General Discussion

If you have a 42 Commander aft cabin, then you are familiar with the side steps off of the aft deck. The teak used for the treads held up well, but after 59 years they were... tired to say the least. One of the projects this winter, and a continued woodworking self-teaching lesson, was to replace these teak treads. Here are some pictures and information about how to do it...

ABOVE: The profile. While my treads were thin, the extrusion allowed for 3/8" wide material, and I figured CC would go with something easy... so using my table saw, I cut 3/8" square material, in 19" lengths using teak from my toerail replacement project from 2022. The steps are 18" wide, but I wanted some play so I could flush cut the excess that I would be hammering on to get the treads in place. After that I used a router to make 1/16" insets on either side, then used a hand planer to take down the bottom corners so that the tread could slide in easier, but still be a snug fit.

ABOVE: Easy to see the difference between the tired old treads, and the nice new replacement

ABOVE: Installed and trimmed treads. Once the profile was made, I used a hammer to get the treads into the length of the step. Some were easier than others, but I managed to get them all in without cursing too much. Once in, I used a saw to trim them flush to the sides.

ABOVE: One done and one to go. You can see that my steps are not in great shape, but I'll leave the aluminum alone. It's anodized so much like my windshield frames, there's not much to do about unless I paint them. We use our boat, and I don't want to paint these, so we'll stick with the natural patina. lol.

ABOVE: The finished product. Okay, I haven't put teak oil on them yet, but you get the idea. For the moment, the steps are hanging out in the basement on the boat shelf... ready to head out to the river in a few weeks... Can't wait to see them in place!

Stay tuned for a few other project postings!

C.

1967 42 Commander

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