Wood on top of the cooker?

[prv]

Sounds like a daft idea, but I want to make a small box or tray to hold two or three mugs while water is poured into them from the kettle (KS's sink is under the chart table so the usual technique doesn't apply). This tray would fit along one side of the standard plastimo cooker - say for example the left-hand edge, all the way from front to back and a mug-width from left to right. The tray would be made to fit between the fiddle rails on the cooker, and also to hook onto something in the cockpit (probably the pointless cleats on the cabin bulkhead) so the whole lot can be passed up and used as a safe place for the mugs.

I'd always planned to make this from sheet metal, but my skills and tools in that area are distinctly limited. While I could probably make something functional, it would be far from beautiful. I can, however, make reasonably attractive things in wood.

Which leads to the situation described in the Subject. Not wood directly on top of a lit burner, of course, but over the left edge of the unlit left burner while the right burner is boiling the kettle. A few inches away - I haven't mocked this up on the boat to check exactly.

Is a piece of oiled sapele in this position going to end up charred, do you think?

Pete

 

[rob2]

Yes, if you have a burner alight for long enough to heat it, it will char. Its still a good idea, though. I suggest you only lift it into position at the last moment before pouring and you should get years of use out of it.

I think PBO sketchbook suggested a similar pierced board to fit in the sink for making tea and then passing it up to the cockpit.

Rob.

 

[prv]

I had another thought since I posted it. I'll have to check on the boat, but I think the half-bulkhead to the right of the cooker may be closer to the right burner than my tray will be. That bulkhead has been fine for the last couple of decades.

On the other hand, there will be heat conducted through the pan support grid if I let the tray sit on that. So it will need either suitable insulation underneath or to hang from the fiddles (if they don't get too hot).

Pete

 

[Deleted member 36384]

Masterboard Inlay

You could glue into a recess in your box some master board, say cover the base in master board with about 1" up the side. Master board is about 5mm thick. Unfortunately its grey but quite smooth. I have left a piece outside for a long time and it doesn't breakdown (I use it for chimney register plates). Readily available from building merchants and can be worked similar to wood. It is of course a heat insulator.

http://www.promat.co.uk/products/fire-protection/masterboard.aspx

Promat MASTERBOARD® is a versatile Class 0 building board suitable for use in a wide range of internal and semi-exposed applications. It is a material of limited combustibility and can be used in constructions providing up to 30 minutes fire protection. It is simple to work and fix, easy to decorate, resistant to the effects of moisture and will not rot or decay.