Re: Glass companionway cover?

From: Eric Johnson (etj@nwlink.com)
Date: Tue Mar 14 2000 - 21:02:53 PST


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>I am ready to make a new companionway hatch for the
>boat, and I think I want to try the smoked
>glass/plexiglass/lexan idea someone mentioned. What
>is the best material for this use?

Lexan, by far. With glass you're just waiting for an accident to happen. Plexi
is ok, but tends to get internal crazing after a while. Lexan is incredible.
But it is a lot more expensive than plexi. I'd look up plastics suppliers on
the net or TAP plastics. A sheet of lexan that size and that thick might be
prohibitively expensive.

>If I
>can't use that, where do I get the same size in
>mahogany or teak plywood? (Do they make teak
>plywood?) I looked at Home Depot, but no luck.

Don't settle for less than exterior grade plywood. Don't know if teak is avaialble,
but on most boats what you think is teak is usually mahogany. Mahogany takes
varnish much better anyways. Interior grade plywood isn't made with waterproof
glues. Marine-grade is overkill for a hatch, and is simply exterior-grade with
no internal voids, which you'd want for aircraft or boat hulls.

Most large cities will have an exotic woods supplier, but sadly they often won't
have exterior grade. there's a few marine wood stores out there. If you can't
find some locally, try boatbuilding.com for sources. Shop around, you'll find
drastically different prices.

http://www.nwlink.com



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