Replacing Bow Teak

AKBASSKING

AKBASSKING

Active Member
Apr 13, 2008
4,649
SE Alaska Summer/Columbia River winter
Boat Info
1988 Yacht Fisher
Engines
Twin 375hp Cat 3208 T/A
Hey everyone,

Took off the bow teak this weekend on the 86 300DB. It is not in good shape and needs to be replaced.:smt009

Do I replace it with Teak which is about 2" thick and about 4 feet long or with the molded stuff like you see on todays boats.:huh:

Where could I purchase these?:smt100
 
Tom,

It is partly a question of personal choice. In general, choose teak if your intent is to faithfully restore the boat, or if you are a traditionalist. Otherwise, use a newer material that wasn't available at the time the boat was originally built that may provide better performance.

Since you haven't posted any pictures I can't tell what part you are describing, so I can't make any judgement as to whether teak could be replaced with another material from a structural integrity standpoint.

Henry
 
some of the marine suppliers (WM, etc.) have premade teak that replicates the teak rails on the bow. Not sure if they will have the proper length.

Gregg
 
Tom,

Quite often teak components are made from smaller pieces that are glued/glued and bolted together. For example a bow pulpit that supports the anchor might look like it is made from 'thick' teak, but in reality it has been made by taking say a 1" thick teak board and cutting it into 4" strips. Four of these strips can be set on edge and epoxied along the 4" face. Two strips become a 2"x 4", 4 strips a 4x4 etc. While it might seem inefficient, it is not as the cost of thick teak lumber is higher than plank.

To find good boat wood suppliers, a good place to start is Wooden Boat Magazine. This is well worth reading even if you do not like sailboats, but have a wood and boat related project to handle. This month there is an excellent article on possible wood substitutes for teak and mahogany.

Many of the suppliers have internet sites and do ship (another advantage of using the composite approach).

Henry
 
Thanks Henry!

This piece is 17 3/4 wide by 48" long, 1 3/4" thick. If you look at it it does appear to have differant widths of wood glued together. I will attempt to attach pictures.

My thought would be find some kind of marine wood and laminate it with teak.....but I don't know how it would look.

I will have to upload pitures from work as it won't upload from home.
 
Well I tried to post pictures and the system will not allow me. It always says upload failed.

Do you have to be a member who has donated funds to up load pictures? Guess I better donate.


Henry,
Any particular supplier you would recommend for a replacement?
 
Bow Pulpit!!

Thanks Gregg!

I didn't even know the name of it. I also did a "Google" search as Gregg suggested and came up with a place in Nevada that does custom Teak Bow Pulpits:

http://www.woodworkingforwatercraft.com/pulpit.html

I will look at the eBay today when I get home from work (one of the sites that are blocked).

I may still just make my own. Henry, where do you shop for teak?

I love the look of teak, but what a pain it is to upkeep. Glad the wife volunteered..:wow:
 
No matter how bad it looks, there is virgin teak underneath. Take it to a wood shop and run it through a planer to make it 1/8" thinner and it will be like new. Or just manually sand that much off the exposed surfaces.
 
Tom,

This is the reply I was going to send in response to your email. For everyone else. Tom sent me a message saying he was thinking about building a replacement from a solid piece of teak below is my response:

You do not want to use a single piece of wood, it will cause you problems. My apologies if you already know this, but it explains why a single piece is not a good idea.

Wood lumber is generally cut in flat slabs from the tree. The grain of the wood is actually made up of long fibers that run in the long direction of the trunk of the tree. The grains grow each year under the bark in layers. The 'growth rings' that you see when you cut down a tree are actually an end view of the grain layers.

The significance of the above means that because of the way the plank is cut from the tree, the growth rings will arc through the cross section of the plank. Over time the plank will want to bend to conform with the arc of the growth rings. This is called 'cupping' and is why when you are building a deck you should always lay the deck boards so the crown of the ring arc is up.

If you make the platform from 24 pieces of 3/4" thick board (4/4 stock) that has been ripped to 1 3/4" wide x 48" long that are set on edge and glued together you can alterate the orientation of the rings, and the peice will be significantly more stable and stronger. Additionally you can butt two shorter pieces together to make your purchase of lumber easier. I also would not be surprised to discover that there are steel threaded rods embedded transversly through the existing piece. You may not see them because the two end pieces may be caps

Price of 3/4" teak (4/4 stock) here is about $ 27 per board foot. Acounting for waste and losses due to saw kerf you would need 16 BF. Ideally 3 boards at least 8 " wide x 8' long, and should come in at about $ 480.00

If you were to use a single piece 1 3/4" (8/4 stock) it would take 4' x 1.5" x 2 = 12 BF x $ 40 = 480.00

These are both guestimates because the actual BF is a result of a volume calculation based on the original dimension of the plank. Depending on how finished the board is would affect the final price.

Where the windlass is mounted to this, and the anchor rode presses down, I would go with teak over any manmade material. You might try using mahogany, but it will require more attention and have less life.

I am fortunate to have local suppliers here, as well as in Boston, NH and ME within driving distance.

(Note to everyone else I have also see Tom's pictures.) While they are low res, it looks like the pulpit has begun to delaminate.

Planning may not be an option. Also the pulpit is 17 3/4" wide which puts it into the size of needing an industrial planer. A set of planer knives that big can run $ 1000.00. So a prudent wood shop would price planing an old piece of wood according to the risk they view in having to buy new knives.

Henry
 
I have seen alot of ugly teak (some on my boat) but I have never seen teak that couldn't be sanded to it's original look and refinished. What is wrong with the teak you have? I'm curious.
 
vernh59 said:
I have seen alot of ugly teak (some on my boat) but I have never seen teak that couldn't be sanded to it's original look and refinished. What is wrong with the teak you have? I'm curious.
Click to expand...

I have been in Jacksonville for the last 8 weeks. I have been able to plain the pulpit and it is going to work just fine.

I can't wait to get back and start getting to work again.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
113,247
Messages
1,429,229
Members
61,125
Latest member
Bassinbradw
Back
Top