Hey thanks guys for the suggestions. Some good tips. Most of the ideas suggested have been playing in my mind. To be bluntly honest, my
boat is not worth fitting out in
teak so I've gone with Meranti ("Phillipine Mahogany") for the ply and minor trimmings and a whiter
wood (Tasmanian Oak) for the rails. The ply is only 9mm thick because that was what was used for the original shelving and I want to keep weight to a minimum.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ayates
I used marine mahogany plywood edged in mahogany; glued with epoxy. Overlay, vs inset. Standard hidden hinges and Southco stainless steel latches. These are fairly quick to make, look quite classy, and the overlay aspect gives some fudge room. The joint between the edging and the plywood uses biscuits for alignment (and strength).
Allan.
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That looks fantastic and is in the same style as the rest of my boat's joinery, sans the contrasting colour. This style was my first preference because it is relatively easy to fabricate (I have a reasonable collection of
wood working tools including a table saw). Two things that have dissuaded me a little is that; Firstly, I want to use the cutout as the door itself if I can so this means that slightly less than the width of the trimming would be the "overlap". Do you think this would
work? Secondly I'm having a difficult time finding suitable hinges that don't cost an arm and a leg.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ayates
Here are a couple of "under construction" photos.
Allan.
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Very nice. I guess the other thing that scares me is trimming the edging. I live in fear of scalloping the surface of the ply if the router accidentally tilts while being guided along the thin edge. What was your experience with this?
Quote:
Originally Posted by capt jgw
"Neatly cutting" the holes would be way harder than you think. I wouldn't consider even trying it. (But then I know the limits of my craftsmanship). You need some kind of trim to cover the edges.
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I did some practice on some ply last weekend and determined that using a multi-tool to plunge cut followed by hand cutting with a Japanese pull saw using angle iron as a straight edge produces some impressive results. However, One slip - especially during the plunge cutting phase - could be deal breaking so a plan B would definitely be needed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by FionaJC
I cut the hole in the panel. I then framed the hole with hardwood L shaped. I used a mitre saw and trimmed till it fitted. I then glued in the frame to the hole.
I then made another frame with a small gap to fit inside the framed hole, glued it and cut the removed panel to fit.
The knobs are the push in to lock and push again to unlock. Iused a polyurethane glue as its easty to trip with a chisel edge and it fills gaps.
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Good suggestions. What you have there is what I considered a plan B. My concern with the amount of trim, the smallness of the doors and the adjacent rails has me concerned the finished effect may be too "fussy" looking.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Banks
Mark your opening on the plywood and cut it out neatly using a clean-cut thin blade in your jig-saw.
Take the piece you have removed, and lay it on a sheet of plywood. Using a ruler and square, mark a rectangle so that it is about one centimetre, or half to three quarters of an inch, larger than the piece you removed on three sides only. The flush side will carry the marine grade stainless steel or tuffnel hinges. On the inside of the plywood where the hinges and catches are to be fitted, you will need to glue and clamp a piece of rot-resistant timber to carry the hinges and catch.
For such purposes I often buy mahogany garden stakes--they are cheap as chips and make great small pieces when sized and shaped. I have used them to make frames of cupboards and lockers--they take glue reasonably well and they accept screws without splitting if one drills them correctly.
Glue the cover piece to the part removed, at least around the perimeter, using epoxy glue or polyurethane glue. Dress and sand any edges. One door--in about forty minutes or less.
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Good
advice. Although, I like Meranti as it has a lot of good properties, but it's ply is really susceptible to break away at the cut edge on the top face when cut with a jigsaw, so I try and avoid it.
For info, here's a couple of photos of the job. It's far from finished but illustrates the actual
project. One side shows the rails, and the other has the fascias sitting in location. The finished job will be a combination of both.