Any woodworkers about?

[john6206]

The only reason I could think of to cut it that way, or to glue that in, is to create a kind of “break,” so of you are sliding your hatch forward, you won’t smash it into the mast.

There is no way to know if there was a similar wedge on the other side, because the forward end of the other guide is missing.

 

[john6206]

Thank you everyone - It's gonna be awhile until I get time to do this, I'm hoping to be done before October 1st - but work has been crazy. I made two blanks out of cedar yesterday, I'm going to start milling them - hopefully next weekend.

I've decided that to do this right, I need to make both sides out of cedar, and then install them - maybe even launch the boat and go sailing with the cedar slides in place, at least open and close the hatch a bunch to check for fit.

I don't think the actual milling will be too difficult - I may invest in a new router table, I've been able to do some good things with my crappy $20, 30 year old sears router table - but this might be a good excuse to buy a nicer one.

 

[mermike]

I did the exact thing on my C-22. There was both camber and curve, but the slot had to be straight.

I measured the camber with a bevel tool. Spiled the curve (look it up) on a straight piece of lumber then transferred the curve to the workpiece. Cut it out on a band saw with the table set to match the camber. Then routed the slot using the top (staight) edge as the guide. I might have some pictures around somewhere. I went through a bunch of scrap wood until I was ready to try it on the teak. I recall routing the slot on the wrong side of the teak and said a few bad words.

Edit: I glued a strip of HDPE into the bottom of the slot for the hatch to ride on because, as dj notes, things don't slide well on teak.

 

[john6206]

My prototypes (in cedar) are pretty good. Installation went pretty smoothly, hatch slides well.

There are a couple things I’m planning to tweak, but I think I’m going right to the teak instead of making a second set of prototypes.

 

[Daveinet]

Cut and sand a piece of masonite to the exact curve you need. Sand it to shape using a drum sander. Once you get the curve perfect, use double face tape and tape the masonite to your teak. Cut the slot with your router, running the bearing against the masonite. Cut a piece of scrap board so you have a mirror image of your curve. Sandwich the board with the curve, your teak and clamp it to a table edge. Then use your router to cut the other edge. I would leave the top flat. Sure you could cut the curve, but because it is a thin piece, you might be better off just leaving.

 

[john6206]

That doesn’t make sense to me.
Sand Masonite to shape with a drum sander?

Are you holding the Masonite perpendicular to the deck? Sanding the edge?
then you are using the Masonite as a pattern . . .

 

[Daveinet]

Yes, using the masonite as a pattern. Sanding the edge to get the shape right. We use this method for my kitchen cabinets. The only difference is we printed the shape out from CAD and then glued the print out to the masonite. Then we would do a rough cut with the band saw and then sand it to the line. In this case, you are just winging it for the curve - sand it, check it, sand some more.
If you want to scribe a line to match the curve, you can use this method:

Then just sand to your line. This will get you there a little quicker.

One more thought, since the Teak is a pretty small piece, you can attache a board to the edge with double face tape, so you have a little more meat to stick the masonite pattern to.