Kitchen/Galley bench construction

[GILow]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

Several points....
The Westerly yard did the crockery cutouts.... standard design in several thousand boats I imagine so they had a bit of practice.

Yeah, my attempts so far have not been good, I wish I knew what their trick was. Westerly fitouts are among the nicest I have seen.

Be aware your crockery sizes may change... my soup bowls become dog bowls became trodden on broken bowls, the dinner plates looked daggy, etc...Now have Corel (sp) ... good kit but the dinner plates now have stow on end at the end of that bigger main locker....

I did notice a timber infill in the plate cutout. I've standardised my crockery on stuff from Spotlight. Made from melanine, so light, reasonably hardy and VERY cheap. It has held up well, but I figured I would pop back and check that the sizes have not changed over the last six years before I decided on the cutouts.


Long bench top...? surely you are going to have transverse beams every so often??
Underneath, do you mean? Yes, plenty of support, is possible but I just find it easier to work with thicker ply over long runs, it holds its flatness better. I like the half inch suggested by Uncle Bob, feels about right.

Doesn't leak..... what I think they did.. ( I was away cowherding at the time ) .. was rebate(??) the surroundings of the sink holes... drop in the sinks.. and then glue the laminate over the top...

Clever, I will see if I can do the same

Mine isn't 'dissecting room white'.... more a pale beige.... close as I could get to the tops I didn't change.

Nine out ten morticians can't be wrong.

I bet the caravan sinks aren't as cheap as a 'Willow' mop bucket..

True, but you know, they are WAAAAY better prices than marine stuff, and some of the choices now are pretty good.

My washing machine for instance...

[Tillsbury]

Originally Posted by GILow

I wish I knew how the yard got such lovely clean cuts in the plywood for those crockery cutouts, a bit of research for me there.

The way to do those is to use a router. With a round base. Measure the base and bit (mine is 115mm and I’d use a 10mm bit). Half the difference is the margin between the blade and the edge, in my case 52.5mm

Make up a template that’s 52.5mm oversized internally in each direction. If you use timber thinner than the router base you can just screw this together one piece overlapping the next. Note that the internal corners don’t matter, only the external ones have to be tidy. For most of the cutout templates, you can re-use part of the previous one. Clamp it well to the plywood and run around it with the router. Once all done, repeat with a rounding-over bit. For larger radius corners, use a larger bit.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by Tillsbury

The way to do those is to use a router. With a round base. Measure the base and bit (mine is 115mm and I’d use a 10mm bit). Half the difference is the margin between the blade and the edge, in my case 52.5mm

Make up a template that’s 52.5mm oversized internally in each direction. If you use timber thinner than the router base you can just screw this together one piece overlapping the next. Note that the internal corners don’t matter, only the external ones have to be tidy. For most of the cutout templates, you can re-use part of the previous one. Clamp it well to the plywood and run around it with the router. Once all done, repeat with a rounding-over bit. For larger radius corners, use a larger bit.

Thank you Tillsbury.

I am a little surprised that the router would not cause blowouts, and I am not sure I would have tried if you hadn't suggested it, but I will give it a go. Maybe scribe with a knife first?

Great point about the cutout templates... I can make them up out of left over plywood from the deck job, I've got a few bits that will be just big enough.

Matt

[jimbunyard]

I guess kitchens and bathrooms (galleys and heads) are the biggest head scratchers in any 'home improvement' endeavor.

How about, for rot resistance, lightness and stability, a base of (if it's available over there) 15 lb, 1/2" coosa board?

If not available, 6 lb, 1/2" pvc foam with a layer, on each side, of 8 oz cloth and poleyester resin?

With proper support spacing. there'd be plenty of rigidity; depending on the structure of your boat, you might even have to take any added rigidity into account before executing the plan...

After you've got the base, the options are wide open. Formica/melamine with wood fiddles can be nice, or with the weight savings you coul go 'trophy' with the newer ultrathin stones now available (2.5 mm-1cm). Don't be put off by cutting the stuff, if you have a 4.5" grinder you can get a diamond stone blade for about 20.00; for radii you can use the appropriate size diamond hole saw or diamond grit jigsaw blades are also available. Edge polishing is a bit more of an issue, but with standard drop-in sinks and wooden edge fiddles this would be unnecessary...

Or various thick hardwood 'veneers' (1/8-1/4") are available, epoxy/varnish is a good coating, but they're farthest from permanent...

Though I wouldn't do it, HDPE is available in very thin sheets in a variety of colors and is relatively cheap, you could use that and you'd have virtually an entire 'cutting board countertop'.

Personally, I like my thick, laminated bamboo cutting board at home and might try and find a thinner laminated bamboo sheet to cover the whole counter, and trim with some Honduran mahogany (that I've got hanging around) fiddles, but we all know what they say about taste...

[GILow]

Some good ideas there Jimbunyard, and the bamboo is very interesting.

I did a hallway floor in bamboo tongue and groove and it was brilliant for years. Tough stuff.

There was a thread on using HDPE on CF a while back, I came away thinking it was not for me.

Nothing wrong with your taste from where I stand.

