Toe rail

[CRYSTAL]

Has anyone fixed deep scratches on their aluminum toe rail and how?
without removing it. Just sanding and some zinc paint?

Thanks.

[Moodymike]

We are currently trying to fill some deep scratches with BodyAlu.   Has filled in like grp filler have yet to sand it down .

[solar]

Can you please give more info and maybe some before/after pictures?
Thank you.

[Salty]

We are currently trying to fill some deep scratches with BodyAlu.   Has filled in like grp filler have yet to sand it down .

Won't "sanding it down" result in further removal of anodising from those parts between the scratches?

[dawntreader]

I spoke to Clipper Marine about this problem and was told it's not recoverable once scratched. Mine happened when the anchor chain jumped out of the roller  . However, I would love them to be proven wrong 

[Salty]

Keeping in mind that there is some firm out there that can anodise long lengths of brand new aluminium toe rail in the first place, I'm sure there must be others around with the same sort of facility. I started looking at this problem a couple of years ago, but gave up as there were other areas of the boat that needed attention and which were more likely to fall over than the scratched toe rails. I gathered from my findings at the time that the remaining anodising would all have to be removed before fresh anodising could be contemplated. If anyone finds a firm that can handle the lengths of toe rail, and at a reasonable price, could they let us all know.

[Salty]

Further to my comment yesterday about anodising firms, a quick search on the internet of UK sites revealed a number of firms that can carry out anodising. However, only a handful of those sites actually admitted to the lengths of material they could handle, with "Hard Anodising Ltd, and Color Anodising" having a six meter facility, while "AFC Anodising" (www.afcanodising.co.uk) based at Emsworth in Hampshire had a twelve metre facility. Each of those firms also had the ability to anodise in a number of different colours in addition to basic aluminium. But, what they would want to charge to prepare and refurbish your damaged toe rails is another matter. My guess is that it would probably be worthwhile to do them all at the same time to keep the colour matching throughout.

[landes_h]

I think the original question was about repairing the rail without removing it. Maybe treating it with a rotating brush with motor drill would give it a brushed alu look like some technical items have.
In any case the surface is not protected anymore. The effort of removing would justify a replacement with a new rail. The rail is split at midship anyway, so it might be possible to replace only half of the boat's length, depending on where the damage is.
Having the old rail removed and repaired/anodised and put back on is a big effort. Considering shipping and other cost, it might be cheaper to get a new piece.

[CRYSTAL]

spot on landes.

We're in the Med and have to forget the nice facilities that the UK offers. The best solution I can come out with is to sand out the sharp edges to protect the fenders and use colorless primer and varnish that is aluminum frendly and easily accessible via auto paints. They Can easily be put into 300ml spray can as well with the hardener which is manually activated. Will have to live with the scratches but it's important  to protect the toe rail.

Regards.