replacement wood

[OceanSprint]

either side of my companionway are 2 strips if hardwood which hold in the wash boards. A wooden grab handle is then srewed into this strip either side of the companionway.

They have gone a bit soft around the screws so need replaceing.

I know this may be sacrilege but is there any non Wood low maintainance material that i could use. I am thinking of some form of workable plastic that can be shaped cut and drilled like wood

 

[DinghyMan]

A lot of plastics are easy to work with hand tools or machines; one choice is HDPE, what a lot of chopping boards are made from. Can be cut with a hand saw or better still a table saw and files, routed, and planed but not sanded which tends to just roughen the surface.

You may be limited in colour choice; from http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/20MM-THIC...t=LH_DefaultDomain_3&var=&hash=item1c2e645819

Downsides are that it is probably not a UV stable version but its cheap and easy to work, if you are happy with black then go for Acetal/Delrin sheet which is usually UV stable and works almost as easily but is a bit harder. Polyprop is usually UV stable but colour choice is usually black or white.

 

[Tranona]

either side of my companionway are 2 strips if hardwood which hold in the wash boards. A wooden grab handle is then srewed into this strip either side of the companionway.

They have gone a bit soft around the screws so need replaceing.

I know this may be sacrilege but is there any non Wood low maintainance material that i could use. I am thinking of some form of workable plastic that can be shaped cut and drilled like wood

Why not drill out the holes with, say a 12mm drill and plug. That could get rid of the soft spot and provide sound wood to put the screws back in.