[Tillsbury]

Originally Posted by GILow

Thank you Tillsbury.

I am a little surprised that the router would not cause blowouts, and I am not sure I would have tried if you hadn't suggested it, but I will give it a go. Maybe scribe with a knife first?

Great point about the cutout templates... I can make them up out of left over plywood from the deck job, I've got a few bits that will be just big enough.

Matt

If you find in testing that your ply is prone to chipping, put some tape or elastic bands around your router base to make it a couple of mm wider, then rip around. For the final cut, use a good quality new bit and take the bands off, so you’re only asking it to trim the last couple of mm on the final pass. Also remember to go around in the direction where the blade is cutting *into* the wood, not pulling it away.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by Tillsbury

If you find in testing that your ply is prone to chipping, put some tape or elastic bands around your router base to make it a couple of mm wider, then rip around. For the final cut, use a good quality new bit and take the bands off, so you’re only asking it to trim the last couple of mm on the final pass. Also remember to go around in the direction where the blade is cutting *into* the wood, not pulling it away.

Thank you, advice duly noted.

Hey... maybe we need a woodworking tips thread.

I know I could use one.

[MikeFergie]

On my next boat interior project I will use Nidacore for sure. Panels made on a glass surface will get the fiberglass coat on the outside really flat. Then glue white Formica on this. Extremely light , strong and NO chance of rotting

[GILow]

Originally Posted by MikeFergie

On my next boat interior project I will use Nidacore for sure. Panels made on a glass surface will get the fiberglass coat on the outside really flat. Then glue white Formica on this. Extremely light , strong and NO chance of rotting

Interesting stuff. Not cheap, but if weight were a serious issue it looks to be a very good option.

I did look at Coosa board too, slightly cheaper and a bit heavier, but again came to the conclusion that weight was not THAT much of an issue for my boat, though I am doing all I can to keep it down.

[Matt Johnson]

Originally Posted by GILow

I did look at some of the thinner fabricated stone, but I ran into the problems around shaping it (again, very expensive, needing a third party with special tools) and the weight, though good, was still a bit much.

If you're talking about a synthetic stone like Corian, it is just shaped with a normal router like wood and then polished for a good finish. You can even get in 6 mm (1/4") thickness and epoxy additional pieces to the edge to make it look thick and solid. Good stuff!

Matt

[GILow]

Originally Posted by funjohnson

If you're talking about a synthetic stone like Corian, it is just shaped with a normal router like wood and then polished for a good finish. You can even get in 6 mm (1/4") thickness and epoxy additional pieces to the edge to make it look thick and solid. Good stuff!

Matt

Thanks Matt, you are the second person to mention it can be worked easily. I will have another look at it.

[Uncle Bob]

Originally Posted by Tillsbury

The way to do those is to use a router. With a round base. Measure the base and bit (mine is 115mm and I’d use a 10mm bit). Half the difference is the margin between the blade and the edge, in my case 52.5mm

Make up a template that’s 52.5mm oversized internally in each direction. If you use timber thinner than the router base you can just screw this together one piece overlapping the next. Note that the internal corners don’t matter, only the external ones have to be tidy. For most of the cutout templates, you can re-use part of the previous one. Clamp it well to the plywood and run around it with the router. Once all done, repeat with a rounding-over bit. For larger radius corners, use a larger bit.

I have just recently bought a 12mm inverted flush trim router bit, enables the template to be the exact size of the shape required and has the bearing on the shaft not the head of the bit.

[Tillsbury]

Originally Posted by Uncle Bob

I have just recently bought a 12mm inverted flush trim router bit, enables the template to be the exact size of the shape required and has the bearing on the shaft not the head of the bit.

They are great for duplicating, but using one would mean that you have to make a perfect template of each hole first — you can’t assemble an over scale template with overlapping pieces of wood using one of those.

[Uncle Bob]

Originally Posted by Tillsbury

They are great for duplicating, but using one would mean that you have to make a perfect template of each hole first — you can’t assemble an over scale template with overlapping pieces of wood using one of those.

Yes I see what you mean however I find that making an object that requires fitting into a location, often multiple fits, is best done with some crappy, often secondhand ply (I have some from a panel beater that land rover parts were delivered in) and when done the panel can be copied straight to the quality ply for an exact fit. As you said, a rounding over bit finishes the job nicely.

[coopec43]

Originally Posted by GILow

Hi all,

It with some sadness that I have realised my laminated hardwood galley benches will have to go. Aside from the horrendous weight, they just cannot be salvaged or reconfigured to my new galley layout.

So I went looking to see how people are constructing galley benches these days, and I didn't find much.

I am assuming plywood with a layer of something from Laminex is the go these days, but I wonder if anyone has some better options?

Not looking for a trophy kitchen here, just something easy to keep clean and preferably not too heavy. I am pretty happy with the classic white bench top with timber fiddles.

Total bench length will be around 3 to 4 meters, average depth around 500 mm.

Ideas?

Matt

Hi Matt

You want some ideas? I just came across this article. Some of these look great.

https://theboatgalley.com/sink-covers/