Homemade Teak Cockpit Table

Mark Corke has once again turned out a great boat project;  a beautiful looking cockpit table.

I've tried a cockpit table in my cockpit, and ended up using hinges and support legs. I eventually removed it. Mark has a unique way of doing this and the pictures on his blog site say it all. Hop on over to his blog site to check the whole project out

He says this about the table.

 " I think that the pictures are fairly self explanatory but what I like about this table / cup holder is it's simplicity; no fancy hardware and nothing to break. As you will see it is all made from teak and teak plywood and consists of a drinks holder securely clamped to the crash bar ahead of the compass binnacle. When out cruising this offers a great place to hold mugs and cans without fear of spillage and yet within easy reach of the helmsman and crew in the cockpit. But what really sets it apart is when you get into port and you need to set up the table for alfresco dining. The table is simply lifted off it's stainless hooks and pulled away from it's clips keeping it neatly in position and slid into the horizontal, no metalwork, flaps, hinges or other impediments to adjust or break off for that matter. "

Shroud Anti Chafe Cover End Caps

 In deciding to make my own shroud anti chafe covers, I came up with an idea for the end caps. These are usually split so they can be applied to the end caps of the tube and sit firmly against the wire rigging. The tube, (in my case I am using 32mm pressure PVC pipe), is slid over the shroud (the shroud has to be undone from the turnbuckle). Then, once the shroud is re-tensioned, the end caps are applied and secured in place with a small screw to each side.
I made mine from a hard wood called Rimu. The caps have a 10mm hole in the center to match my wire rigging.
 The problem with making end caps and then splitting them, is that if using a saw, the dimension for the end cap to fit in the pipe is changed by the thickness of the saw. Also it can be very difficult to get a straight cut down the center of a small round piece of "dowel".
Here's how I over came that problem. First I glued two pieces of wood together using a "light" type of PVA glue WITH a piece of paper between the two pieces of wood. This was set up over night with the two pieces under pressure in a press. You could try a heavy weight; I'm sure that would also work.
The ends of the wood were sawn square and on a drill press, the 10mm hole was drilled down the center.
A piece of dowel was tapered slightly and driven down into the 10mm hole at one end. This was cut and sanded square with the end surface, and a center bit was used to place a start "dimple" into the dowel.
Then the spindle that supports the wood was driven into the end, using the center of the dowel to help in the location.

This was then placed in the lathe and a running center applied to the outboard end. You can see in the picture to the right, how the two halves are glued together, with the paper between.

These were then turned down to the required size and shape. On mine, I placed 40mm of length, to go inside the pipe, and a mushroom type of head for the outside.
On the picture to the left, you can see in my left hand, a preformed gauge to give me the required dimension.

Finally, you can see the finished products to the right, in both a 32mm and a 50mm pipe, and one sitting outside the pipe, in it's two halves.
How did I get it into the two halves?
Once finished turning and finale sanding, take the  cap and place it on it's end. Then get a wide and sharp chisel. Place this at the interface of the two pieces of wood, right on the edge of the paper. Usually, supporting the wooden cap and chisel with one hand, and giving the chisel a knock with the other hand was enough to split the two halves along where the paper is glued. Some times I had to use a wooden mallet and give a little more of a knock.
Then when separated, sand the paper off on a belt sander.
These wooden end caps will have a couple of coats of epoxy "applied and dried" to them, before fitting. This will give the wood some protection from the elements and give a longer life. If you find one of your ends caps is a little smaller in the fit to the pipe than you would like, you could probably take up some of the extra slack with another coat of epoxy.
I'm using 32mm for the shroud anti chafe and the bigger 50mm for a back stay HF antenna stand off project still to be completed. The final of these two projects will be published in a later blog.

I would like to thank Paul Gooch for his expert knowledge and use of his equipment in the making of these wooden caps.

Finished Teak Grate

Marke Corke has finished his teak grate and I wrote about his cutting jig here.

