Replace hand rail on cabin top?

[Peter T]

Hi all, I am at the moment replacing my hand rails. Some owner prior to me replaced them using broom handles which did not want to bend to the required shape and shows signs of cracking. I would have loved to replace them with teak, but it's expensive. Also, I wanted to make them with the correct bend in them.
I had a sheet of about 1/4 inch craft wood sheeting, so cut a strip about 6 inches wide to sit on the cabin roof and held it in place with masking tape. Then I used a set of adjustable callipers and used then to transfer each side edge of the hand rail mounts to the sheeting. Then I temporally nailed this sheet to the work bench using 1 1/2 inch thin brads which lined up to each side of each of the marks where the hand rail mounts are on the sheet. Then used a thin battern to mark out the shape of each edge of the rail. The sheet now had the exact shape of the handrail on it so I cut it out on the band saw and then used it as a pattern to cut the shape out of solid timber which I had previously run through the thicknesser to the height of the diameter of the hand rail. This then gave me a square hand rail of the exact shape I wanted.
Then I ran each corner of the length of it through a 1/2 inch cup router bit giving me the round correct hand rail that I wanted. A hell of a lot of work but it fits to the boat perfectly and is under absolutely no bending pressure.
1st photo shows shape of hand rail

2nd and 3rd photo shows the handrails just sitting in place. Has not been screwed down as yet

I used Tasmanian myrtle for these because I had some on hand. Problem with that is that myrtle is a very hard, crisp wood but it does rot easily so will be treated with deck Oijl, both no 1 and to put a gloss on it, No 2 to finish

[Ozzie]

Nice work Peter.

Ian, can you get solid HDPE like say rod ? Don’t know for what it would be made for but plastic is used for so much these days.

Geoff, if you’re there, what’s on your two Investigators? Did #111 go for something other that wood .


Edit…yes you can . On fleabay unfortunately it’s too short,too thin, and too expensive. Ah well , could check other suppliers .

Next size up is 25mm.. too thick

[Geoff]

Hey Ozzie,

#50 has black aluminium tube, matches the toe rail. #111 has stainless steel tube.

The timber look is definitely sexier, but I like the black ally for practicality. The ss looks good when polished.

[Ozzie]

Ta Geoff . Must say aluminium sounds like it would be easier to bend. Just checked the green shed and curses only 25 mm. We live in a metric world mainly, which is good for all except vintage ts owners.

For those cashed up persons …carbon fibre 99 smackers for 1200mm
https://www.threeworlds.com.au/products ... eq=uniform

But for those of Scottish heritage such as myself 22mm ally is available also from the carbon fibre guys above in QLD (who ship) but I’ll keep looking. Must be local suppliers who service the elderly…TS.

[IanS]

Awesome work Peter. I thought about steam bending the Tas oak dowel, but you've gone one step further. And thanks for the step-by-step on making the template.

My rotten timber handrail is 25mm OD.

25mm HDPE is available from Allplastics in Sydney, just waiting for a price.

How did you bend your aluminium tube Geoff?

[Ozzie]

Interesting that your rail is one inch. Positive mine was 7/8” but did not check if the half round moulding in the supports would hold 1”. Maybe we’ve found another difference in 563 molds different handrail sizes.
What diameter were yours Peter? Geoff? 25mm substitute material will be more common that 22mm.

I found the Tassie Oak bent ok to the curve Ian. I may have soaked it overnight, that was ten years ago, can’t really remember . It took a bit of oomph but was ok. Certainly easier than bending my dead straight alloy toe rail around the shape of the Investigator. I am not in a hurry to do that again.

My SS taffrail is 7/8 also .

[no way]

7/8 or now 22mm was the most common size used on boats of this era. Would suspect either inch or 7/8 would fit the molding on the roof - they are not that accurate. I used 1inch teak doweling which I probably bought from Caporns - who no longer exist - because it doesn't get hot in the burning sun

[Geoff]

25 mm on both of mine Ozzie

[IanS]

Tried 25mm poly pipe. Ugly as sin, dead easy quick fix. Just stiff enough. Just waiting for the epoxy to cure in the mounting holes. If it doesn’t last I will replace with timber.

Editing this for future readers. I put 200mm sections of 19mm dowel inside the polypipe where the screws go in. Although this works OK, it is nowhere near as rigid as the original 25mm timber dowel. I would not recommend polypipe as a satisfactory handrail replacement.

Handrail - 1.jpg (18.82 KiB) Viewed 2278 times

[Ozzie]

Your 100th post Ian.

Your steak knives are in the mail

Anyway good topic bump and useful to know. The poly might be the go. I’m becoming a fan of practically over form as I get older I’m afraid.