110 Cookson Lane | Whitefield, ME 04353 | 207-232-7600 | tim@lackeysailing.com
I spent the day working on cutting and installing the slats in the cockpit grate frame.
I began with a layout for the strips. With both sections of the grate aligned, I used long blanks for the strips to make layout marks on both sections, so that the slats would line up along the entire length of the grate. With these basic marks in place, I roughed out the slats on the forward section in order to determine where I'd need to rout a rabbet for the slats' support in the frame.
For the forward section, I routed the rabbet around most of the inside edge of the frame, as required by the slats' layout. The outer pair of slats extended a bit further into the frame, so I widened the rabbet with a chisel as needed.
Then, it was a matter of cutting the 1/2" thick by 1-1/2" wide slats to fit in their proper spaces, separated by 1/4" gaps. I secured the slats with bronze screws set in counterbores to accept teak bungs later. The center slat was a bit wider than the remainder, and incorporated a finger hole to aid in lifting the grate out of the cockpit when needed.
I repeated the process with the after section.
Next, I test-fit the pieces in the boat.
Still ahead: I needed to bung the screw holes, and add some interim supports beneath the slats where they spanned a larger distance, so that weight would bear on the cockpit sole itself rather than the 1/2" slats. Then, I'd have some final sanding to clean up the grate. All coming up in the near future.
Total Time on This Job Today: 5.5 hours