Hop on over to Marke Corke's site to read about his write up of this wonderful wood working project. Plenty of details are there, along with lots of photo's.

Low Cost Jigs

Over at Dock Six Chronicles, Brian has an excellent article on a jig he made to do some scarfing.

He puts together an excellent explanation with photo's and then follows that up with an explanation of a jig to drill perfect holes to line up for a pin rail.
Hop on over to his blog site to read his "how to" on the jigs.

Teak Grate Cutting Jig

Mark Corke has a teak grate project in hand and shows us how to get perfectly spaced rebates on his teak project. Mark explains first of all, how he came to be making a teak grate. You can read his initial blog here, but essentially he says...." The alterations also meant that I had to install a couple of water tight hatches in the cockpit sole and although they seem robust enough I am a little nervous about walking on them. I don't think that they would break but somehow the cockpit just does not look finished. So I have spent a long time agonizing over what I should do and I have decided to go down the route of the classic teak grating. .....".

Mark, in part two goes on to explain.....

As you can see I made a jig from a couple of sections of scrap three quarters inch plywood into which is cut a slot exactly the same width as the notch that I required in the grating

Off set to one side is another section of wood glued and pinned in position which slots onto the groove already cut and thus giving the current spacing.

To prevent break out, it is essential to back up the cut on both sides. One side is supported by a back fence screwed and glued to the template and the front is supported by another scrap of wood which is simply held in place as the strip is cut. Finger pressure is sufficient but obviously keep your hands away from the cutter. In this shot, I am holding the bearing cutter to illustrate how the whole system works. Of course normally the cutter would be held in an inverted router on a table.
Use a sharp carbide tipped cutter; teak is very abrasive and will dull a HSS cutter in no time at all.

Starboard as an Alternative to Wood

Over at Capt'n Pauley's Boat Yard, he's written about the advantages of using starboard. here's what he had to say.....

Are you tired of refinishing the wood aboard your boat? Has a wooden part aboard your boat rotted and needs replacement. Do you want durable and easy to clean surfaces aboard your boat? Something you can just wash down with a hose and not worry about drying?
 
Well, if your answer to any of the above questions is YES, you may want to hear more about a material called StarBoard (R). Starboard is a sheet polymer material especially compounded for use aboard boats. It has several features to eliminate the problems mentioned above. It’s waterproof; the same color all the way through and doesn’t deteriorate in the presence of UV rays.

King Plastic Corporation, of Northport, Florida, manufactures StarBoard (R). The material comes in a wide range of type, sizes and colors. Most boating supply stores either carry it or can order it for you. Some plywood dealers and lumberyards that deal with the marine trade also carry it. I’ll discuss the kinds of StarBoard (R) available, the sizes and colors, and then talk about some of the techniques you can use to work with Starboard(R).

Kinds of StarBoard (R) Available
If you have looked at this material in a boating store, you probably have seen only one, or at most, two types of the sheet polymer. In fact, King manufactures four different types at last count.

StarBoard (R)
This is the original material first offered to boaters. It is available in sizes ranging from 12” x 27” up to 24” x 27” at most boating stores. You can special order additional sizes up to a maximum of 54” x 96”. Thicknesses range from 1/4”, 1/2”, 3/4”, 1” and 1-1/2” (this size only available in 48” x 96” sheets).

There are a limited number of colors available, namely sanshade (sand tone), light gray, seafoam, dolphin gray, white and black.

StarBoard (R) XL
StarBoard (R) XL is a cellular form of StarBoard (R). Being cellular in form it is about 33% lighter than regular StarBoard (R). StarBoard (R) XL is usually only available in full sheets which, for this material, is 60” x 90”. XL is available in 1/4”, 3/8”, 1/2” and 3/4” thicknesses.

