Making a saloon table - Wood experts please?

AndyL

AndyL

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www.marinechandlery.com
My boat (Cutlass 27) was stripped out inside for racing by a previous owner. I decided we need a table below as eating off your knees is not always the best thing. I made a prototype using scrap chipboard to test the feasibility of my design. It stows out of the way up on the bulkhead. It is 645 x 400mm and missing the legs for which I have Ø10mm fibreglass rods I saved from the kid's trampoline.
NDT2.jpgNDT1.jpg
I'm needing help deciding the best way to build a table top:
Iroko slats? (Can't afford teak) I would not want to use biscuit joiners so tongue and groove or dowels?
Teak faced marine ply with teak fiddles?
Plastic, i.e. hdpe? (Maybe too heavy?)
Any suggestions?
Thanks
 
Personally I'd use ply faced in your timber of choice, with solid for the fiddles/trim which will also cover the ply edges.

Cut down one corner level with the tabletop to sweep crumbs out through.

Pete
 
The is the centre ection of my cockpit table.

Its made from a sheet of 12mm ply with 45mm wide trips of iroko with 5mm gap filled with black sikaflex.

Fiddles are glued to the side of the table with a shaped conners to allow cleaning.

36046602366_270b1a9c9a_b.jpg


My washboards aare als made the same way as can be seen on the left.
 
Also there's no need for marine ply for a cabin table. Decent quality WBP will be more than sufficient. And it only needs to be teak if you want it to be - it's purely an aesthetic choice. Personally I think cherry looks nice, with several coats of varnish ending with a satin or rubbed-effect one.

Pete
 
AndyL said:
My boat (Cutlass 27) was stripped out inside for racing by a previous owner. I decided we need a table below as eating off your knees is not always the best thing. I made a prototype using scrap chipboard to test the feasibility of my design. It stows out of the way up on the bulkhead. It is 645 x 400mm and missing the legs for which I have Ø10mm fibreglass rods I saved from the kid's trampoline...…
View attachment 98303View attachment 98304
Click to expand...

Are the legs going to be stiff enough? Even if someone accidentally sits on it?
 
Its not that difficult a job. I made this table just a few months ago from 50 by 50 mm teak which I cut in half then glued together with epoxy resin & a number of large G clamps. The edge trim was cut and sanded to fit by hand before being epoxied in place. Lots of fine sanding before varnishing with Le Tonkinois. Needs another 5 or 6 coats to finish the job but that awaits the temperature going down out here along with fewer flying critters & boat-yard dirt & dust to spoil my work.
Note the RN anchor faced table mats & the attendant guard dog :) DSCF4119 (2).JPG
 
Sandyman said:
Its not that difficult a job. I made this table just a few months ago from 50 by 50 mm teak which I cut in half then glued together with epoxy resin & a number of large G clamps. The edge trim was cut and sanded to fit by hand before being epoxied in place. Lots of fine sanding before varnishing with Le Tonkinois. Needs another 5 or 6 coats to finish the job but that awaits the temperature going down out here along with fewer flying critters & boat-yard dirt & dust to spoil my work.
Note the RN anchor faced table mats & the attendant guard dog :) View attachment 98312
Click to expand...
Dog looks pensive,does it worry a lot?
 
Sandyman said:
Its not that difficult a job. I made this table just a few months ago from 50 by 50 mm teak which I cut in half then glued together with epoxy resin & a number of large G clamps. The edge trim was cut and sanded to fit by hand before being epoxied in place. Lots of fine sanding before varnishing with Le Tonkinois. Needs another 5 or 6 coats to finish the job but that awaits the temperature going down out here along with fewer flying critters & boat-yard dirt & dust to spoil my work.
Note the RN anchor faced table mats & the attendant guard dog :) View attachment 98312
Click to expand...
Very professional looking job. Dog obviously knows not to jump on it!
 
i used to have furniture factories and agree with most of the above , consider cheaper ply with a self adhesive veneer and stain to colour to match to your interior if you want a really smart finish . folding table takes up less space but fitting table hinges can be difficult without templates and the right tools edging fiddles of the corners can be done with relatively simple tools but takes some thought as the corners really must be rounded , if you have the possibility think about having one that drops down into its base into a coffee table position . is it to be used as a chart table as well ? happy to show photos etc of mine / advise re technical stuff if you want to pm me
 
Sandyman said:
Its not that difficult a job. I made this table just a few months ago from 50 by 50 mm teak which I cut in half then glued together with epoxy resin & a number of large G clamps. The edge trim was cut and sanded to fit by hand before being epoxied in place. Lots of fine sanding before varnishing with Le Tonkinois. Needs another 5 or 6 coats to finish the job but that awaits the temperature going down out here along with fewer flying critters & boat-yard dirt & dust to spoil my work.
Note the RN anchor faced table mats & the attendant guard dog :) View attachment 98312
Click to expand...
Sandyman - Email me, Gus.
 
Here's the table I made. The top is teak faced ply, sides are teak hockey stick mouldings and the rounded corners are bought teak mouldings (K J Howells of Poole). It is finished in multiple coats of Epiphanes silk finish. The support strut is made from bimini component from Baseline in Fareham. I made a mistake by not using thick enough ply initially so it was too flexible. I stiffened it by fixing another thickness of ply about two inches smaller all round so it isn't visible from above but still provides additional strength. It has stood up well in the last seven yeras. The crew seat in the photo swivels around to face forward or face the table. The bimini components allow it to be unclipped and removed. Hope that helps!

table.jpg
Table 2c.jpg
Table 3c.jpg
 
salar said:
Here's the table I made. The top is teak faced ply, sides are teak hockey stick mouldings and the rounded corners are bought teak mouldings (K J Howells of Poole). It is finished in multiple coats of Epiphanes silk finish. The support strut is made from bimini component from Baseline in Fareham. I made a mistake by not using thick enough ply initially so it was too flexible. I stiffened it by fixing another thickness of ply about two inches smaller all round so it isn't visible from above but still provides additional strength. It has stood up well in the last seven yeras. The crew seat in the photo swivels around to face forward or face the table. The bimini components allow it to be unclipped and removed. Hope that helps!

View attachment 98326
That's exactly what I'm after, thanks for your input.
Click to expand...
 
If you fancy teak (it is beautiful) there are suppliers on eBay (and elsewhere) who sell truly superb quality teak veneer in very good thicknesses. Even if you havent done it before, veneering the underlying ply is really very easy - as simple as coating the sheet with epoxy and laying the sheet on the surface and then applying an even spread of weight. The edges can be trimmed and a solid edge applied. The teak will look absolutely glorius. If you also want a superb finish with less work than aplying at least six coats of varnish consider a poorable clear top. It wil produce a stunning and hard wearing finish and is far less time consuming and with a better finish than mutliple coats of varnish.
 
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