Rubrail materials

[CaseyJones]

I'm getting close to installing a beveled piece of timber to square-off my shearline prior to decking. I can use 2x2 fir from Home Depot, but I think it will crack. My other option is v.g. fir, Honduran mahogany, or white oak. The fir is, I think, a good buy at $2.65/board ft. I can rip all the rubrail from one 2x6x8 piece. Question is, is v.g. fir okay for this?

[dasboat]

Casey,I'm not sure what part on a sailboat you are referring to as a rubrail.
When I rebuilt Clementine,a 32 sportsfisher,the rubrail is the part that followed the shear and was partially covered by the toerail.If we are talking of the same part(it takes a beating),I built mine of apitong.It's tough as all getout and holds fasteners very well.

[CaseyJones]

Sorry, it's a 16' flats skiff.


[This message has been edited by CaseyJones (edited 01-04-2002).]

[rob]

casey, of the woods you mentioned go with the oak if you can afford it. No varnish just lots of oil and you will never have to think about it again.....well okay not for a realy long time.
The fir will hold up to if the boat is used gently, and always fendered and babied.

[Scott Rosen]

My rubrail is mohagony with a metal covering strip. I'm not real pleased with it. Over the years, water has gotten under the metal and into the screw holes and has caused some localized rot. It's somewhat of a pain to fix, because taking off a 30 foot metal strip and then trying to man-handle it back on, all while standing on a ladder or scaffold, is tricky; even more so if the strip is covered with bedding compound. I suppose if you have someone to help, it should be okay. Ideally, I'd use a more rot-resistant wood, like teak. I'd still use the metal strip, but I'd CPES the living daylights out of it, including injecting CPES into the pilot holes. I'd paint and then I'd bed the strip in white lead paste and attach it after the paint goes on. I'd remove the strip every couple of years to inspect for rot. Depending on the shape, the nice thing about mohagony is that it is easy to bend.

[CaseyJones]

Maybe I should be a little more specific. This will build up the rubrail, then I will cap with 1" ss 1/2 oval. The wood will be primed and painted with Britesides, and the boat will be stored on a trailer in my boat-barn. I'm not overly concerned about rot, and the ss 1/2 oval will protect it from bangs. My biggest concern was bending around my shear without cracking and without steaming.

[Dale Harvey]

I prefer the 3/4 yellow pine flooring, laminated to desired thickness. Pick for as little grain runout as you can, and figure ripping to get 1/4 to flat grain. I find it much more resilient than fir, but problematic for paint adhesion. Latest experiment was CPES as primer.

[Joe Woodbury]

I live out in the trees in NW Washington and have used Douglas fir for many diferent boat solutions. VG fir, especially if is is kiln dry is a poor choice for endurance and bending. However second growth fir, maybe from sixty year old trees would hold up better and bend better. Where I live we can pick the trees with the use in mind. One friend needed some planks to get his Cat off his rig so he used some old growth VG fir since he had it laying around. He tore them up in less than a year. Made new ones out of some second growth and they lasted. The wood fibers in second growth are twisted around and hold up to stress much better than old growth fir. The strongest fir comes out of wind stressed trees.You might find a decent piece coming out of Canada at home depot. Only piece of wood I ever found there any good was in a 2x4 stack labeled fir.

[backyardbuilder]

I used fir on my 18 1/2' white cedaar strip canoe. It took the shape of the gunwale beautifully, but rotted out in about 5 years. I have replaced it with ash, however white oak would have been more than acceptable. I had an earlier canoe with mahogagy on the rails and it was soft and really got beat-up in a hurry. I like the strength and rot resistance of white oak.

[DougC]

I'm a long way off from putting on the rubrails and inwales on my dory, but I've been thinking black locust might work well -- strong, rot resistent, good looking, high stability. I've heard it bends best when it's still kind of green and hardly shrinks at all. Any insights?
Doug

[Thaddeus J. Van Gilder]

I think black locust is the best wood for that use 1) because it's cheap 2) because it steams well and 3) because in never rots.

[rob]

and don't forget you can beat the living daylights out of it!