Starlite (R) XL
Starlite (R) XL is a material specifically designed to replace the plywood backing typically used in cushions. The material is lightweight and easy to staple to. The material holds staples very well and can be easily formed into curves for curved cushions. Full 60” x 90” sheets are available in 1/3”, 3/8”, 1/2” and 3/4” thicknesses.

StarBoard (R) AS
AS is designed for use on decks and ladder rungs. The surface has a special dimpled anti-skid surface. Standard sheet size is 54” x 96” and available thicknesses are 1/2”, 3/4” and 1”

Material Properties
As noted before, StarBoard(R) is a homogenous sheet of polymer material. As such, it doesn’t rot, delaminate or swell when subjected to rain, spray or saltwater. The polymer is treated with stabilizers to protect it from UV damage and it will retain its color indefinitely. Cleaning is simple with a scrub brush or ScotchBrite pad and scouring powder. For tougher stains use bleach and water.

StarBoard(R) is made from FDA and USDA approved materials. This means its fine for things like cutting boards, galley countertops or fish scaling tables.

One characteristic to be aware of is that StarBoard(R) is not a structural material. That is, you will need to reinforce or support large flat areas of the material. You could use wood cleats underneath, but why introduce the thing you are trying to replace – the wood? When I need to reinforce a piece of StarBoard(R), I use a piece of extruded aluminum, angle or tubing, or a narrow piece of StarBoard(R) set on edge.

Using StarBoard (R)
One of the greatest advantages of StarBoard(R) is the ease of fabrication. Common woodworking tools can be used. Table saws, routers, saber saws and drills are all acceptable tools. Use carbide toothed tools for finer finishes. Table saw blades should have 50 to 75 carbide teeth for the best edge.

Routers also work very well on StarBoard(R). Use two or four flute carbide bits to allow chips to clear the cutting surface. Specially shaped router bits can be used to produce a decorative edge cut a rabbet or route a piece to a specific pattern. A technique I often use is to clamp a straight edge along the cut line. A router bit with a ball bearing follower on the end then follows the straight edge giving a smooth, straight edge. I find it quicker and easier to rough-cut the piece to size and then use this technique to finish the cut instead of setting up the table saw.

Most normal adhesives do not stick to StarBoard(R). There is an adhesive available, but it is extremely expensive and requires a special applicator. Plan on joining your StarBoard(R) projects together with stainless steel fasteners. Self-tapping screws hold very well in StarBoard(R).

Make it or buy it
If you choose not to make your own StarBoard (R) project, all is not lost. A wide range of fittings and accessories are available in StarBoard (R). In fact, almost any accessory available in teak is also available in StarBoard (R). Check the hardware and accessory isle at your local boating store.

Now for some examples of projects I have done in StarBoard (R):

I needed a convenient place to store spare lines on one of my boats. I attached a StarBoard(R) grab rail to the underside of the cockpit locker. The lines are hooked to the grab rail with short Velcro straps. With the lid closed, they lines hang down in the locker. With the lid raised, the lines lay back against the lid, allowing access to the locker contents.

I used StarBoard(R) for a propane locker aboard my daughter’s boat. There was no convenient place to install a commercially available locker, plus the lockers were expensive. So I built one of 1/2” thick StarBoard(R). I used 1” aluminum angles in the corners and bolted it together with stainless steel flat head machine screws and lock nuts. 3M5200 was applied to the aluminum angles before bolting in place, providing a gas-tight locker. A lid with rounded corners and teak fiddles looked great and provided a flat space at a useful height.

I have open cockpit recesses for things like winch handles and such. These openings have teak frames that I will soon be replacing with StarBoard(R). The mount for my electric bilge pump is made from StarBoard(R). It doesn’t mind being in bilge water at times.

These are but a few of the possibilities for using StarBoard(R) on or in your boat. As always, use the Internet to find more information and other uses. Visit the King Plastics site at www.kingStarBoard.com for full specs, suppliers and articles covering other StarBoard(R) projects.

