Rub Rail

[Jason K]

The aluminum rub rail has been pulled off of most of the starboard side. Anyone know where I can order a replacement?

[Tim]

Why not take this opportunity to upgrade to brass? Hamilton Marine has a good selection of half oval brass and stainless.

Yes, brass...there seems to be no source for bronze half oval. But brass is fine for this.

[Marshall Wright]

Tim,

I know this is an older post but I am about to order the brass for my rubrail.

Question regarding finish. How does one terminate the ends? Any leads on a nice termination piece?

Also, do I just butte up a run? These come in either 6 or 12' foot sections. Will need to create a longer run.

Thanks for any advice. Am holding off until I understand how to handle all the finish details.

Thanks,

Marshall

[Tim]

Just butt the pieces together as needed to make your run.

As to terminating the ends, if you don't have a clear ending point against which to butt a 90° end, you could consider shaping the end of the piece yourself. Brass is easy to work. This would work better with a solid-back half-round rather than the hollow-back half-ovals.

I haven't ever looked for termination ends, so I can't say what might be available. I don't know of anything offhand.

[Hirilondë]

The finished ends to factory finished sections of rub rail chafe strips are usually tapered to a round. You can do this yourself easily on brass with a belt sander and/or file. You can do it to stainless this way as well, but it takes longer. Aluminum sections would need to be anodized to survive at all well, and your cuts and tapered ends would have this protection removed. Unless of course you can find factory made exact lengths. I'm a fan of brass and bronze too, but stainless is a viable option as well.