CONTINUOUSWAVE

Can I buy a pipe bender and the stainless tube and make my own stainless steel tube railings?

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Unlesss you are very experienced in the art of bending stainless steel tubing, a better option would be to have a local fabricator construct and install a railing for your boat. An all-steel, welded, custom-made railing offers the benefit of having the exact configuration and railing height you want. If you use a trolling motor the railing can be made to accommodate it.

The Eastern Shore should have several experienced marine stainless steel structures fabricators from which to choose.

Welded stainless steel rail assemblies are fabricated by humans. Those humans are artisans in the bending, cutting, and welding of stainless steel tubing. If you have those skills I don't see an impediment to making your own railings from stainless steel tubing.

If you do not already have those skills, I doubt you could produce an acceptable outcome without a very long learning curve and consuming a lot of resources.

On some older Boston Whaler boats the railings were not welded and the tubing was simply straight sections or 90-degree bends. Duplicating those railings will be much simpler, although some skill in bending and cutting stainless steel tubing will be necessary. Having all the OEM fittings used to hold those rails in place will also be necessary. You need T-joint fittings, vertical tube support fittings, and tube base fittings. If you do not already have all those fittings, finding them may be more difficult than bending some tubing.

Bending stainless steel tubing is probably more difficult to accomplish than bending soft steel electrical conduit. Special techniques may be needed to prevent kinking or special tooling may be needed.

Windsors wrote:Can I buy a pipe bender and the stainless tube and make my own stainless steel tube railings?

Yes, if you have good attention to detail you can bend 316SS railing and achieve OEM quality. I've done this on many Whaler projects over the 25 years with great results.



If the bender comes with instructions, pay close attention, as the bend starting point is critical is you need specific length, but once you understand it, you can bend up rails with ease. I always bend with extra that is then trimmed off. It's easier that way and the classic Whalers used "T" fittings and bases so welding isn't required. Once you get into TIG welding, it's best left to the experts as TIG welding is an art.

D-

In bending steel fuel line in my old cars, a trick I learned was to completely fill the tube with blasting sand before bending. Tape the ends to keep the sand in place, it keeps the tube from collapsing. I can easily bend the tube backwards a bit if I happen to “overbend”. Not sure if that would work with this gauge of tube.

Perhaps tube diameter and gauge, or wall thickness, would be a determining factor in how much skill and what tools are best used to bend stainless steel tubing or pipe. A side rail for a SPORT 13 may be much easier to bend correctly than a long bow rail. A segmented bow rail would be much easier to fabricate than a welded one. The ability to learn the art on short thin wall pieces would be less costly.

Unfortunately, speaking for myself, some of us lack the experience and skill of Don and D.

In the the jargon of my father, who was involved in the electrical trade for 45 years, a steel electrical conduit bending tool was referred to as "a thin-wall hickey.". Maybe "hickey" was a shorter form of doohickey.