Bev: Given that you started off with “Just doing the teak handrails,” I assume that your interest is limited to “how” and not “whether.” If you are considering going to stainless, I have done so on two boats and have been very pleased. However: a) stainless (although stronger and maintenance free) can be a little slippery when wet; and b) despite Herculean template efforts, we were never able to get the bolts on the replacement rails lined up perfectly with the old bolts holes, so some filling and drilling was required. On my 34, the handrail came with bolts welded in place, so we could see where the holes needed to go (they still needed to be oversized for some installation “play”). On my current boat, the handrail design had changed, and the “feet” have nuts welded in place (so you use regular bolts from the inside). To deal with this, I screwed some small pieces of threaded rod into the feet so I could determine where the bolt holes should go. In addition, the heat of welding the nuts in place can distort threads, and Whitewater Marine did not re-tap the threads on the feet as they should have. As a result, we broke off two bolts on my current boat before we figured out what was going on. In short, going to stainless will likely be more of a project, but they’re very strong, maintenance free, and you’ll only do it once.
If you are only concerned about whether or not to epoxy, my understanding is that if water gets into epoxy-entombed wood, the wood can rot from the inside without fair warning. Probably better to go with a UV-protectant varnish which, unlike with stainless, you will be doing again someday. Good luck. Matt From: John Conklin via CnC-List Sent: Monday, February 18, 2019 10:10 PM To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com Cc: John Conklin Subject: Re: Stus-List Epoxy or not. Me too 2nd the vote for the stainless! https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ux528c82YTnHOi5ufTJ63xuGtFAm7lYQ John Conklin On Mon, Feb 18, 2019, 6:31 PM Bev Parslow via CnC-List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com wrote: Just doing the teak handrails. They are coming up quite well BUT do I epoxy and then 3-4 coats of varnish or just put the varnish on an skip the epoxy? _______________________________________________ Thanks everyone for supporting this list with your contributions. Each and every one is greatly appreciated. If you want to support the list - use PayPal to send contribution -- https://www.paypal.me/stumurray -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ Thanks everyone for supporting this list with your contributions. Each and every one is greatly appreciated. If you want to support the list - use PayPal to send contribution -- https://www.paypal.me/stumurray
_______________________________________________ Thanks everyone for supporting this list with your contributions. Each and every one is greatly appreciated. If you want to support the list - use PayPal to send contribution -- https://www.paypal.me/stumurray