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seafox · 04-07-2006, 15:51

I am about to add a rubbing rail to my teak rail. It got knocked about when last on the cradle getting some work done and a metal one would have saved the damage happening.
I can buy some 1/2 round brass 3.6metre lengths locally. It is alloy 380 section brass.
Would this product be ok for a rubbing rail?

**GordMay** · 05-07-2006, 01:57

I’ve never heard of Brass Alloy 380 (which I thought is a casting aluminum).
Brass isn’t generally a good marine product, although Naval Brass & Aluminum Brass have sometimes been used on ships.
All Brass is fairly soft, and will quickly develop a green patina.
I don’t think Brass would be the best choice for a rub-rail.

seafox · 05-07-2006, 03:19

what would you suggest?

**GordMay** · 05-07-2006, 03:49

Most commercial rub rails consist of a metal track (aluminum or stainless steel) with a molded rubber/plastic insert.

Goto:
Trim & Molding at: http://www.tacomarine.com/
Specifically: http://www.tacomarine.com/cgi-bin/cc...at&ref=rubrail
and:
Application Support > Rub Rail at:
http://www.tacomarine.com/cat--Rub-R..._rub_rail.html

or:
http://www.rubrails.com/

mike d. · 05-07-2006, 05:19

hi seafox
stainless is the way to go for stregth and i would think it would be cheaper than brass. also if you type in rubrails on your search engine it should give you a bunch of sites to look at. as far as getting them from the states i think it would be extremely cost prohibitive and timesome. the sites that GordMay gave are good sites and if you have no luck in N.Z. they may be able to steer you in a more local direction.

good luck mike d.

**Alan Wheeler** · 05-07-2006, 12:24

The problem is, as far as my searches have gone anyway, SST half round is not available in NZ. I would hate to imagine what it would cost to import some in such a small quantity.
Brass will work. I have seen it used to good effect and I have donw the same by fitting some around my duckboard. However, it is early days to say how it will stand up.
Actually come to mention it, there is a 35ft Salthouse right beside my boat that has brass rub rail and it's holding up fine.
Darryl is not wanting the Brass to remain shiney, so tarnishing is fine with him. I think Brass will be OK.

Darryl, the only thing you need to ensure is that the support timber underneath the brass needs to be solid. If you crunch against something, the brass is not hard enough to stop deforming on it's own and it can bend between screw placeings. So ensure the under lying timber rubrail is solid and that screw placings are no more than say 100mm apart.
Use brass screws by the way. Silicon bronze last longer, but the metal will be too disimilar to not have problems in such a salt laden area.

Weyalan · 05-07-2006, 15:00

A friend of mine is in the process of overhauling a beautiful 63' Swan. She had a fairly substantial (4" wide, maybe?) teak rub-rail that was looking rather shabby. Fortunately it was pretty thick (2" thick?), so what he did was to plane & sand the teak back to smooth - probably took about 1/8" off it, then bolted on a stainless steel (ANSI-316) flat bar (unpolished) that was about 2" wide by 1/4" thick. It looks really good and will be rock solid.

seafox · 05-07-2006, 16:24

Thanks for all the replies.
I have walked around our Marina and it appears that all of the yachts with rub rails in our marina have brass ones screwed into teak. It goes a brown colour when it tarnishes and looks to be doing the job on their boats.
cheers

SkiprJohn · 05-07-2006, 20:18

Hi Seafox,
Could it be bronze? Brass and saltwater don't mix very well. Bronze, however, is very good and starts out the same color as brass but turns dull brown or reddish. Brass turns green pretty quick around saltwater.
Regards, --John--

seafox · 06-07-2006, 00:16

Hi SkiprJohn, I reckon it is bronze on the boats I have looked at. The places I have phoned so far don't sell bronze half rounds. I will keep looking as that is what I really want.

seafox · 06-07-2006, 00:17

If I can't get some I reckon Alan is right and the brass will do the job.
Cheers.

Talbot · 06-07-2006, 08:48

I have D section BRASS as a means of stopping the rope chewing into the GRP in a couple of places. I also used to have the same stuff on the bottom of my dinghy to take the grounding stresses.

rtbates · 06-07-2006, 10:27

You don't want brass. You want bronze. Or possibly SS.

**Alan Wheeler** · 06-07-2006, 12:49

As far as I can determin, we don't have D section Bronze available in NZ. I have brass, the boat next to me has brass and I know of one other that has brass.
By the way, some of the brass I have, came off another boat. It was severly tarnished and need some very heavey polishing, but once I polished it up with a buffing machine, it looks as good as new. There were the odd places of "pinking" but they buffed off and it looks real good.
I also agree that SST would be a good choice. Much tuffer and harder wearing, But SST D section is not available in NZ. The leaves you with a flat section. Plus Darryl doesn't want the strip to "stand out" as such, so tarnished Brass will probably do the trick.