Toe Rails replacement

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Andrew
Posts: 541
Joined: Sun Aug 18, 2013 11:33 am
Investigator Boat Name: Teria
Location: Townsville, Qld
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Toe Rails replacement

Post by Andrew »

Hi everyone,

How to best go about replacing toe rails?

I've seen some information on wooden, extruded aluminium and polyethylene, even split poly water pipe ones. What are the alternatives for an I563 ? There are certainly many ways to deal with each material type too. i'm looking for something that can take bumps without breaking or scratching another boats hull and to keep the feet on deck when heeled right over. Links to previous posts appreciated.

My original toe rails are 2"x 3/4" wood, routed on lower corner and screwed on by stainless screws from under the gunwale flange. About 30 mm sticks above deck level. I could try to copy that, but good to hear what you've done or would do differently before getting into it.

Cheers
Andrew

Investigator #9 Teria
no way
Posts: 187
Joined: Thu Jul 08, 2010 6:48 pm

Re: Toe Rails replacement

Post by no way »

I got rid of the timber years ago and went aluminium. Some pics. Allowed me to move stanchions outboard about 50 mm too
Attachments
stanchion base 2.jpg
stanchion base 2.jpg (70.72 KiB) Viewed 3944 times
P1010269.JPG
P1010269.JPG (72.75 KiB) Viewed 3944 times
P1010266.JPG
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Raya
Posts: 314
Joined: Sat May 05, 2012 4:25 pm
Investigator Boat Name: Tme Out
Location: Gold Coast

Re: Toe Rails replacement

Post by Raya »

Andrew,

I have replaced the toe-rail twice on my Investigator, both times using timber. I think that the timber looks better even though the aluminum is probably more practical. I made the mistake of using pine for my first replacement and it eventually rotted out despite copious amounts of wood preservative. They did last ten years though, all the time exposed to the elements in the back yard. When I replaced them again a couple of years back, I used Pacific Maple (Meranti), a species not too unlike the original which was real maple. I simply bought stock lenghts of 42x19mm timber from a yard in Burleigh Heads. I had to phone around to find long lengths as I wanted to avoid scarping (joining) lengths if I could avoid it. I bought three lengths (one spare just in case) and formed the shape with a router on a makeship table using an aluminium plank and a few clamps. I glued and clamped the timber along the gunnel. It bent without difficulty but I had to use numerous clamps to make sure it was snug to to deck edge. I didn't use any fasteners because I noticed that the original timber first started to rot around the screw holes. I used Epiglue as it is strong and gives a reasonable working time before it goes hard. If you go with timber toe-rails, you might be able to get spotted gum in Townsville. A sawmill would be able to finish it to whatever size you want. This species of timber would last a long time but would be a bit harder to machine.

Let us know how it goes.
Attachments
toerail routing.jpg
toerail glued to deck edge.jpg
Ray
Investigator #39
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Andrew
Posts: 541
Joined: Sun Aug 18, 2013 11:33 am
Investigator Boat Name: Teria
Location: Townsville, Qld
Contact:

Re: Toe Rails replacement

Post by Andrew »

Thanks for your reply's, and how to go about it, both methods look good. The aluminium would nearly be "end of maintenance", just bolt on and be highly durable. The wood is a bit more work but has the character and function , decisions

I missed some of these earlier discussions but will search through and try to add them here, found these by searching "toe rail" ("gunwale" wont search, too many hits)

"Help on replacement gunwale" http://investigator563.com/forum/viewto ... 919b122895
http://investigator563.com/forum/viewto ... l&start=10

"Investigator563" (aluminium toerail) http://investigator563.com/forum/viewto ... 2895#p2743 http://investigator563.com/forum/viewto ... ca6b#p2743

"wooden toe rails" http://investigator563.com/forum/viewto ... 2895#p2814
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