How To Remove Wood Bungs to Expose Screws

Windsong shows us how to remove wood bungs to access the screws. Here is his method...
As can be seen, the bungs aren’t exactly easy to locate.  Sometimes you really have to look close with good lighting to find them all.  Before you try to remove any piece of wood, triple check that you have located all of the bungs.  If you try to pull off a piece and a screw remains, you have a good chance of damaging the wood.  Ask me how I know

Once you have located the bungs, you need to assemble your tools:

•  An impact driver with the correct bit (flat head for my screws)
•  A drill with a 1/4″ forstner bit
• Hammer
• Cheap 1/4″ chisel

By cheap chisel, I refer to the kind you can get from Home Depot in a 5 pack for about $15. I am not referring to a fine woodworking chisel. Some woodworking tool enthusiasts see my use of chisels as an improvisational tool and nearly choke on their drink at the misuse of the tool. These people need to chill out a little bit and realize that the chisels I use are very cheap, sturdy, and can take abuse. Save the fine woodworking chisels for their purpose, but don’t be afraid to abuse the cheap ones for whatever you can come up with.

 The first step is to drill out the bung in the center using the forstner bit.  Use a forstner bit that is smaller than the bung size, in my case a 1/4″ bit.  Apply enough pressure and drill until you reach the screw hidden beneath the bung.  Do not drill too hard into the screw or you can tear up the head.

 Grab your chisel and insert it into the small hole you made.  Work the tip of the chisel around in the hole, applying pressure and spinning it around.  The goal is to expose the screw head and slot like so:

Most of the time the screw slot will be filled with glue or wood from the bung, and the chisel is required to clear the screw slot.  Usually you can do this with a little effort by hand, but a tough one will require you to hammer the chisel into the slot to clear the junk.
This brings up a point about these slotted screws.  Before I developed this system, I began to seriously loathe slot headed screws and cursed the boat maker for using them to hold on everything.  The slots are so easy to slip out of (until I found the joy of the impact driver), and easy to strip the slot of its edge.  I figured anything other than a slot headed screw would be preferred.
However, the genius of the slot headed screws is that if you strip the head, you can still use it with some working of the chisel and hammer.  Insert the chisel into the slot and hammer away on it, using both sides of the chisel to create a deep enough groove for the driver bit to latch onto.  If these were phillips or other type of screw heads, you would strip the head and be completely screwed (lol) and would have to resort to more difficult methods of removing the screw.  The slotted screws have enough un-cut space on the head to give you room to re-bore the screw slot and give it a new edge.   While some screws took a bit of effort with the chisel and hammer, re-stripping the screw, chisel and hammer, repeat….they all eventually came out.  Just keep at it and it will work.

Continuing on….depending on the bung and how it was glued in, you may be able to skip the next steps and just use your chisel.  Some bungs that are not solidly glued in will come out with a little bit of effort on the chisel.  With the chisel inside your pilot hole, you might be able to wedge it underneath the bung and carefully pry it out.  Sometimes you might even be able to break up the bung with the chisel in the pilot hole and easily remove it.  However, most of my bungs were glued in and wouldn’t come apart easily so if that is your case, continue on with the next steps.
With the screw head exposed, there should be enough room to insert your driver into the screw slot and slowly, CAREFULLY, back the screw out.  I always test to see if the screw will back out easily turning by hand using either the chisel or another small screwdriver.  Sometimes it will back out, but most of the time it requires the impact driver and all the power behind it. As the screw backs out it will push the bung out with it and if all goes right, create a clean hole.

 With clean holes, you will be able to refinish the wood or whatever need to do and insert new bungs when re-installed.

