How to Bend & Install Flex-A-Rail Awning Track
Awning track is a great way to attach fabric to a hard surface on your boat. It can be used for adding enclosure curtains to hardtop biminis, attaching the front of dodgers or for hanging awnings. Many of these applications require the awning track to be able to bend and curve. In this video, we’re going to show you how to bend Flex-a-Rail awning track for your application and how to install it.
Brian installing Flex-a-Rail Awning Track to the radar arch of our powerboat.
For our Maxum 2900 SCR Project Powerboat, we needed to add awning track to the aft side of the radar arch to attach the enclosure’s aft curtain. We decided to use awning track as opposed to snaps, because the track gives a smooth, finished look and is watertight.
We used Flex-a-Rail awning track for this application. Since this awning track is already created to take a slight bend, it makes it easier to create a sharper curve with it as well. As you’ll see in the video, we used a heat gun to make the awning track extra flexible so we can bend it into our desired shape. Be sure you’re ready to act quickly when the awning track is heated, because it will harden again as it cools.
Heating the Flex-a-Rail to create a bend.
In this video you will also learn how to install the Flex-a-Rail track to your boat and how to bed the screws with butyl tape for waterproofing.
Video Chapters
- Measuring & Patterning — 0:33 min.
- Bending Track — 2:55 min.
- Installing Track — 7:28 min.
- Materials List — 14:05 min.
Materials List
- Flex-A-Rail Track #103355
- Keder Awning Rope #102549
- Trimmable Butyl Tape #103689
- Flat Head Screws (4 x 6 x 3/4") #440
Tools List
- Tape Measure #102986
- 3M Filament Strapping Tape #5643
- Square Head Screwdriver #0 #100345
- Pencil
- Scrap cardboard
- Heat gun
- Hack saw
- Marker
- Dremel tool (with drum sander)
- Drill with 1/8" bit