new helmstatiion windshield

Comment

Comment by bob mitchell on August 10, 2009 at 2:11pm

Here is my situation - My 1/2" galvanized bolts between the keelson and floor timbers have to be replaced, as well as the plywood sheathing under the keelson, as well as a lot of the keelson. However, my boat does not leak except from the decks. Before I can get the boat two days upriver I have to rewire, so I thought I might as well repair the cabin and put the new helmstatiion in with all new electricals. The "windshield project" your looking at actually goes on top of the pilot house. Big water is a long way from here, and the boat can't carry masts at this point, so she is going to motor for a while, and with the new helmstation I am going to be able to see where I am motoring.
However the cabin repair does involve cutting out new window openings. I will definitely let you know how that goes - so you might want to check out the pilot house rebuild photos. What I know for sure is that anytime a window is dealt with it would be worthwhile to encapsulate/impregnate the end grain of the plywood window opening with epoxy and filler - like mayonaise to peanut butter consistency. It is a simple cheap small job that should prevent the plywood surrounding the window from rotting even if the window leaks. About the double glazing - another point in its favor is to reduce inside condensation in the winter - which is a significant problem in the south.

Comment by Jasper & Karen on August 10, 2009 at 12:50pm

Bob--

This job is definitely in our future: I know there's a soft spot under one of the windows and we've been thinking about double-glazing everywhere anyway. We put double-glazed polycarbonate windows in the port side of the deckhouse when we did a major repair there two years ago, and they work a treat in our often cold, damp climate. For living aboard year-round, I'd say they're a necessity. I wouldn't use the polycarbonate again--it's cheap and the glazers seem to like working with it, but I'm not impressed with its supposed "scratch-resistent" properties. They claimed this stuff was better than Lexan--apparently, that's not saying much!
Would appreciate any and all detail you can provide on this job..not sure where it ranks on our list of "to-dos", but it's on there!

Comment by bob mitchell on August 9, 2009 at 5:39pm

Frames for the windshield are 1 5/16 " quarter sawn yellow pine, like the rest of the windshield. They were 1 1/2" thick, but they had some warp in them so I had to flatten them on my joiner. Maybe most people know, but I'll mentiion it anyway. A joiner is for wood that is warped or curved. Ideally it has two long very flat beds with a rotating blade in between (quite dangerous). When the wood is pushed over the blade the excess that does not conform to the flat surfaces is removed. In top 3 most important tools in my shop.
Anyway, since a window frame must sit flat I was willing to sacrifice 3/16" of thickness for a nonwarped frame. The corners are lap jointed (used my small dewalt sliding miter saw - time consuming but consistent) and epoxied with west system epoxy with a little filler. I will encapsulate the whole frame with epoxy to make sure that it can take the weather and not warp. When the frame drys I will use my router to cut the rabbet for the 1/4" laminated glass. All in all I probably have 20 hours in the windshield, and 8 hours in the frames. Lots of angles make for tricky cuts! The big enemy is the asymetry - i.e. the angled cuts only work one way. I still have to finish, install, paint - in short, I could not afford to pay someone else, especially if they did the level of work I would be satisfied with. But who cares - it is a very cool project!