The start of the winter projects

[SEVEN]

I decided to remove the forward handrails on my 53 and take them down to bare wood. Although the tops were in real good shape the bottoms looked horrible. The best way to do that was to remove them from the boat. While removing about a dozen and a half screws snapped off at the head. Once I had the rails off and on the makeshift workbench I used a bung cutter and went along side each of the broken screws. Once the broken screws were all out I started to sand with 60 grit sandpaper and worked all the way down to 220. The reason I started with 60 grit was somebody had put a few coats of epoxy on sometime ago. It Took me about four hours on the starboard side but it turned out really well. I’m gonna take them home and put 10 coats of varnish on them in my garage so I can keep the bugs off of them. I’ll post photos when I’m done.

[oscarvan]

That's a big piece to take home.....

[jap201]

excuse my ignorance with wood working tools, but is a bung cutter the same as a plug cutter?

[SEVEN]

I’ve always called it a bung cutter but you are correct it’s a plug cutter. And Oscar I had to borrow a friends truck that has a rack that’s 25 feet long. This Saturday we’re going to secure it from front to back so it doesn’t whip as I’m driving and take it home where I can apply the coats of varnish in a sealed environment. I wanted to look like a piece of furniture when I’m done.

[jap201]

thanks, wasn't sure.
its going to look very nice when you're done.

[SKYCHENEY]

I've had my bow rails off twice in the last 17 years. Its definitely the best way to get a top notch job on them.

[oscarvan]

I’ve always called it a bung cutter but you are correct it’s a plug cutter. And Oscar I had to borrow a friends truck that has a rack that’s 25 feet long. This Saturday we’re going to secure it from front to back so it doesn’t whip as I’m driving and take it home where I can apply the coats of varnish in a sealed environment. I wanted to look like a piece of furniture when I’m done.

Cool..... I remember my dad doing the final coats on my wood Vaurien racing dinghy in the early 70's..... In the garage, wet floor, boxer shorts only and my mother's shower cap on his head.... wish I had a picture of that.... The quality of his work has been my (unattainable) standard ever since. It was immaculate.

PO of Lady Kay V was pretty fanatical about it too. Mine look very nice. And, I'm under roof so I hope to skate with a rough-up and top coat every year for a few years......

Sistership of my Vaurien....

[jmooney]

Heat guns work great on removing varnish including 2 part finishes . The thicker the finish the better using heat . I have covers for our rails , but I am not sure that it helps that much .