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cat1951
Admiral

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USA
636 Posts

Initially Posted - 03/26/2007 : 21:00:44

I am planning to sand and refinish my hand rails this weekend. JB told me about a guy at our marina that just raised the rails enough to get the bedding cleaned out underneath and reseat them after sanding and refinishing. By doing this he was able to avoid pulling them completely off the cabin top. (BTW: It was a C30) I haven't seen him in able to ask him if this is how he did the refinishing.

Has anyone here done anything similar?

I know most of what I have read about the process has the hand rails coming completely off, or not moving them at all. I would like to rebed, and refinish by raising them a little off the cabin top surface.

Mike
Grand Lake, OK
N.O. Catalina 25 #4849
In my opinion 75% of the earth is water for a reason. That's why I sail.

Edited by - on

Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 03/26/2007 : 21:11:09

Why? They come off and go back on pretty easily. If you want to rebed, you should clean the bottoms of the rails and the deck thoroughly--I can't see how that'd be easier with the rails about 1/2" off the cabintop. (Much more than that and the bolts lift out of the holes--then you pretty much have no choice.) The bolts hold the bend, while the screws just pull down the other loops. Put a little WD-40 on the nuts (inside) before turning them off, to avoid turning the bolts that are under bungs in the rails (that you can leave in place).

Edited by - Dave Bristle on 03/26/2007 21:11:54

cat1951
Admiral

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USA
636 Posts

Response Posted - 03/27/2007 : 07:25:46

I really don't have a problem with taking them completely off, but was worried that I might have a problem getting them back. Mostly I am concerned about the bend that they have in them. I thought it might be difficult to get them back in if I am the only one at the marina. Truth be told, taking them completely off is my prefrence.

Also, what should I use to rebed them once I am ready to put them back on? (Never mind about what to use on the rebed. I searched the archives and it appears that "life caulk" is the best choice.)

Edited by - cat1951 on 03/27/2007 07:42:12

wmeinert@kconline.com
Past Commodore

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USA
353 Posts

Response Posted - 03/27/2007 : 10:06:15

HEY TRY THIS FIRST, IT MAY WORK DEPENDING ON HOW OLD THE RAILS ARE. I USE A 2500 PSI PRESSURE WASHER AND IT WILL REMOVE EVERYTHING WITH THE RAILS IN PLACE!!! IT COULD SAVE YOU ALOOT OF TIME AND IT GET THE JUNK OUT OF THE GRAIN IN THE WOOD.

Edited by - on

Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 03/27/2007 : 10:34:11

Mike--Life Caulk has been my staple--it holds up well but makes later removal easy. I removed and replaced my rails by myself with no difficulty. To replace them, you get two bolts partly into holes and then bend to get a third, etc. (Maybe there's only three.) After the bolts are in, the rails are bent to allow the screws to be added from below. As with any bedding, hand-tighten until the caulk is fully set, and then crank down a little.

When untightening and tightening the nuts from below, I used a little WD-40 as I said before, and pulled down a little on the nuts to help prevent the bolts from turning (by adding friction between the heads and the wood.) I had one bolt that wanted to turn too easily... Looking back, I might have tried squirting a little penetrating epoxy around the bolt and letting it soak into the wood and set up to hold the bolt... (...but I didn't.)

Anyway, it's an easy job.

Edited by - on

cat1951
Admiral

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USA
636 Posts

Response Posted - 03/27/2007 : 13:08:21

Thanks Dave, looks like I will be removing them completely. It will make the job much easier anyway.

Edited by - on

farrison
Navigator

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USA
166 Posts

Response Posted - 03/27/2007 : 16:32:25

Mike;

Thats the best way. It is much easier, in the long run, to remove them from the boat. We did the wood on our '82 two years ago and took them off the boat. It made it easier to sand all the little curves, etc. with them off. Also, it is adviseable to coat the bottom surfaces with the same finish as the rest of the rail to keep moisture out, even if you rebed them with some sort of sealant. We had no problem re-alinging the rails on the boat. You may need to remove a plug or two if the machine screw spins in the hole (we didn't, we were lucky). All in all much easier to paint them on the workbench where you can turn them over etc. rather than having to sand and mask arround them on the boat.

Paul

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The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.