Teak Handrail Handle Fabrication: Good and Knot So Good

Sometimes refinishing is not the way to go. Our Mirage 24's teak handrails have been in pretty rough shape and I decided it was time to do something before I get a splinter in my hand. While they seem sturdy enough they are starting to crack and show their age I removed one and started to sand it but by the time I get it looking good, It will be pretty thin in some areas. It is time for them to go.

One of the things about owning a boat is sometimes you can't just find the part you need right off the shelf.  I went down to Wolf's Marina and they had several of these grab handles in stock but none of them fit my boat so It's time to fabricate something.  

For $15.00 I found this teak block in Wolf's scrap area. A crazy bargain for this bock. I was able to get my brother to rip it down on his table saw into pieces for me.    

Next, I set up my belt sander and band saw and got to work.

The pieces started taking shape pretty quickly. 

To get the hand grips I set up my plan to use my 1-inch hole saw slightly offset the board. 

After some time, I had a few holes drilled. 

Then I took my pieces back to the band saw and connected the holes. 

On to handrail number two. 

 

I straightened up my edges with my Dremel tool and a sanding drum bit. Then ran around the edges with a router to smooth things out. I transferred the wholes from the old handrails to the new ones and predrilled the holes and countersinks for attaching to the boat. Next, I put a coat of teak oil on the finished products. Then it was off to the boat to install these new beauties. 

Now the Knot So Good. 

When installing the second handle it cracked at a knot in the wood and broke in two. At this point, I was pretty frustrated and tried epoxying it back together. Went down and tried again but the epoxy could not hold up to the flex needed. The deck of the boat has a little bit of curvature to it and the knot, unfortunately, fell in a spot the board needed to bend just a little bit. 

After some deliberation and a few choice words, I decided to remake the handle instead of gluing it again. After watching it pop the epoxy apart it only made sense to start over for the sake of safety. This being the third one of these I made it came together quickly.  

As with the first ones I predrilled the holes and countersinks and put on the first coat of teak oil before heading off to the boat.

Once I got the new handrails bedded and installed I finished up by tapping some teak pegs into the countersink holes.

After a light sanding and another coat of teak oil, the finished results look pretty good and will provide a much safer splinter-free location to grip.