Cockpit Wood Steps (Boards) replacement

[Sylvain]

The teak steps (boards) on the edges of the cockpit were not the best looking and needed to be refinished.

I decided to take them out and strip the many layers of varnish plus Cetol plus whatever had been layered on them over the years.

Once off, I realized it would be just easier to make new ones.

I had a plank of Ipe that I shaped taking the old boards as templates. Split (very hard wood with pollen like dust) and planed, and grooved using the blade on the table saw. I attempted to machine the lines with a round bit but that didn't go too well. This wood is so hard that even with small passes the brand new router bit would jump so I decided to just keep the square blade groove instead of the U.

I gave the back side a couple of coats of clear epoxy, bedded the boards in silicone screwed them down. Actually before that, I repainted the whole cockpit after filling the old screw hole, fixing the cracks and filling in where I took the old "city" water intake fitting as I don't foresee using it.

The only thing I used on these new boards is "teak" oil which is probably lemon oil with UV filter.

They're a little dark but it sure looks better than the old ones.

 

[kloudie1]

Nice looking.. I am a fan of IPE much less dollars than teak.. and a fine tough and pretty wood.. but it is a bugger to work and I think the dust is a real irritant to nose .. I wear a mask now when I work it.
Good Work !

 

[Ed Schenck]

Making me feel bad, you finishing projects that I have been planning for ten years. My winch pads look like your old steps. The three years in the south really did a number on my teak. And everything is painted except my cockpit because I want those pads off first. But they are under a big winch and a big cleat with little access to the nuts.

When I do the pads it will be with PlasTeak like my forward traveler, dorade lids, and ladder steps. No more varnishing(except hand rails). In picture are PlasTeak handrails but I made them myself and didn't like them. Originals in basement with several coats of varnish after Florida ate them.

 

[Ed H]

They're a little dark but it sure looks better than the old ones.

Not too dark... They look great. Ed H

 

[rardiH36]

Sylvain:

Very nice outcome. Fine craftsmanship. I also like IPE and have sometimes suggested it on various posts as an alternative to teak. Also because it is so hard, that the wood makes great backing "plates" for things like winches and anchor roller/windlass fittings. Might not be the easiest wood to work with, but shaping and drilling holes is a lot more convenient than in aluminum or SS plating. And IPE has applications for finer projects ... see my electric guitar picture ... the body is left-over IPE from a back yard deck project!

Ed:

.... projects that I have been planning for ten years ...

I suffered the same dilemma with the teak winch pads. Towards the end of my on the-hard-time in the months after I bought my boat, I replaced my standard winches with self tailing ones. The original coaming pads had been sanded so many times, they wouldn't take too many more. It was the opportune time to do something like Sylvaine ... but time ran out. Also, as I have posted before, nice as bright work looks, at 55 and with a lifetime of becoming burned out refinishing just about anything/everything around the house, I just wasn't into maintaining brightwork regularly. As I have posted before, albeit at the risk of offending the Cherubini tradition, I decided to just paint the exterior decorative teak. (Although since the eyebrows are now gone totally and the handrails are SS, the only exterior teak left is the coaming pads and the companion way frame and boards.)

The attached photo shows my port-side winch pad 5 years on. Paint is Rustoleum's Hammered finish. This is the second color, the first being gold. When the paint gets a bit crusty and flaked, five minutes with some rough sandpaper along the grain and its ready for a new coat. No need to sand down to bare wood. I've grown to like the look, so replacing with new teak or IPE isn't likely.

Silver is also a Hammered color. Or mixing some combination of gold+silver+copper might give close to the plas-teak color and might match your tan (I think) non-skid color. Think about how it might look on your boat as an alternative until you replace the existing with plas-teak. Hey if get get used to the look, you may never get around to your decade delayed project!

All this is only my opinion of course.

rardi

 

[Ed Schenck]

Damn Rardi, you had mentioned that before and I totally forgot. That is just the ticket for getting a decent and waterproof covering, especially on the companionway. That will be the answer for next summer. You wrote "This is the second color, the first being gold". But I can't tell what the new color is. Is it a mix or out of the can?

 

[rardiH36]

Ed Over the years, mostly for home projects, I've amassed a collection of various Hammered colors. The color is green, softened quite a bit to a more "mist green" by mixing with silver. However, with my first try, I found the combination was improved (to my eye anyway) with the addition of just a touch of gold. On my computer screen the color looks quite close to the appearance on my boat.

"Doing this" to teak (painting over the natural color) is contrary to the normal thing that comes to mind around boats. I just bring it up on occasion in case it might work for somebody else.

 

[Ed Schenck]

Is this "hammered" color something that I will find on the shelf at Lowes? I cannot remember seeing that. Bought some more brushes there yesterday, this two-part painting eats brushes. And they can't be cheap to get the results I want. The scary thing is they were out of Acetone! Who is buying up the acetone and what for?

