Requesting pictures of v berth "keystone" cushion.

[jradasaurus]

Hello! Long time lurker but first post on the forum!

I was wondering if someone could help me out. I am in the process of making new cushions for my 1990 Catalina 30. I have one last cushion to make. It is the removable "keystone" cushion which sits between the two larger cushions in the V berth. This cushion on my C30 is unique in that it's stapled to the plywood.

Can someone post pictures of the bottom and sides of their keystone cushion- if it's build around a wood base? I cannot remember how the stitching or stapling looked. I failed to take pictures before ripping my old cushions apart. I am having troubling finding pictures online.

Pictures provided

[Spindrift NH]

That's an upholstered piece. Place it top down on a piece of foam and trace it. Next trace the same piece onto a piece of fabric leaving seam allowance, we use 3/8" but you could do 1/2". Next measure the perimeter and cut boxing 2" longer than the perimeter. The boxing should be tall enough for seam allowance, foam thickness and then add 1 1/2" inches to give you fabric to pull it and staple.

[jradasaurus]

Thank you! My problem is that I cannot remember if the original piece had underlining material. I dont like the look of the exposed plywood. I think I will add a layer of underlining, stapled directly to the plywood. I'll wrap the boxing on top of the underlining and staple as well.

[Spindrift NH]

I see. Typically you would staple the boxing down first then add your bottom material over, that will hide some of the wrinkles you'll get when gathering the boxing around the corners. Most upholstery shops will also staple hidem along the edge of the underlying material. Hidem is a trim piece used to hide the staples.
The picture below shows how I do the bottom of an upholstered piece, in this case there is only boxing and hidem, the cushion is done on starboard

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, jradasaurus.

[Brewgyver]

I have a much older Catalina 30, but the keystone cushion is NOT attached to the drop-in board beneath it. You may want to consider completely finishing the cushion, leaving the board (made from MDF) separate. Makes a nice table surface for breakfast in bed!

[ramblinrod]

Originally Posted by Spindrift NH

That's an upholstered piece. Place it top down on a piece of foam and trace it. Next trace the same piece onto a piece of fabric leaving seam allowance, we use 3/8" but you could do 1/2". Next measure the perimeter and cut boxing 2" longer than the perimeter. The boxing should be tall enough for seam allowance, foam thickness and then add 1 1/2" inches to give you fabric to pull it and staple.

On our Douglas 32, the centre V-berth cushion was mounted on plywood similar to yours.

When not in use, we toss the centre cushion forward near the anchor locker door, allowing room to turn around, get dressed, whatever in the V-berth.

We found it was a little heavy to toss forward every morning, and then drag back each night to set up the berth.

So when we had the V-berth cushions re-upholstered, we made the cushion separate from the plywood, having the plywood covered with the same material.

So it is now two pieces, but weight divided between, making it much easier to move around.

Additionally, the plywood piece makes a nice lap top board, when sitting on a settee.

Beware when applying staples to the centre piece. When we did this for the first re-upholstery, we did not get the SS (absolutely use SS staples) sunk in deep enough, and they marked the teak cleats the plywood sits in, when in position, and pulled the bedspread, when tossed forward or pulled back.

Common practice is to wrap the upper material around the back of the board, with significant overlap, and then cut the lower material to fit to the board edges.

[jradasaurus]

Spindrift NH, thank you for the picture. That is exactly what I needed. I did not know about the hidem gimp but when I think about my wakeboard boat cushions I realize they have the same material.

GordMay, Thanks!


Brewgyver and ramblinrod, that is a very interesting point. I do like the idea of having a hard surface which can be used for various things. I will consider this when upholstering my last cushion. My only complaint is the plywood is very unsightly, perhaps I will reconstruct using a different material such as Starboard.

[markwesti]

I never new it was called a "key stone". And to tell you the truth I still don't know why it's there . But we have one , It mocks me . Our cushions are perpendicular to the center line and we have three , plus two layers of egg crate foam . It is quite comfy . By the way nice work on the cushions .

[Brewgyver]

Jrad, have you checked out the sailrite.com site? They have a video on making a keystone. Like all their project videos, you can find it on YouTube.

[jradasaurus]

Originally Posted by Brewgyver

Jrad, have you checked out the sailrite.com site? They have a video on making a keystone. Like all their project videos, you can find it on YouTube.

Hi Brewgyver, Sailrite is an amazing resource and was my inspiration for making a new set of cushions. The problem w/ their keystone cushion video is their cushion is not mounted to the plywood or teak base. So my cushion is a little different which is why I was requesting pictures of other C30 cushions!

[jeepbluetj]

Mine (1980 C-30) was not attached at all to the board - it was just a cushion that sat on top. When I redid all the cushions I left it that way.

[jradasaurus]

Originally Posted by jeepbluetj

Mine (1980 C-30) was not attached at all to the board - it was just a cushion that sat on top. When I redid all the cushions I left it that way.

That's interesting. Is the wood piece teak or plywood? The wood support in my boat is plywood which is ugly if left exposed. I know Catalina made numerous changes throughout the production run. Maybe this was a cost cutting measure. I'm hull #5911.

[Tetepare]

I have a 1990 C30TR.

Unfortunately it is hibernating so I can't actually get to the cushion, but I know enough about it.

The fabric cover encompasses the whole thing, top and bottom. Whatever hard board for support is in there is enclosed by the outside fabric. Whether it is attached to the foam or not I do not know, I've never had need to take it apart.

I suspect that the support board is glued to the foam, otherwise they could shift around.

All of my cushions have zippers, so if yours is like that (and it should be) then whether you bond the foam to the board or not is immaterial, since if you don't like it you can unzip and try again.


Most definitely, the keystone is not raw board with fabric stapled anywhere, and no raw board exposed. As I said, the fabric encompasses the entire unit.

[jeepbluetj]

Mine is plywood (same plywood as all the other hatch covers in the boat) with a teak 'fiddle' trim on the end of it to hold the cushion. The interior was original when I bought the boat, this was how the factory did it.

Loosing that little piece of teak and upholstering the part was likely a change somewhere along the line.