However, among the thousands of bungs I removed on Windsong, only about 5% would come out easily with this method.  Most of the bungs were glued in solidly and would generally crack and crumble when the screw is trying to pull them out.  Not only that, but if the screw really bites on the bung and pulls it out while solidly glued, it might crack and damage the surrounding wood as it is forced out.  I ruined many a good bung hole (HA!) using this method.
When the bung cracks under this method, a mess is left behind that needs to be cleared out by the chisel.  I find that using the forstner bit to make a large pilot hole for the chisel before anything else is far more efficient and safe for the wood.  As mentioned previously, sometimes all you need is the forstner bit hole and chisel to remove the bung.  If you need more help, at least you are left with a flush pilot hole instead of a chopped up mess.  Through much trial and error, I came to appreciate the method I outlined above.
However, no method is 100% fool-proof.  You will strip many screw heads, and if you do, follow the advice I gave above on slotted screws.  Sometimes no method seems to work well, and you end up just chiseling away at the wood and damage the surrounding area, or you just accidentally ruin the flush hole.  Fear not, as long as it isn’t serious and large damage, you can just drill out a larger bung hole later on.  For example, on all of the bungs I screwed up I plan on drilling out 1/2″ holes to re-plug.

Heap Big Job Mate! A new cockpit floor with Beckson Hatches

 
The original sole looking aft at left

.

A big job replacing the cockpit sole with Beckson hatches  for access. Mark Corke explains how...

When I built Mallard my gaff rigged cutter I was never quite sure how to finish off the sole of the cockpit. On the one hand the cockpit needed to be water tight but on the other hand I also needed to have access for essential maintenance to the stuffing box and primary fuel filter. The other problem was that the cockpit sole was very close to the water line so rigging up the drains so that they would be self draining also became something of a headache, on a larger boat with more free-board the sole is higher and the water can run through drains and exit the boat above the waterline. This was not possible on Mallard so in the end I connected both drains to an inch and quarter sea cock in the bottom of the boat. This worked well enough but it meant that the sea cock had to remain open even when I was not on the boat and this made me nervous not least because if the clamps let go or the sea cock failed water would flood in and the boat would sink. I thought about the problem for several years not quite sure what to do. Finally I came up with the solution that you see in the following pictures, the old sole was completely removed and a now marine plywood sole installed. Two Beckson watertight hatches were fitted to allow continued access to the area under the cockpit and the drains were routed to a self contained sump pump which keeps the cockpit dry and means that the large sea cock can be dispensed with allow me to sleep easier at night.

 Of course every boat will be different and if the hatches are installed in a cored fiberglass deck then I would recommend scooping out some of the core after the cut out has been made and filling with a thicken epoxy to prevent water from migrating into the core material.

 One final point and that is to carefully think through the install before you go cutting into anything; will the hatch interfere with anything above and below decks, will it weaken the boat and do I have the necessary skill set and tools to enable me to complete the installation in professional manner.

Here's how I went about it in words and pictures.

 

Step one was to remove the old drains, which were big, mostly because they incorporate a non return ball valve to prevent water from sloshing back up into the cockpit.

 

The next step was probably the most time consuming of the whole project for me, it was certainly the messiest. Using a Fein multimaster I cut out the existing sole but left the bearers in place as I would need these later to support the new sole.

 

Once the old sole was out of the way I was able to accurately measure for the new half inch marine plywood that would make up the new section. I then cut this out with a circular saw with a fine tooth blade but I could have used a jigsaw. To allow a little room for the epoxy and also to make sure that the ply would not get jammed in I allowed an eighth of an inch clearance all the way around.

 

 

After cutting out the ply to the correct overall dimensions the cut outs for the hatches were marked and then cut out with a jig saw. Like the overall size of the play I made the cut outs and eighth oversize to allow for a little movement.

 

I then bored for the new drains which was much easier to do off the boat. I used a drill press which gave a perfect hole but a hand held drill would have been almost as good had the machine not been available.

 

I used a brass plumbing fitting from my local home store which has a screw on one end and a barb on the other which is perfect for three quarter inch inside diameter hose. With the holes drilled I had a dry run before permanently gluing them in position.

