Stainless Steel grab rails

[R Hutcheson]

Generally, that's going to be a custom job. I changed mine and wish I had gone that route. Intead, I replaced trim and hand holds with faux teak. Both look OK, but the hand rails required extensive modification to work. They are designed with a piece of stainless imbedded along the top for strength. The rest is PVC. They flex a little but I do not find that to be a problem as my grip would give out long before the handhold. What is a problem is there is no reinforcing vertically so when the handrails are bolted down the upright portion compresses and bulges out. We resolved it by drilling out the bottom of the uprights and inserting high modulus plastic inserts to take the pressure of the bolts. This worked, but with the time aggravation and end result, I wish I had just spent the money on having custom stainless rails made up. Food for thought if you start considering going this route. I do like the trim though,

[gamayun]

Originally Posted by R Hutcheson

Generally, that's going to be a custom job. I changed mine and wish I had gone that route. Intead, I replaced trim and hand holds with faux teak. Both look OK, but the hand rails required extensive modification to work. They are designed with a piece of stainless imbedded along the top for strength. The rest is PVC. They flex a little but I do not find that to be a problem as my grip would give out long before the handhold. What is a problem is there is no reinforcing vertically so when the handrails are bolted down the upright portion compresses and bulges out. We resolved it by drilling out the bottom of the uprights and inserting high modulus plastic inserts to take the pressure of the bolts. This worked, but with the time aggravation and end result, I wish I had just spent the money on having custom stainless rails made up. Food for thought if you start considering going this route. I do like the trim though,

Interesting. I recently replaced my handrails with PlasTEAK and didn't have this problem though I used beefed up the screw size (#10 I think?) coming up through the cabintop (same as the teak ones) and did not use bolts. It's too early to tell if they deform over time. They don't seem to flex much at all. We haven't had really hot weather to check how much expansion there might be so jury is still out on durability. They look great (IMO) and I especially love that no maintenance is involved. I chose not to go with stainless because of aesthetics and grip.

[gamayun]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

FYI: A 'machine screw' IS a type of bolt threaded for a nut.

Hmmm, I didn't know this. I've never called a machine screw a bolt but I would refer to the whole thing as being "bolted on." Is this what you mean?

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by gamayun

Hmmm, I didn't know this. I've never called a machine screw a bolt but I would refer to the whole thing as being "bolted on." Is this what you mean?

Machine screw is technical term. A machine screw is a bolt that is primarily tightened from its head. Ie it’s screwed into a metal fixture.

A bolt is a fixture largely tightened by using a nut

Hence a fixture with a nut is not called a machine screw it’s called a bolt and nut.

Machine screws sometimes get called “ studs “ by certain industry groups.

Disclaimer I was a research engineer for SPS a then big bolt manufacturer.