[Public-List] Teak Inlays
Stephen Gwyn
stephen.gwyn at gmail.com
Sat May 18 22:09:33 PDT 2024
Here are some pictures of my cockpit seats under construction:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/hGhxLvDAU543eiHC6
I gouged out the existing teak plywood with a dull chisel. Some was rotten,
some was be very solid. The cavity remaining was about 3/4" deep (if I
recall correctly), with 45 degree slopes around the edges.
This is one of the rare occasions where I has to buy teak as opposed to
using reclaimed teak. I planed it down a bit with a thickness planer (not
mine). If I was doing it again, I would have planed it less, and left the
wood a bit raised relative to the fiberglass, so water would drain better,
and so I could sand more.
I cut the teak in the pattern shown in the photos. 4 edge pieces with
bevels on one side, and two middle pieces. Only on piece is actually a
rectangle. I wouldn't change the basic design if I was doing it again, it's
well nigh perfect.
Measure twice and cut once they say.
I measured about 10 times before cutting, and I still made mistakes.
Measure at least 20 times, and make sure you get the angles right. I used
the lengths and a bit of trigonometry to get the angles; more accurate than
a protractor.
Two of the corners are 90 degrees. The other two are slightly larger and
slightly smaller. Something like 94 and 86 degrees. I don’t remember
exactly. Half that is 47 and 43. Although I had a very good compound
mistress saw (still not mine) I kept on dialing in 47 when meant 43 and
vice versa. So some of the long edge pieces became short edge pieces. But
if I had made one more mistake, I would have had to buy more teak. To make
the cut on the long angled piece was left slightly overlong, screwed at the
ends to a throwaway board at just the right angle, and then run the table
saw. Then it was cut to length, cutting off the screw holes.
Other than the mistakes, I'm mostly pretty happy with the design. But I cut
with the idea that the gaps bewitched the boards would be 3/16". If I was
doing it again, I'd do it with 3/8" gaps. First because the one or two
1/16" mistakes I made wouldn't show as much, second because getting the
epoxy into the gaps would have been easier.
Speaking of epoxy... I used West System Gflex, tinted black using West
System black pigment. I taped off the edges first. Then I coated the inside
of the depression in the fiberglass. I carefully placed the boards and
squished them in to the goo. Epoxy doesn't need clamping to be strong, so
just left them there overnight.
The next day I mixed up more Gflex and and pigment, and filled in the gaps.
This was a bit tiresome; I used a syringe. Bigger gaps would make this much
easier, and resulted in fewer bubbles.
When it was done, I removed the tape and cleaned up a few mistakes with
acetone.
When all was thoroughly set, I sanded everything level. Teak is hard! I
used a belt sander to start, then moved down to a palm sander, then sanded
the last few scratch marks out by hand.
I did the initial removal of the teak on the boat, because that kept the
lids in place. But it was January, so I did the epoxying stage inside. I
worked on the living room coffee table as you can see in the pictures. I
left sheets of plywood over the locker openings.
I hope that helps. Overall, I'm medium satisfied with the result after 6
years. But, I could do a better job if I was doing it again.
SG
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