 

Mixing up some epoxy thickened with colloidal silica and wood flour to a mayonnaise consistency I used mahogany dust which gives it the brown color.

 

I then spread a goodly amount onto the screw threads and the inside of the hole and screw the fitting down into position, notice the squeeze out which is ideal. I then left the epoxy to set overnight.

 

With the epoxy set I used an 80 grit disc on the random orbit sander to sand the brass fitting which was slightly proud of the plywood flush. It is important to keep the sander moving for if the brass gets too hot it will soften the epoxy and could weaken the bond.

 

There are two things to do before the the sole can finally be permanently glued in place; drill and countersink holes for the fixing screws and coat both sides of the sole with unthickend epoxy to seal out any moisture.

 

The sole is then ready to be installed and I glued it in place with epoxy thickened to the consistency of peanut butter with colloidal silica which makes a very strong bond once set.

 

With the epoxy still wet the sole is screwed in place. In truth the epoxy is plenty up to the task without using any screws but the screws hold the sole in place whilst the epoxy sets up and don't do any harm if left in position. I used brass screws but if they were in an area that were to be subjected to a lot of sea water than I would have used bronze.

 

With the sole screwed in place I used some more thickened epoxy to fill over the top of the screws and form a fillet (pronounced fill-it) in the corner to provide a smooth transition from the cockpit side to the sole. A maxed out credit card with the corner trimmed to a large radius makes the perfect tool.

 

When the epoxy has set after a day or two the whole sole and fillets were lightly sanded and the paint applied to match the existing surrounding paint. I have found that the best paint over epoxy seems to be the Interlux Epoxy Prime Kote which is then followed up with the colored top coats.

 

With the paint dry the next and final stage of the job can start. The hatches are dropped back into position and the holes for the mounting bolts made. I used an automatic center drill to create a pilot hole. When all these have been completed I removed the hatch once more and set it aside.

 

On the underside of the hatch in hard to read writing is stamped 'use a 12 mm diameter drill'. This is to allow the hatch to move during temperature extremes. It may be tempting to simply fix the hatch in place with some suitable wood screws but it you do there is a good chance that the plastic around the mounting holes will crack as the hatch expands and contracts at different rates to the ply substrate.

 

Using the pilot holes as a guide I drilled the holes to the specified 12 mm with an auger drill.

 

The hatch is ready to be installed but before squirting on the silicone I taped some blue painters tape all around the opening where I knew it would project under the hatch flange. With the hatch dropped back in place a razor blade is run around the perimeter tracing the outline and cutting through the tape.

The hatch is once more removed and the tape on the inside of the cut is peeled off.

 

Some silicone sealant is applied around the entire perimeter.

 

The hatch is then bolted into position with 10-24 stainless steel flat head machine screws, backed up on the underside with fender washers and nuts which are also stainless.

 

Then the perimeter tape is peeled up pulling any squeeze out with it leaving a nice clean and tidy job with no need of any rags or chemical solvents.

 

The finished job all ready for another season. A teak floor grating will be installed in due course.

Cover the ugly Electric Winch

 We had a new electric winch installed as we moved to a roller furling boom. The electric winch was the same size as the old two speed, but the electrics protruded through the aft bedroom ceiling. Also, we had a ceiling light at the same location as to where the electric motor protruded through. My only choice was to make an enclosure for the electric motor and I took the time to also add a new low profile light to the cover box.

The cover box was made from Rimu, and while not matching the Cherry wood interior was close. We will have a Cherry wood one made when we can easily source the wood. You will note the angle at one of the corners on the cover box. This was placed on the cover to allow the door to the head, to swing from it's usual locked open position to the closed position. You can just see the opening door surround, to the left of the cover box. The light was placed and some strips of wood secured to the ceiling to give the cover something to screw to. For my wife and I, it is not a head banger and is no lower than the tops of the door openings. The Electric winch is a joy!