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Yesterday morning I decided to make a cabin door for Chuck's Skagit 20 express, to be modeled somewhat after a split-down-the-middle door we designed a few years ago for his Dorsett Farallon.
The design involves placement of a vintage brass porthole down the centerline--cut in half along with the polycarbonate glass that'll go behind the porthole frame. The door will incorporate stainless piano hinges on both sides of the doorway, with a latch in the center to keep the two halves closed...and to prevent rattling.
For me, the easiest way to make the door is in one piece; you assemble all of the pieces, then simply run the door through the tablesaw, cutting it down the centerline. (Always a nervous moment, since you're 'betting the farm' with that cut.)
We used straight-grained Honduras mahogany for the molding pieces, milled to 1" by 2." After cutting planks down to 4-foot lengths, ripping them to 2-inch widths and planing each one smooth, I set the tablesaw blade to a depth of 5/8" and with two passes cut a 1/4" dado channel in the center of each inside edge, so that we could lock the center panel of 6mm (1/4") Sapele marine-mahogany plywood in place--and create a lot of strength with simple glue joints. (No fasteners will be needed...so no worries about splitting the trim pieces with wood screws.)
Photos below show the door, unsanded but basically done by early afternoon. The only remaining steps will be to radius some of the sharp edges, then glue everything together, cut the door down the middle, cut and polish the brass porthole ring, cut the round porthole opening, and cut and fit the round 1/4" polycarbonate in two half-moons.
Chuck will do the varnish work and install the door in his Skagit, and it should resemble the earlier Farallon door (shown in the last photo below).
Obviously, if you want to make a new door for your boat, it can be in one piece, full-width, rather than split...but this approach works nicely in some applications since the door doesn't hog a lot of space in the cockpit when open.
In terms of space-saving, sliding doors are the very best...but they obviously cannot be used in all situations because some boats have passenger-side consoles or other obstacles that get in the way. You can sometimes place a slider on the inside of the cabin--we've done that on a few boats--but berths or other furniture usually interfere.
- Marty
The design involves placement of a vintage brass porthole down the centerline--cut in half along with the polycarbonate glass that'll go behind the porthole frame. The door will incorporate stainless piano hinges on both sides of the doorway, with a latch in the center to keep the two halves closed...and to prevent rattling.
For me, the easiest way to make the door is in one piece; you assemble all of the pieces, then simply run the door through the tablesaw, cutting it down the centerline. (Always a nervous moment, since you're 'betting the farm' with that cut.)
We used straight-grained Honduras mahogany for the molding pieces, milled to 1" by 2." After cutting planks down to 4-foot lengths, ripping them to 2-inch widths and planing each one smooth, I set the tablesaw blade to a depth of 5/8" and with two passes cut a 1/4" dado channel in the center of each inside edge, so that we could lock the center panel of 6mm (1/4") Sapele marine-mahogany plywood in place--and create a lot of strength with simple glue joints. (No fasteners will be needed...so no worries about splitting the trim pieces with wood screws.)
Photos below show the door, unsanded but basically done by early afternoon. The only remaining steps will be to radius some of the sharp edges, then glue everything together, cut the door down the middle, cut and polish the brass porthole ring, cut the round porthole opening, and cut and fit the round 1/4" polycarbonate in two half-moons.
Chuck will do the varnish work and install the door in his Skagit, and it should resemble the earlier Farallon door (shown in the last photo below).
Obviously, if you want to make a new door for your boat, it can be in one piece, full-width, rather than split...but this approach works nicely in some applications since the door doesn't hog a lot of space in the cockpit when open.
In terms of space-saving, sliding doors are the very best...but they obviously cannot be used in all situations because some boats have passenger-side consoles or other obstacles that get in the way. You can sometimes place a slider on the inside of the cabin--we've done that on a few boats--but berths or other furniture usually interfere.
- Marty
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