[Public-List] Hatch hinges

[Glenn Brooks via Public-List]

Jonathan,

I went through this on Dolce last summer. My old cockpit plywood hatches finally fell apart for the third time and I replaced them with new teak hatches.  On close inspection I found the rear of the hatches was curved, as was the hatch combing.  somehow Whidby found a way to mount the piano hinges on the camber of the hatch coming and get the hatch to close. Of course over time, the stresses on the forward edge of the piano hinge cause the screws to pull out, and lessen the secure nature of the hinge.

I ended up basically straightening the rear of the new wood hatch and building out the the rear hatch of the fiberglass hatch about 1/4" to accommodate a more straight run for the piano hinge to mount to the combing.  

The trick to screwing the piano hinges to the combing is use the correct size hinge - hinges are made in several different widths.  Then anchor one end at the correct height so that the hinge is flush with the deck. Then level the other end, mark the screw hole with a pencil and drill the other,side.  Once both ends are anchored. Go back and add screws along the length of the hinge.  It's doable, but takes care and maybe filling bad holes and re drilling...

Glenn P.
dolce 318 

Sent from my iPad

> On Apr 14, 2015, at 5:50 PM, Jonathan Adams via Public-List <public-list at lists.alberg30.org> wrote:
> 
> I have an old style boat, and have had the cockpit seat hatches attached with piano hinges for as long as I have had the boat. However, they have never fitted correctly, and this creates stress cracks and causes me to refinish the things way too much.
> My question is, how are these attached on other boats, and if you use a piano hinge, how do you get it to sit correctly. When the hinge is in place and the hatch sitting squarely the hatch is closed, and it is impossible to see where to drill the screw holes.
> I was thinking something like Perko, T Hinges, Chrome, or a short sided hinge like http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/search_subCategory.do?categoryName=Hinges&category=568&page=GRID  Any thoughts appreciated.
> Jonathan197
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