Retired from newspapers and television, currently sailing Thelonious II, a 1984 Ericson 381.
The teak surround of the cockpit coaming locker is a simple yet confounding piece of trim. For three years mine defied improvement by sanding, gluing, bleaching and oiling. It was built of teak scraps in the Ericson woodshop, no doubt on a jig--a jig I didn't feel like making for one job. The fact was that the coaming locker trim was shot. Its grain was exposed from 30 years of sun and sandpaper. It was paper thin at the ends. One screw hole had broken off.
A simple replacement is plastic trim from Catalina Direct, which probably would fit my boat. The dimensions match--16 1/2 x 4 1/2 . Why that is a standard size I can only guess. Maybe various manufacturers used the same stock coaming pocket. I don't much like plastic for this application, so I was faced with making my own.
Teak is expensive these days, but there was an old hatchboard to sacrifice. I traced the existing trim surround and cut the plug out with a jig saw. Jig saws make excellent freehand cuts, with patience. Narrow blade for the radius, standard blade for the running part. Easy enough.
The inner ring was cut the same way. Only a little touch-up with sandpaper was required to have a pretty acceptable rough piece in hand.
The challenge is the rabbet, which has to match the original. I figured to make it freehand, with my hand-held router--even though I have screwed up many a similar job in the past. I don't t have a router table. A straight guide wasn't much help, and the reverse jig I tried to build just didn't want to work.
The issue for freehand is mounting the work piece. The required clamps interfere with the router housing, meaning many clamp resets. Routers throw sawdust into your eyeballs, so it's hard to follow your line. They also require multiple passes, so as not to blow up the work (I did three graduated depths). Close attention is required or the piece is ruined.
If doing this again I would make the rabbet before cutting out the center, in order to have more surface for the router to ride on.
The finished job wasn't pretty, but this surface is hidden and doesn't have to be neat.
Two screws only hold it in place, rather than the eight screws the factory used. That's a convenience for removing the piece for oiling, or when boat-waxers attack.
The job came out fine, and is much more robust than the original. But it took a week to make the thing, and at times the outcome was in doubt. There must be a better way.
Note: That's a piece of kitchen placemat inside the pocket, for cosmetics and easy cleaning. The pocket insert itself is plastic, which cracks as a result of UV and makes mysterious leaks from rain or hose. I covered the underside of the pocket with fiberglass cloth last year to close the cracks and stop the disintegration.
A simple replacement is plastic trim from Catalina Direct, which probably would fit my boat. The dimensions match--16 1/2 x 4 1/2 . Why that is a standard size I can only guess. Maybe various manufacturers used the same stock coaming pocket. I don't much like plastic for this application, so I was faced with making my own.
Teak is expensive these days, but there was an old hatchboard to sacrifice. I traced the existing trim surround and cut the plug out with a jig saw. Jig saws make excellent freehand cuts, with patience. Narrow blade for the radius, standard blade for the running part. Easy enough.
The inner ring was cut the same way. Only a little touch-up with sandpaper was required to have a pretty acceptable rough piece in hand.
The challenge is the rabbet, which has to match the original. I figured to make it freehand, with my hand-held router--even though I have screwed up many a similar job in the past. I don't t have a router table. A straight guide wasn't much help, and the reverse jig I tried to build just didn't want to work.
The issue for freehand is mounting the work piece. The required clamps interfere with the router housing, meaning many clamp resets. Routers throw sawdust into your eyeballs, so it's hard to follow your line. They also require multiple passes, so as not to blow up the work (I did three graduated depths). Close attention is required or the piece is ruined.
If doing this again I would make the rabbet before cutting out the center, in order to have more surface for the router to ride on.
The finished job wasn't pretty, but this surface is hidden and doesn't have to be neat.
Two screws only hold it in place, rather than the eight screws the factory used. That's a convenience for removing the piece for oiling, or when boat-waxers attack.
The job came out fine, and is much more robust than the original. But it took a week to make the thing, and at times the outcome was in doubt. There must be a better way.
Note: That's a piece of kitchen placemat inside the pocket, for cosmetics and easy cleaning. The pocket insert itself is plastic, which cracks as a result of UV and makes mysterious leaks from rain or hose. I covered the underside of the pocket with fiberglass cloth last year to close the cracks and stop the disintegration.
