My rails seem to show more and more wear every time I go out. They're always showing divots where the line from the fenders dig into them and paint rubs off and I'm constantly having to touch them up. I'm considering fixing the nicks in them and covering with glass (perhaps even two layers) to give 'em a good hard edge that should stand up to the wear a little better. Anybody else have this problem? Any other ideas on this?
I rub my rail fairly regularly and it's no worse for it. Okay, that was just way too easy.
Rub rails, as the name suggests, takes a beating, which is why they are usually a particularly tough, dense wood like oak or teak, softwood just doesn't do well as a rail. To further protect them, a half oval strip can be applied. There are two types, hollow back and solid. Hollow will dent, but are cheaper, solid are all metal and take a lot more abuse, but cost a lot.
If you 'glass your rails, you'll still ding and dent them, but now they'll have a plastic sheathing to trap moisture between it and the wood, which typically results in rot.
Rub rails are sacrificial in nature and need to be replaced eventually. This is why they're bedded, not glued and fastened, not bonded to the boat. On really fancy rubs, they'll route out a groove and insert a piece of something to absorb much of the abuse. Rubber tubing, aluminum and stainless rod bar stock, lengths of three strand rope (looks terribly lubberly), HDPE and other plastic, etc. are used. These generally add a manufactured look to the boat, but can be helpful in warding of some rail damage.
In short, rail damage can't be avoided unless you leave the boat on the trailer. Make repairs promptly and maybe "harden" up the rail with some additional stuff, like a half oval strip. You'll regret 'glassing it. And be careful when approaching docks, rocks, piers, your ex-wife (well, okay, you can bash into her)).
If I decide to use oak for rubrails, or douglas fir for something bright like a spar, what stain should I use to match the color of mahogany and oukome? A non grain raising wood dye with uv protection over the epoxy seems reasonable. Any ideas?
Oak is a good rub rail material, Douglas fir not so much (too soft).
Okoume can be made to look somewhat like mahogany in color, though the grain will be quite different. Also mahogany has an almost metal flake quality about it, if it's just clear coated, which is imposable to duplicate with other species. As for the color, testing before you commit to application is the only way to match colors. A light red oak stain, on blondish pink Okoume will produce a reasonable natural mahogany color. Of course this isn't anything close to the red mahogany stains often associated with mahogany, which will have to be matched with color testing on scraps.
Always stain wood, prior to epoxy coating. It's best to use water based stains that are just stain, not the combination products most often seen in the box stores. Oils can be used, but they need to be well dried and epoxy adhesion will be compromised to a degree. If you apply stain over the epoxy, you'll just be smearing around a tint on a plastic coated surface and you'd be better served by just tinting the next coating of epoxy or top coat.
(09-16-2009, 09:52 PM)tom dellinger link Wrote: [ -> ]My rails seem to show more and more wear every time I go out. They're always showing divots where the line from the fenders dig into them and paint rubs off and I'm constantly having to touch them up. I'm considering fixing the nicks in them and covering with glass (perhaps even two layers) to give 'em a good hard edge that should stand up to the wear a little better. Anybody else have this problem? Any other ideas on this?
I have fir rub rails.
My rub rails are dinged up nice. It makes the boat look less like a show piece and more like something used. I should probably touch them up at some point but bare wood is showing in several places...
My boat recently rolled off the trailer during recovery to a broken support and the rubrails took all the abuse when it fell on the dock. they're such a great part of my boat, it's a great place to stick a fish hook too.
I don't have a rub rail on the transom. No dings there either.
Rubs on the transom aren't very common, but on small craft it's not a bad idea. The corner of the boat does take some abuse, so it's nice to have something there to eat it. These are white oak.
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The plans for the boat I am building, the Triad, call for a double rubrail around the entire boat including the transom. The plans also call for them to be glued and screwed to the boat so repairing them will mean sanding them down and adding a piece where needed. I used some stika spruce I had. They take a ding if hit with something hard. I think the transom ones are more for looks but with the way I sail and row backing into things may occur.  Hopefully that will have changed with old age and caution but you never know.  Here's a shot of the back of the back with the double rubrails:
I try to keep my boat pretty, but the rub rails, I sand a little and re-varnish in the spring. They are showing some nicks and scrapes and I think this is just right. As my boat ages, she looks more and more like an experienced sailor and less like a snotty little hangar queen. Show those scrapes proudly!
I tend to agree with Keith. Not having launched yet, my street cred is pretty low, but I'll use mahogany for the rubrail and the toe rail, and revarnish each spring.
Dave