41DS Cockpit to Salon Steps redo.

[Nodak7]

I had fretted for awhile about redoing the steps from the cockpit to the salon (engine cover) on our 41DS. Hunter in their wisdom never put any non skid on them and just routed some grooves in the wood. Those grooves provided no skid protection and just collected dirt. After consideration and experimentation I found that 3/16" screen spline fit perfectly into those grooves. I lightly sanded down the wood, applied natural watco oil finish and inserted the spline into the grooves. You have to "stretch" it to get it in and when it expands inside the grooves it holds quite nicely and firmly. The rubber spline provides a nice non skid surface. It was a rather inexpensive fix (less than $10) and looks pretty nice. Hopefully it will last. We will see! I have attached before and after pictures.

 

[jviss]

Excellent! That is a superb solution, and it looks great!

 

[TomY]

Brilliant!

 

[DayDreamer41]

Very interesting solution and looks great, I certainly can relate to the sand collection grooves as they should really be referred to as, constantly vacuuming up the grains, I am building a beach at home with the collection. The bottom step on ours has come loose, just another task on the list, altogether though the boat has been kindly to us for the most part.

 

[justsomeguy]

Brilliant!

Seconded!

 

[seadaddler]

Great idea and I hate those grooves collecting dirt and may look into your idea,but what keeps the spline from moving when stepped on.
You will need to let us know how it works out
Nick

 

[Nodak7]

Great idea and I hate those grooves collecting dirt and may look into your idea,but what keeps the spline from moving when stepped on.
You will need to let us know how it works out
Nick

Nick, as the spline is inserted it is stretched and is thinner. When released it re expansion to fill in the groove. It does not stick above the groove to allow great friction and roll it out. At least that is the theory. We will see. For now it is working well.

 

[artboas]

Respectfully, I think I have a slightly better solution which I implemented on my 49 years ago.
I too was fed up with the dirt, sand, and crummy appearance.
What I did was find O ring stock, which measured about 1/8" height of the groove, when laid in flat
I simply put a drop of crazy glue at the end, and provided a slight stretch , as I put a thin coating along the bottom of the channel, and dropping the Oring in while keeping it slightly stretched .
This gave a uniform thickness. The oring ended up sitting almost 1/8" proud on each step, giving a very classy rubber on teak look.
You then take a razor, and trim then ends to 45% to make it really look finished.
Sorry to one-up you on this, but I've had dozens of compliments.
Also, because the rubber is proud, and oring is fairly @sticky", it makes an excellent non-skid with any type of shoe.
You can buy o ring stock in many places, and it's very inexpensive

 

[Nodak7]

Respectfully, I think I have a slightly better solution which I implemented on my 49 years ago.
I too was fed up with the dirt, sand, and crummy appearance.
What I did was find O ring stock, which measured about 1/8" height of the groove, when laid in flat
I simply put a drop of crazy glue at the end, and provided a slight stretch , as I put a thin coating along the bottom of the channel, and dropping the Oring in while keeping it slightly stretched .
This gave a uniform thickness. The oring ended up sitting almost 1/8" proud on each step, giving a very classy rubber on teak look.
You then take a razor, and trim then ends to 45% to make it really look finished.
Sorry to one-up you on this, but I've had dozens of compliments.
Also, because the rubber is proud, and oring is fairly @sticky", it makes an excellent non-skid with any type of shoe.
You can buy o ring stock in many places, and it's very inexpensive

Art, awesome always looking for other ideas, applications and improvements. Yes I did consider using your o-ring material and your application is basically the same but I had three reasons I felt the spline might work a little better. First, it did not require any adhesive to put it on which made it easier to replace if it did get damaged. Second the splice material is available at any hardware store for less than $.20/ft. Third since it does still stick up proud and has "grooves" built into it it has a bit more anti skid ability. However, I do think we are both on the same page though and it definitely is a nice improvement. Thanks for the alternative idea.