rubbing rail

[mike d.]

Alan and Seafox
i apologize for the bad info. i forgot the difference in what you can get here in the States and rest of the world. Alan is right though, keep all your metals the same(nobel) as possible or as close as possible. Seafox have you checked out local boat yards for abandoned boats that are going to be disposed of some times you can get what you need like that.

Regards Mike d. s/v Dalliance GulfStar 37 Newburyport, Ma/ Peaks Island, Me.

[SkiprJohn]

Bronze vs Brass. There are lots of different grades of both. The best for your application would be silicon bronze, just below that is aluminum bronze then Admiralty brass (what the navy sometimes uses.) Yellow brass is what you don't want to use. It will corrode very fast. You can use it on the interior but would not be good on the exterior.
Regards, --John--

[seafox]

Let the sun fade the damaged area of teak and you can now hardly see it. Amazing what a few months of our bad NZ UV rays can do. Not that we get to see much of the sun around here lately.

[Pblais]

I have two boats. One has a molded rub rail with a strip of bronze bolted all along the edge about 1 1/4 inches wide. Works pretty well.

Other boat has a teak strip with a alluminum strip over the top and that works well.

Bronze it the choice. I have seen a molded "C" shape stainless teel strip you srew over the teak edge along the cap rail. That works nice for near the bow where the run rail seems not to rub<g>.

[NoTies]

Darryl, 1/2 round brass is very expensive ($23/metre at Oddies) Polished stainless is cheaper at around $13/metre, cheapest way to go if you are happy with flat section is to buy a half sheet or whatever you need and get your local engineering shop to gullotine it. If you order polished stainless flat bar they have to polish it specially as it is generally not stocked in NZ. Went through the exercise recently and had decided to go hardwood but now that I'm working in an engineering shop in the Hutt I might just get a sheet of stainless and gullotine flat bars of it. If you're interested in going halves in a full sheet (if that's what it takes) let me know & I can chop it up for you.

[Alan Wheeler]

I second the SST. There is a salthouse yacht birthed right beside mine. He has Brass 1/2 round on the teak rub rail and when it gets a bang, it dents and looks a mess. I reckon plain teak would actually be better than the brass over it. SST however, is going to take some bending.
Pete, I made a very simple polish machine up. Cloth buff wheels on and old double end washing machine motor, some of that Stick metal cutting compound for SST and the suttf comes up like a mirror.

[seafox]

I am going to leave the teak rub rail as it is. Since it was damaged it has faded to the point that I can hardly notice it. At the time it really annoyed me as the teak around it was weathered and grey and the scrap was like fresh wood. I reckon a couple more months and I won't even know where it was.

Thanks for the offer though. I rang a brass place and got a quote at the time. Can't remember what it came to but it was less than the Oddies price.

Originally Posted by pwederell

Darryl, 1/2 round brass is very expensive ($23/metre at Oddies) Polished stainless is cheaper at around $13/metre, cheapest way to go if you are happy with flat section is to buy a half sheet or whatever you need and get your local engineering shop to gullotine it. If you order polished stainless flat bar they have to polish it specially as it is generally not stocked in NZ. Went through the exercise recently and had decided to go hardwood but now that I'm working in an engineering shop in the Hutt I might just get a sheet of stainless and gullotine flat bars of it. If you're interested in going halves in a full sheet (if that's what it takes) let me know & I can chop it up for you.

[phibbard]

New to the forum. Located in Central Florida. Looking for a 30 - 40' sailboat to do coastal and offshore cruising in Florida and to the Bahamas.

Thanks...Peter Hibbard

[northerncat]

haha i was actually thinking that i would use a piece of teak on my catamaran as a rubbing rail, its a bit ironic to have a rubbing rail for the rubbing rail
sean

[seafox]

yeah, bit of protection for the protection.

[btrayfors]

rt is right....

you want BRONZE or STAINLESS half-round. Alternatively, and much better, is NIBRAL or MONEL, but these are very hard to find. About 18 years ago I found a treasure trove of 1/2 round NIBRAL in a local boatyard which specializes in salvaging old boats. Look around...you might get lucky!

Happy New Year!

Bill

[GordMay]

“Nibral”& “Monel” are proprietary trade-names for high cost, high performance, corrosion-resistant marine alloys. Both are excellent alloys, though perhaps overkill for a rub-rail.

“Nibral” is an alloy of nickel, bronze, and aluminum (NiBrAl), most often used in the manufacture of (high speed) propellers.
Bill was, indeed, very fortunate to stumble upon 1/2-round Nibral bar stock.

“Monel” is an alloy of copper-nickel (CuNi).
It was created by Robert Crooks Stanley for INCO in 1901, and named for company president Ambrose Monell.

[Alan Wheeler]

SST half round or (D section)is also a difficult one to come across. Not available at all here in NZ last time I asked.