Teak Hand rail removal

[Jim Tait]

I want to remove and re-bed the teak hand rails on my 1974 O'Day 20. Can I do this without cutting out the teak plugs?? It looks like the machined screws can be backed out from inside the cabin. Is there a threaded insert/ nut inside the hand rail that would hopefully stay in place when I remove? I am trying to avoid having to replace the plugs and damaging the rails but need to re-bed to stop some rain leaks. Thanks much!

 

[Terry]

teak plugs

Jim,I have an '83 O'Day 23, but I am assuming that the teak handrails are very smilar. The machine threaded nut on the inside is the end of a screw under the teak plug. I remove my handrails about every 3 years to refinish and re-bed them. I haven't yet had to remove the pugs. I have had to remove the plugs in order to remove the teak slides holding the hatch cover. It isn't difficult to drill out the plug (use a slightly smaller bit than the plug) to access the screw-top. I replaced the plug, lining up the grain and gluing it with wood glue, trimmed the top with a sharp chisle, sanded it flush and varnished.P.S. If anyone reading this message has used a Japanese flush cut saw, did it work well for cutting the plug? I saw one in a wood working catalog and it looked liked it would be perfect for this use.Terry

 

[Jay Poe]

Teak Bung

The Teak bung can be pulled with a screw. If you want, predrill through the plug then screw into the plug (The screw acts like a cork screw. The threads pull the plug out when the tip of the screw bottoms out on the fastening hardware). I'm not sure that the bolts or nuts below the bung are fixed or not. I would guess not and think they could spin.Flush cut saw should work great. Pay mind to both sides of the saw to keep from cutting or scratching face of the handrail.

 

[Marvin Shepleta]

Get your sawzall!

I had to sawzall mine off. The bolts were corroded and so I hacked them off. Most of these old teak handrails aren't worth saving and are probably not strong enough to be safe. I replaced mine with stainless steel handholds from West Marine. They look great, are thru bolted, and will never need any attention.