 

[rardiH36]

Ed:

I don't know about Lowes (none in my area) but yes at Home Depot.
Here is a url so you can identify the can: http://rustoleum.com/CBGProduct.asp?pid=159

The product also comes in spray with more of a color selection. Even metallic white. If the white has appeal, I think best to nonetheless brush on the first coat or two say with silver. Then spray the final coat. An advantage of the brush on is that touching up is quick using a small artist/hobby brush. Just keep a small container of the Hammered on the boat.

I've learned through the years the Hammered doesn't like being applied in full sun. It skins very quickly. Heat expanding volatiles from the still wet subsurface can't escape through the skin quickly enough. The result is blistering. Also be sure to wipe the teak first with acetone to remove the surface oils.

Hammered thins with xylene.

Re the short life of brushes with your 2-part project. Are you using the right type? I don't recall the instructions, but certainly the material must be totally solvent proof. Natural bristles?

 

[Ed Schenck]

Thanks Rardi, the Home Depot is less than a mile from the Lowes. It is probably there and I just didn't know what I was looking at. The brushes clean fine with acetone. But after a couple of uses there is enough residual epoxy in the acetone that the brush has some particle buildup. I have never been good at getting brushes to last. I bought four more to start the mast painting, two 3" and two 4". Not real good, around $10., but they don't leave brush strokes. Since I am doing the mast in three big sections more brushes are in the plan.

 

[rardiH36]

Ed:

And considering the cost of solvents these days, just buying a new brush isn't that bad of an alternative.

For standard oil paints, if I'm on a project that doesn't need much in the way of perfection, rather than clean the brush between coats, or even over several days if the project is bigger such as staining/painting a fence, I fold aluminum foil around the brush ends in a manner that doesn't crush/bend the bristles. And then contour the other side of the foil around the handle to make a fairly tight seal. The brush will stay supple for quite a few days or even longer. This works for rollers and brushes between coats of bottom paint as well. Saves lots of time and solvent money.

 

[rhythmsurfer]

Well I have been wondering what to do with my teak pads. They are worn out. What do you use the cleats for on the winch pads? I have self tailing winches and the jib sheet stays locked in the winch. We are at a floating dock and if you attach a dock line to those cleats they will either eat through the lines, or the leather that I sewed on will eat whats left of the teak pad. Not to mention those cleats hurt if you try and sit there; which is where I like to sit. Rardi, I posted video of the more protected marina that I went to. I couldn't make it out to sail if I wanted to. The weather people were wrong again. We did however go out Tuesday and it was wonderful. Felt like San Diego,wrm sun cool brieze and dry air.

 

[rhythmsurfer]

I have been wanting to change mine too. They are worn. I have tried attaching dock lines to those cleats but they wear down the wood. I don't like the cleats' placement. That is where I like to sit and the cleat gets in the way. I have self tailing winches so I am wondering if the cleats aren't needed. There are some cleats on the outside of the cockpit just aft of the cleats. What are they used for?

 

[Ed Schenck]

Sounds like our boats are alike back on the coamings. Rardi's pictures of the pads look like my 37C. The most aft cleats on my boat are for dock lines. The cleats on the top behind the winches are for the jib sheets. The winch should not be the only tie-off for the jib except in light conditions. I always secure the sheet to the cleat so as not to get lazy and forget. My boat also has cleats on the sides of the coaming slightly ahead of the winches. They are at an angle and the sheets are led through the center of the cleat. With a stopper knot in the sheet this prevents loss of the sheet.

Added picture: you can barely make out the tip of the cleat on the side of the coaming just forward of the winch. Right above the "l" in love.

 

[jorgefife]

Steps

Sorry Rardi, but I have to ask questions again: the picture of your winch:is that painted with a can ( Rustoleum hammered?
Did you need any undercoat?
My winches are in need of some life...

 

[rardiH36]

Jorge:

No, the black winches are factory finish from Harken. Some sort of black anodized aluminum or maybe an annealed powder coating? The winches are now 4.5 years on the boat.

I can't think of any DIY painting that would be suitable for a winch. And I have thought hard because of my very good mechanical shape but chrome depleted cabin top Barient #19. ( See the picture. The underlying pad area has since been painted with Perfection.) I am constantly using Chrome polish on it. The barely ok result only lasts a month or two before the underlying bronze begins to look like rust splotches all over. Quotes for re-chroming just aren't worth the $'s expense -- $200.

 

[sandpiper10471]

If using my brushes daily, I soak them in some thinner, wrap them in a baggie and put them in the freezer. Badger brushes work really well with two part paints and last for ever but it is almost cheaper to throw them away instead of wasting acetone.