Companionway Saloon Doors - A Good WINTER Project!

[capt_nemo]

Just completed a Companionway Saloon Door Module for Sun Cat "Frisky".

Stand Alone Module:



Like all my other mods, it was designed to be very securely installed WITHOUT DRILLING A SINGLE HOLE IN THE BOAT OR ALTERING THE BOAT'S STRUCTURE IN ANY PERMANENT WAY. That way, if you or a future prospective Buyer don't like it, just remove it and use the standard Drop Boards!

ORIGINAL DROP BOARDS:



SALOON DOORS CLOSED:



SALOON DOORS OPEN: Notice the wood cleats at top for removing acrylic panels.



SALOON DOORS SCREEN INSERTS:



I used only common hand tools along with, a small Table Saw, a small Scroll Saw, a Drill Press, Random Orbital Hand Sander, Wood Scrapers, Wood Rasp, and lots of Sandpaper for hand shaping and sanding.

It wasn't very difficult to fabricate a set of doors. I designed it to have interchangeable clear acrylic panel and screen panel inserts that slide into place through grooved frames.

PANEL INSERT & REMOVAL:



The basic frame was formed with overlapping wood joints for maximum epoxy gluing surface and no need for fasteners.

FRAME CORNER PHOTO:



The "groove" was formed the easy way with ¼" finished wood laminated with ½" overlap on the outside and a removable ¼" wood strip with ½" overlap on the inside.

GROOVE PHOTO:



Since the "slot" for the Drop Boards secures and immobilizes the Module from fore and aft movement and athwartships movement, it was only necessary to prevent movement in the vertical plane. I fabricated  "stops" by bending aluminum bar stock in a vise and installed them as shown below.

ALUMINUM STOPS:



The opened doors do not interfere with use of my organizing Halyard Bag.

HALYARD BAG:



And, if the First Mate decides to lounge against the Cabin Bulkhead I would flip the Halyard Bag up onto the cabin Top and close the Starboard Door.

FIRST MATE SMOOTH BULKHEAD:



How's that for a good WINTER project idea.

capt_nemo

[wes]

Wow. I genuflect n your general direction. I will steal this idea immediately, or whenever all the other projects related to actually getting my boat to float in the water are completed.

[Billy]

now you are just rubbing it in.

as always, looks great!

[jgsharpe]

Beautiful job!

[NateD]

As usual, wonderful job! Can you tell us what kind of wood you used and some detail on the hinges?

[brackish]

Very nice.   I'll copy.  The flip stop on the starboard door at the top, does that lock the doors closed without using the sliding hatch hasp?  And the frame has no top, what joint detail did you use at the bottom to maintain corner strength.  And, I assume that with the aluminum stops installed, the module will not lift out without removing them, is that correct?

[Adnoh]

WOW!!!
Beautiful Work.

[Salty19]

Gorgeous and functional.  Very nice!

Moving post to DIY area.

[BruceW]

Very cool; my ambitious project will be to cut my single hatchboard horizontally, halfway down, so I can stow the halves easier, replace one with screen and or lexan, etc. Well, hey, that's waaaaaay out there, huh.

[kickingbug1]

    i have drawn a couple of plans similar to yours ====but your idea is better. i will be building them either for my 16 or the next boat (whatever that might be). very slick. thanks

[capt_nemo]

Very nice.  I'll copy.  The flip stop on the starboard door at the top, does that lock the doors closed without using the sliding hatch hasp?  And the frame has no top, what joint detail did you use at the bottom to maintain corner strength.  And, I assume that with the aluminum stops installed, the module will not lift out without removing them, is that correct?

Good questions.

Flip stop on starboard door does lock doors together at top without using hatch hasp. However, locking hatch hasp ADDS rigidity to the upper doors providing a Hatch
crosspiece for strength.

Bottom frame corners were originally simply glued together. Recognizing this weak point I added a crosspiece behind stretching the entire length of the bottom and OVERLAPPING the original "Butt" joints on either end. Added a temporary scrap crosspiece across the top connecting the upper side backs while working with the frame as an insurance policy. Yes, aluminum stop must be removed to lift module out. It was needed to immobilize the module in the vertical plane.

One end of the "added" crosspiece can be seen in this photo:

As usual, wonderful job! Can you tell us what kind of wood you used and some detail on the hinges?

Wood is Red Oak stock from Lowe's, coated with several coats of Sikkens Cetol Marine Light. (Same coating on exterior Teak)

Hinges are stainless stock from Lowe's as well.

Thanks ALL for the nice comments - they are very much appreciated!

capt_nemo

[Mike]

Outstanding work...any tips on measurements and layout to adapt this idea on a 1985 CP19?

[fried fish]

Very nice job.
I would like to order a pair of doors for my 23. How soon could they be ready? Oh, and how much?
haha,
-fred-

[wes]

Nemo - teak for mine, please, with Helmsman spar varnish (ten coats, first two thinned, first eight gloss, last two satin, sand with 400 grit after every coat). Really need them by May 1, please.

Sure do appreciate it.

We'd

[capt_nemo]

Very nice job.
I would like to order a pair of doors for my 23. How soon could they be ready? Oh, and how much?
haha,
-fred-

Thanks fred, but sorry, I only do such work on my boats.

Outstanding work...any tips on measurements and layout to adapt this idea on a 1985 CP19?

Mike,

Thanks, and YES!

First of all, I purposely designed my doors as a removable Module to be installed securely WITHOUT DRILLING A SINGLE HOLE IN THE BOAT OR ALTERING THE BOAT'S STRUCTURE IN ANY WAY. You don't have to adhere to such a design constraint.

If you have the exterior wood on the companionway, port and starboard, forming the drop board slot, you could very easily mount your doors with hinges screwed directly into the exterior wood. Then you would have to make sure the sliding hatch comes forward far enough to cover the top of your doors for water tightness and locking. A decorative wood "doubler" of appropriate thickness could be added across the outside edge of the sliding hatch to make up any overlap required.

On the other hand, if you want removable doors like mine the most important first step is to make a very snug fitting pattern for the outside wood frame to which the door hinges will be mounted. You can use cardboard or scrap wood for this. I used the original drop boards, which were a good fit, to make a cardboard pattern then checked it on the boat. Here is a photo of my pattern:



When satisfied, make the outside frame to desired width with outside dimensions very slightly larger than your pattern. You can always plane, shape, and sand to achieve a good snug fit. You'll want the wood corners to be slightly rounded anyway. USE OVERLAPPING WOOD JOINTS in the lower corners to achieve greatest gluing surface and hence strength. After gluing up the lower corners screw a scrap wooden crosspiece to the backside of the frame tops as a temporary insurance policy as you shape, sand and work on the frame. Then proceed to make your doors, again with pattern for curved top edge.

Hope this helps.

capt_nemo