Wood for cockpit table?

[colind3782]

I plan to replace the awful formica cockpit table with one in natural wood next year. My knowledge of different hardwoods is limited to the fact that it comes from trees.

Any recommendations as to a suitable hardwood to use?

 

[sailorman]

Teak or teak

 

[Poignard]

Mine is made of marine ply with teak fiddles.

 

[Graham376]

Sapele, easy to work and good outdoors.

 

[Sneaky Pete]

As said teak is very good it has its own natural oils and is very resilient to the elements. Fairly easy to work with requires no painting or preservatives. Teak oil can be used to enhance its appearance. Sometimes difficult to join with certain glues because of the oil.
Others to consider could be Larch, Elm.

Elm will last almost indefinitely when placed in water or below ground level (although it is not durable at ground level). This makes it ideal for the construction of fish ladders and sluice gates and other submerged structures. Traditionally this led to elm being used for coffins. Underground pipes were also constructed beneath large cities by hollowing out large elm trunks and driving them together. Some of these are still dug up today after 250 years below ground.
Another unusual quality of elm is its "unsplittability" caused by a stepped pattern of its wood fibres. This makes it ideal for chair seats (when the legs are driven in most other woods would split) and projects that require end-grain nail holding capacity such as the transoms for clinker-built boats. This useful property led to the traditional use of elm in wheel hubs and sledgehammers.
Larch
Natural strength and durability ¬ Larch heartwood is strong and is durable outside without the use of preservatives. These properties make it an ideal wood for outdoor use such as garden furniture, decking, cladding and fencing. Traditionally boats were planked with European Larch and some timber still finds its way into quality boat building today.

All of these with take nails and screws well.

Do not power wash any of these.

 

[ctva]

Mine is made of normal exterior ply with wood stain (fraction of the cost of marine ply which you would only need if it was structural) with teak fiddles and brass fittings. Once varnished, lasts several years before I need to re-varnish.

 

[colind3782]

Sapele, easy to work and good outdoors.

That's beautiful. I wish my chippying was up to that standard! Do you take commissions?

 

[rogerthebodger]

Mine is Iroko strips with black sikaflex on a 1/2" marine base

This is the centre section outer leaves removable

Washboards on the left also done the same way.

 

[johnalison]

It depends on what effect you want. Ours is varnished mahogany-faced ply, but it gets put away in a locker after use. If it is going to be outside, untreated teak will always look better than peeling varnish which I so often see. Varnish or treated wood will look smartest if you are willing to maintain it.

 

[maby]

Teak is probably the best, but I suspect you will be surprised (and not in a good way) at the price of a bit of solid teak big enough for the average cockpit table. Sapele and Iroko are also very good. Oak will last well and you may manage to find an old piece of furniture that could be recycled at a reasonable price.

 

[Tranona]

Teak is best but teak faced ply with solid teak edging is almost as good. The way to keep it looking good is to keep it covered when not in use. You don't say what sort of table it is and how it is mounted, but you might care to look at www.kjhowells.com who have ready made solid teak tables of different types. Not cheap but you may find them good value compared with trying to source the timber, buy the fittings and then make the table yourself

 

[Poignard]

Teak is probably the best, but I suspect you will be surprised (and not in a good way) at the price of a bit of solid teak big enough for the average cockpit table. Sapele and Iroko are also very good. Oak will last well and you may manage to find an old piece of furniture that could be recycled at a reasonable price.

Isn't oak rather prone to developing shakes?

 

[Finbar]

Buy an old and cheap wardrobe made from mahogany, use the sides and make a nice varnished mahogany table. Brown furniture is being thrown away at the moment.

 

[Poignard]

Teak is best but teak faced ply with solid teak edging is almost as good. The way to keep it looking good is to keep it covered when not in use. You don't say what sort of table it is and how it is mounted, but you might care to look at www.kjhowells.com who have ready made solid teak tables of different types. Not cheap but you may find them good value compared with trying to source the timber, buy the fittings and then make the table yourself

I bought mine from Howells. It was on special offer for some reason on the day I went there to buy some mahogany offcuts. It has lasted well but is always put away in a cockpit locker when not in use.

 

[Graham376]

That's beautiful. I wish my chippying was up to that standard! Do you take commissions?

Thanks but no time for commissions until maybe after March next year.

 

[{151760}]

Exterior ply with unknown hardwood fiddles (used to be a garden bench). The sockets from Trafalgar Marine.

 

[pipemma]

Bit of a bump on this one...

Same question, aiming to make a wooden cockpit table to replace the horrid old white plastic one; off-the-shelf options are all too short, or too wide to allow passage.
Howells (thanks for the link) have quoted me for 3 sheets of teak or iroko; the iroko is half the price, but even the teak is likely a fraction of what it would cost to buy here in CH

Question 1 is therefore: is the iroko worth a £200 saving in the long term or should I just stick with the teak number I first thought of?

Question 2 is then: would you leave teak untreated, oiled or try and get it to a shine? If a shine, what's the best - longest-lasting - method? 6-7 coats of oil? Or varnish? Boat lives in the Mediterranean sun...

Thanks all!

 

[pvb]

Question 2 is then: would you leave teak untreated, oiled or try and get it to a shine? If a shine, what's the best - longest-lasting - method? 6-7 coats of oil? Or varnish? Boat lives in the Mediterranean sun...

My cockpit table is teak-veneered board with solid fiddles. I treated it last year with Semco Natural and have been pleased with the results. It's stayed clean and bright. Oil and varnish are just endless work!

 

[maby]

My cockpit table is teak-veneered board with solid fiddles. I treated it last year with Semco Natural and have been pleased with the results. It's stayed clean and bright. Oil and varnish are just endless work!

View attachment 76267

I like Semco Natural on decks, but I'm not so convinced for tables - at least tables that are used for eating. Semco seals the wood against rain, but I suspect that things like red wine or curry sauce would soak in enough to stain!

 

[pvb]

I like Semco Natural on decks, but I'm not so convinced for tables - at least tables that are used for eating. Semco seals the wood against rain, but I suspect that things like red wine or curry sauce would soak in enough to stain!

Only cold white wine on my boat!