Handrails ARIEL

[Bob G]

Replacing the handrails out on the cabin top - outside. Apparently they were parked in the garage too close to the garbage when I was out of town. They have gone to the dump. I believe they were 4-loop handrails, but had different measurements than the standard ones in the marine catalogs. Does anyone have the length of the handrails handy? has anyone replaced theirs with the standard issue from the major marine stores? does anyone have any better suggestions? Thanks!

[Bill]

The cabin top grab rails on Maika'i were replaced a couple of years ago.  The replacements were made from teak 3/4" x 4" x 40-something to duplicate the originals and match the holes in the cabin top.  If I were to do it again, I think I would fill the old holes and redrill for the stock store grab rails.

[Gary Yaniga]

Have replaced old ones withmarine stor ones. Filled in old holes and redrilled for new ones. Feel this is the easiest way to go.

[Mike Goodwin]

Fill the holes and use the store bought , much easier and faster.

[mark mccarty]

I have to replace the handrails on #l72.  All the standard sizes locally available have centers for the fasteners narrower than the  originals (11 1/2 inches.)  

Is there a source for handrails that match the original  fastener dimensions??

[Bill]

It appears that the handrails are Pearson specific   We took the old one's to the local boat carpenter to copy.

[Hull376]

Try this article at Sailnet by Don Casey. "Get A Grip"

http://www.sailnet.com/collections/articles/index.cfm?articleid=caseyd0045

Cut the link and paste it into the address line of your browser.
The second half describes how to make your own.  Looks pretty easy the way Mr. Casey describes it.  You make two at once as mirror opposites on a single board.  You use a  3" hole saw that attaches to your drill to get the curves right, and then route the edges. I'm going to try it sometime this summer.

[mbd]

I dredged this thread up while looking for "instructions" on this task. FWIW, here's what I did.

I decided that I wanted opposing handrails on the cabin top and inside. I bought 4 x 4-loop teak handrails. They would be a little shorter than the originals, but much beefier. The old holes were filled during the recent recore and deck job.

[mbd]

I tried to find how others had done the same thing, and of course came across Tim Lackey's write-up here. It seemed like a good method, except that I thought I might mount the "drilled through" handrails on the underside to avoid having to seal the ones on the cabin top, and I thought "bungless" handrails might look a little nicer on top as well.

I looked around for fasteners and settled on #12 x 3" bronze wood screws with a smooth shank. I was thinking 3 1/2" might be a better length and get more of the screw into the handrail, but just couldn't find them locally. (Internet was an option, but I always wait until the last minute to get things and I get tired of paying shipping when I can just drive down and pick up what I need and get started.)

I also found these really handy charts at BoltDepot.com. Probably everyone but me already knows this stuff, but I found it very useful to determine my hole sizes. The "head" size was figured out by trial and error on some scrap wood.

[mbd]

First, I'd drill a shank-sized hole through the lower handrails. Then, I'd drill a "head-sized" hole about halfway through that so the screw would fit into hole - sort of like this...

[mbd]

Once I determined the proper depth for the "head-sized" hole, I cut a block of wood and placed it over the drill bit to insure I wouldn't drill too deep into the rail.

[mbd]

Then I drilled...  I tied to nylon line around them to protect them from the clamp and to keep them together so I could drill all of them at once.

[mbd]

Once the lower handrails were drilled, I attached the pairs together and nserted the drill bit through the already drilled lower rail and started a pilot hole in the other rail.

Lacking a drill press, the idea was to pair up the handrails and keep their respective orientation once I started drilling so the holes would match up. I marked the flat parts of each with an arrow pointing towards the bow and an "S" or a "P".

[mbd]

Here is a drilled set with the screws inserted.

[mbd]

Another view...