
The cleat for my furling line is on the outside of the coaming, but when I have to furl (reef) or unfurl while under way, singlehanding (which is all the time), I have to pull the line from inside the cockpit, and the line chafes at the coaming.

I've thought about brass or bronze half-oval, but am not sure my woodworking skill is up to the level of cutting into the coaming and having it fit.

No pix today. We're getting hit by the tail-end of Tropical Storm Bill (or is it Bob?).

Thanks to you both.
--Joe
P.S. I've also got some fire hose, but I think that would look pretty crude.

[Joe Myerson]

Steve,
Our emails crossed.
I do have a drill press for my Dremel tool, as well as a small block plane. Maybe I should go this route, as it would be the classiest. Question: Will bronze screws react badly with Brass? I understand that brass screws are a bad thing to use on a boat in salt water (or is that only with oak?).

Joe

[tjr818]

Paul, ....Where did your brother get strips of bronze. ....

I have the same question, I could not find any, but since we sail on fresh water brass is okay. I would like to find some bronze half oval - at a reasonable price.
I purchase the brass half oval from Kudzu Craft.
Here is the link:
http://www.kudzucraft.net/Boat-Building ... -band.html

[Neil Gordon]

Joe,

Leather is easy to attach with small brass screws.

Old boat shoes are a good source of bits and scraps of leather.

[tjr818]

...Old boat shoes are a good source of bits and scraps of leather.

Old boat shoes are what I have on my feet I would have to go barefoot.
I like the look of leather on teak, but I am worried about what would be happening to the wood underneath as the leather gets soaked an holds moisture for some time. Would that be a long term problem?

[Sea Hunt Video]

Tim,
The cleat for my furling line is on the outside of the coaming, but when I have to furl (reef) or unfurl while under way, singlehanding (which is all the time), I have to pull the line from inside the cockpit, and the line chafes at the coaming.

Joe:

On S/V Bali Ha'i the furling line runs aft to a block attached to an aft stanchion close to the deck. When pulling in or letting out the furling line the line does not rub on the coaming. There is a cleat on the outside of the coaming that then secures the furling line.

I would like to take credit for this set up but no one would believe me. The truth is it was set up this way by the prior owner. From my limited experience with it, this set up works well.

I wish I could post a photo but as you know I am incapable of such a simple task.

Happy Father's Day to all including those we remember every day.

[Neil Gordon]

>>Old boat shoes are what I have on my feet ...<<

If you're still wearing yours, a session or two of dumpster diving should yield someone else's.

>>... but I am worried about what would be happening to the wood underneath as the leather gets soaked an holds moisture for some time. <<

Good point. I suspect the leather itself would dry but any gap between the leather and the teak would be cool, dark and damp.

[Joe Myerson]

I suspect the leather itself would dry but any gap between the leather and the teak would be cool, dark and damp.

I have a leather strip on my tiller, designed to protect the aft teak in my cockpit from chafe when I put the tiller in vertical position. It looks great, however the leather has stretched a little bit, causing it to move farther down (when put in the vertical position) the tiller, causing the teak to wear.

I bought one of those leather chafe guards at a marine store, cut it and punched some new holes. I could do the same for the coaming, saving my well-worn deck shoes for another day.

But ... Steve Laume's idea sounds like the best one, if I can trust myself to cut and drill into that coaming. I know my limits as a woodworker, and they're considerable. Also, I want to get onto the water soon.

--Joe

[Paul D.]

Joe,

We get stuff at http://www.discountsteel.com here in Minneapolis. Looks like you could order stuff from them online too but I wouldn't know how they would compare with other metals suppliers.

On the leather over teak, I do suppose that over time one would need to strip the varnish or finish beneath it. I wondered if there was a way to avoid the whole affair altogether by somehow raising the fairleads for your line somehow. Without a photo I can't really say.

Good luck,

[pjust]

Joe, the best and most traditional way of dealing with your chafing issue would be to cap the combing with a piece of brass, half oval.

...

The stuff is easy to work with as it is pretty soft for metal. You can cut it with a hack saw and file then sand nice rounded ends or leave them straight cut as the situation dictates. It helps a lot to have a drill press to drill and countersink the holes. For the combings you probably want to use a block plane to create a slight flat area. You don't need a piece as wide as the combing. 1/2" or 3/8" would do a very nice job. You could either cover the entire combing or just do a short section where you need it most. If you are going to do a short piece, then you might want to make vertical cuts and then create your flat area between them. This will allow the half oval to blend right into the profile of the wood. The color is right for our boats and you can take the stuff off when you go to refinish your teak if you like. If you use oval headed screws and line up the slots it is about as classy as you can get, Steve.

I had the same problem with chafing and scoring on the coamings on Dolcetto and before launching this year I installed 1/2" half-oval brass trim. Bronze would have been preferable, but I couldn't find any at a decent price. I did the whole length. I didn't plane the surface flat, and it turned out reasonably well. Steve is absolutely right about using a drill press: I spoiled a piece trying to do it with a hand drill. The best way to proceed is to give the site of the hole a whack with a center punch, drill a pilot hole with a small bit, then with the full-sized bit, then countersink. It's a tedious process if you're doing all sixteen feet of coaming top with holes at 6" intervals, but I found myself actually enjoying the repetitiveness. Please wear eye protection: the brass is soft and filings go flying. I recommend bronze oval-head screws: brass is too soft and with oval-heads the countersink doesn't have to be as big.

I'm not a very skilled craftsman and the job I did was far from perfect, but if you don't look too carefully, the effect is quite nice. I'll take a picture the next time I go out to the boat and post it here.

[Astronomertoo]

Hello,
Not to be contrary, and I do like bronze parts for the old boats, but I find the patina taken on by bronze and brass to be pretty hard on ropes, so I do not let them meet with movement. My personal preference for rubrails, caps, etc, is the similar parts made in SS, and using bedded SS hardware as needed. I have never had a polished stainless part frazzle a rope/line.
YMMV

Bob C