Overhead handrail pinch point

[Jim Walsh]

I discovered a pinch point which I've attached photo's to illustrate. I may have noticed them in the past but being offshore and having to hold on if I wanted to move about the cabin (at times, not continuously) made them a priority to eradicate.
When offshore I stuffed a rag in each of the four pinch points so it was not possible to get the knuckle of my middle finger into the trap. My thought is to fabricate a scrap teak filler piece, place it into position between the overhead batten and the handrail, and run a couple screws through the handrail to hold the filler piece in position.
My carpentry skills and imagination are on a par with my ability to juggle chainsaws. Does anyone have an easy solution which does not include removing the only finger with which I can speak sign language?

[tjr818]

Jim,
I can't get a good look at the section through the handrail from those pictures, but could you get some nice tarred marlin and put a turk's head around the handrails at those points, or maybe just a simple whipping at each point ?

[Jim Walsh]

Jim,
I can't get a good look at the section through the handrail from those pictures, but could you get some nice tarred marlin and put a turk's head around the handrails at those points, or maybe just a simple whipping at each point ?

Thanks, I really need something to fill the void. If I don't fill it completely I might create a pinch point for one of my other digits. If I have a finger/knuckle caught in the pinch point and the boat lurches it could pluck a finger off.
I worked in a machine shop in my youth and knew a couple guys who forgot to remove their wedding bands. Their rings were snagged by a clamp on a spinning vertical turret lathe. Their fingers popped off so quickly they didn't even feel it, they just saw blood streaming down their palms.
This was before OSHA started keeping tabs on the workforce. Safety rules were lackadaisically enforced for decades.

[David van den Burgh]

What about a small wooden spacer - enough to give your fingers room everywhere - between the overhead liner and the handrail?

[Jim Walsh]

What about a small wooden spacer - enough to give your fingers room everywhere - between the overhead liner and the handrail?

That's viable. I'll have to see how the rail is mounted. I presume it's bolted in place but I'll check further to see if I have access without requiring demolition.

[Paul D.]

I would glue a little rounded block to the hand rail in that spot leaving some space beneath the headliner and then whip it all with some 1/8 small stuff. Keep the forward end, where your hand could butt up against, blunt but rounded so you couldn't get stuck in there.

[tjr818]

...Thanks, I really need something to fill the void. If I don't fill it completely I might create a pinch point for one of my other digits. If I have a finger/knuckle caught in the pinch point and the boat lurches it could pluck a finger off.
I worked in a machine shop in my youth and knew a couple guys who forgot to remove their wedding bands. Their rings were snagged by a clamp on a spinning vertical turret lathe. Their fingers popped off so quickly they didn't even feel it, they just saw blood streaming down their palms.
This was before OSHA started keeping tabs on the workforce. Safety rules were lackadaisically enforced for decades.

My Dad was a Tool $ Die maker all his life. I have been drilled on the safety procedures, sometimes while we worked together, other times through his stories. He often told the tale of the two brothers in Nova Scotia who turned wooden masts for a living, some up to 80' in length - Dad recalled that between the two of them they had seven fingers and one thumb!

No rings, no ties, no gloves, and tie that apron in the back.