Re: New P19 Hatch Boards

JBlumhorst@aol.com
Mon, 5 Apr 1999 20:22:19 EDT


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West Wight Potter Website at URL
http://www.lesbois.com/wwpotter/
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In a message dated 4/5/99 5:00:26 PM Pacific Daylight Time, ej@blarg.net
writes:

> I'm on my second(!) piece of mahogany ply. I got this one cut correctly
> (yeah, asymmetrically!) and i modified it a bit to better fit the goofy
> curve in the sliding hatch. I still need to finish it. On some scrap I'm
> experimenting with covering the edges and even some flat surfaces with
> Gluvit epoxy. When this epoxy finally cures hard I'll coat it with varnish
> and see how the combination is to work with. While I too detest varnishing,
> I so love the look of well-varnished wood I'm willing to keep doing it :)

Have you considered using surfboard glass cloth and surfboard resin? It's so
clear that you can barely see it over wood. The wood grain shows through
beautifully. The resin is formulated to be UV resistant and the cloths is so
silky thin it's easy to fold over curved edges. The resin is supposed to
last longer than varnish. The glass would protect the edges from chipping
and letting water into the plies. (but probably not as well as wood trim)

> also found that the bottom of my companionway wasn't entirely square with
> the sides. It was only off by a degree or so, but it was enough to make the
> hatch fit a little funny, so we tapered it on a table saw with a tapering
> jig. I'm real pleased with the fit on this new piece. I picked up some real
> nice hardware as well. The stock stuff was cheapo chrome-plated zinc or
> something similar, riveted in place. The stuff I found is cast stainless,
> much nicer and looks great.
>
> I found that using a quarter-round router bit on the inside edges of the
> hatchboards makes them fit real nicely into the fiberglass recesses.
>
Thanks for the tip on the inside edges, Eric. I'll try it.

Best,
Judy B