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Repair or Replace Aluminum Toe Rail

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toe rail
11K views 16 replies 11 participants last post by  GaryHLucas 
#1 ·
The toe rail of my Aphrodite 34 was damaged during Hurricane Irene. Toe rail is single piece of aluminum on each side. I have searched for a matching rail everywhere and can't find one.

One option is replacing the rails on both sides - a major expense that I am considering.

Another option is simply bending the rail back. While the rail will remain scuffed and scarred, I might be willing to live with it. Does anyone have a suggestion on how to bend the rail?

I am attaching a picture of the damage.

I would appreciate any other suggestions.

Thanks.
 

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#3 ·
The toe rail of my Aphrodite 34 was damaged during Hurricane Irene. Toe rail is single piece of aluminum on each side. I have searched for a matching rail everywhere and can't find one.

One option is replacing the rails on both sides - a major expense that I am considering.

Another option is simply bending the rail back. While the rail will remain scuffed and scarred, I might be willing to live with it. Does anyone have a suggestion on how to bend the rail?

I am attaching a picture of the damage.

I would appreciate any other suggestions.

Thanks.
I second Celenoglu - an old Ukrainian mechanic I knew, who held them in contempt and refused to own one, called it a "Ukrainian fitall" - a crescent wrench to the rest of us. :D Use a big one and pad it.

Your chance of finding matching holy rail is as close to zero as you can get - there were nearly unlimited shapes & patterns and the European stuff was different again from what was sold here. Theirs also tended to be clear anodized like yours, while ours was generally black.

One possibility is a marine scrapyard. Now that glass boats are being scrapped you MIGHT be able to get some from one of them. Shipping would be pricy though, if each side is a single piece.
 
#10 ·
I strongly disagree with this option. Linesmans pliers have "teeth" that will mar aluminium and are not nearly long enough to get the leverage you require - holy rail is strong stuff, much harder than the aluminium most people are used to. The first time I installed it, hacksawing through it was not a lot easier than steel.

You need the biggest, or rather, the longest Crescent wrenches you can find, cover the jaws thickly with tape and "nibble" your way along - one behind the area you want to bend to keep the bending stress localized and one on the area to be bent. Remember, you want to TWIST the rail. Putting a thin strip of something on the outside to fill in the area under the rolled lip will help to keep everything aligned. If the wrenches don't give you enough leverage to twist the rail, try using long pipe clamps - you can get as much leverage as you want that way. Do everything the same as with the wrenches - just tighten the (padded) jaws on the area you want to work and pull on the end of the pipe while a helper watches the work area closely so you don't over bend it.

I can see one crease alongside the turning block - the only possible way I know to get that out is to hammer and dolly it like an auto body - you'll need a heavy hammer though.
 
#6 ·
What if you cut out the damaged piece and took it to a machine shop to have a new piece milled. Even if it was 500 it would be a cheep repair.
 
#7 ·
Or how about removing rail from both sides a few feet back and replacing with something very different. That way it would look like an upgrade.
 
#8 ·
How "perfect" do you want your boat to be and how much are you willing to spend to get there? - that is the question.
 
#9 ·
Well, the "proper" way to repair it is either to cut a section out and splice in a new one, welding the joints and drilling/machining to match the pattern.

That might not be impossible even if the rail is no longer made, because sometimes you can steal a few feet from one end (and match the other side) or sometimes you can have a machine shop slice off three (six?)feet of aluminum angle iron, and match it up.

Onceuponatime this was something any village blacksmith could do everyday. These days--you can also do some of it online with CAD/CAM tools. Take a look at CNC Machine Shop | Custom Waterjet, Plasma, Laser Cutting | eMachineShop.com for one place that will give you free CAD software, let you work out the plans, and then they'll machine the stock for you. If your local machine shop wants big rent money to do work... There are online resources.

Of course if you've got a generous insurer or the damage in someone else's problem, you just say "Pull both rails and replace with something very similar" and that's REALLY the right way to do it, if you can't fabricate in a new piece.

Old boat? Beater? Lots of wrinkles? OK, then you just bang it back into shape as best you can. Body shops used to repair Rolls Royce the same way, a good tinsmith can work that metal back to damn near new. In fact, if you go to a local auto body shop with some photos, you might be able to get a pro to come do the work on his own time. They have an array of special hammers, anvils, wheels, designed to reshape the metal without distorting it. Getting rid of the distortions, or preventing them, takes skill and practice.

The main thing is, "make haste slowly". Check out your options, you may find pleasant surprises.
 
#11 ·
Worst case? Extruded aluminum can be annealed with an acetylene torch Coat the damaged area with carbon smoke,adjust flame to neutral and gently heat until the black burns off. Don't get the flame too close and don't overheat.Big gentle flame. It melts easily when hotter than burnoff temp with no warning. Let cool. It will be malleable for a day or so until the copper content reforms its normal crystalline structure Downside --- you have remove the damaged part and you lose the anodize. That can be redone but it's not easy and another story
 
#13 ·
My previous boat was hit while on its mooring by a boat that lost control during a squall. The aluminum toe rail on one side was damaged - much worse than yours. Yard couldn't locate a replacement. Instead they cut and removed the damaged section, straightened it, fill welded the gouges, and had it re-anodized. Still looked good years later when I sold the boat.
 
#14 ·
Successful toe rail repair

Hurricane Ike rolled over my SAGA 43 and damaged the toe rail in a half dozen places. After the agony of finding replacement rail and two weeks replacing one area, there had to be a better way to fix the other places. I did not want to pound or pry the rail back into place because of potential damage to the hull-deck connection. I designed a device that easily pried the flanges back apart, not only for my boat but for other damaged boats on the dock as well. The machine shop that built mine has built them since for other boaters. http://i44.tinypic.com/i1lklj.gif shows a picture.

RexMaugans
 
#17 ·
Hurricane Ike rolled over my SAGA 43 and damaged the toe rail in a half dozen places. After the agony of finding replacement rail and two weeks replacing one area, there had to be a better way to fix the other places. I did not want to pound or pry the rail back into place because of potential damage to the hull-deck connection. I designed a device that easily pried the flanges back apart, not only for my boat but for other damaged boats on the dock as well. The machine shop that built mine has built them since for other boaters. http://i44.tinypic.com/i1lklj.gif shows a picture.

RexMaugans
Nice job Rex!
After reading all the other posts my thought was to do what you have done. Back when I had a shop I had a pretty good reputation for straightening bent stuff. Didn't make any real money at it, but it was always great when you saved someone a ton of money.

Gary H. Lucas
 
#15 ·
My Plan

After hours / days of searching the internet for "aluminum toe rail" repair, I found Rex's device in the US Patent office. Was able to track him down and purchased his first production device.

The initial result is promising and I will finish straightening the rail in the spring. Will let you know how I make out.

Thanks for everyone's advice.
 
#16 ·
Bake81:
Since you are not the mfr of the device you can post the contact information you found without running afoul of the forum rules.
Rex may want to take out an add to sell a bunch and support sailnet.
 
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