My coworker's got a sailboat, and she's planning to make some mosquito
net frames for the hatch. There are existing tracks that these will
slide down into, and the frames themselves will be trapezoidal.
A few questions: How does she secure the screens into the frames
(screen door grommet in routed grooves?); what type of screen
(fiberglass?); and short of teak, what's a readily-available wood that
will weather well?
Thanks,
Jamie
below....
"Jamie Jackson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> My coworker's got a sailboat, and she's planning to make some mosquito
> net frames for the hatch. There are existing tracks that these will
> slide down into, and the frames themselves will be trapezoidal.
>
> A few questions: How does she secure the screens into the frames
> (screen door grommet in routed grooves?);
Routed grooves and screen "spline" material are best.
what type of screen
> (fiberglass?);
Yup
and short of teak, what's a readily-available wood that
> will weather well?
Teak. Use teak. These will get a fair bit of use and the actual volume of
wood needed per screen is so small that the $$ saved by using a cheaper wood
simply would not translate to "worth it".
>
> Thanks,
> Jamie
Good luck
Rob
"Jamie Jackson" writes:
> My coworker's got a sailboat, and she's planning to make some mosquito
> net frames for the hatch. There are existing tracks that these will
> slide down into, and the frames themselves will be trapezoidal.
<snip>
Sounds like you want screens for the companionway hatch.
The following describes what I did on my last boat.
Required materials as follows:
4/4 Honduras Mahogany, bronze window screen, bronze flat head wood screws,
copper tacks, and marine varnish.
Plane the mahogany to the thickness of the existing hatch boards, then rip a
bunch of 2" wide strips.
You will need one piece about 4"-5" wide for the top board which has a
considerable curvature.
Use half lap joints at the corners (BTW, none of these will be 90 degree
joints), assemble with epoxy and bronze screws.
Use a router pattern bit and the existing hatch board to trim the screen
frames to size.
Attach the bronze window screen to the mahogany screen frames with the
copper tacks.
Rip some 1/4" strips from some of the 4/4 stock for some moldings. Round
over the edges, miter the corners, none of which will be 90 degrees, and
mount with flat head screws to cover the copper tacks and raw edge of bronze
screen.
Test fit everything on the boat, sand to fit as req'd.
Finish with at least 6 coats of a high gloss marine varnish that has UV
inhibitors.
Nice part about this approach is that you can mix and match hatch boards and
screens to give just the right amount of ventilation in the spring and fall
months.
Finally, have a couple of cold ones to admire your work and the $1,000.00
you just saved doing this project yourself.
Enjoy.
BTW, IMHO, Thai teak is a complete waste of time for this project unless you
are a true masochist <G>.
--
Lew
S/A: Challenge, The Bullet Proof Boat, (Under Construction in the Southland)
Visit: <http://home.earthlink.net/~lewhodgett> for Pictures
Got it. Thanks.
Jamie
On Mon, 14 Jul 2003 20:23:42 GMT, "Rob Stokes" <[email protected]>
wrote:
>below....
>
>
>"Jamie Jackson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>> My coworker's got a sailboat, and she's planning to make some mosquito
>> net frames for the hatch. There are existing tracks that these will
>> slide down into, and the frames themselves will be trapezoidal.
>>
>> A few questions: How does she secure the screens into the frames
>> (screen door grommet in routed grooves?);
>
>Routed grooves and screen "spline" material are best.
>
>what type of screen
>> (fiberglass?);
>
>Yup
>
>and short of teak, what's a readily-available wood that
>> will weather well?
>
>Teak. Use teak. These will get a fair bit of use and the actual volume of
>wood needed per screen is so small that the $$ saved by using a cheaper wood
>simply would not translate to "worth it".
>
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Jamie
>
>Good luck
>Rob
>