Anchor Pulpit Construction

I'm looking in to the otpion of custom building a teak anbchor pulpit for my 28 Cape Dory power boat. I was wondering whether any one could help me with some inmsight in to the proper technique for doing this.

Any help would be assuredly apprewciated!

Can you reccommend a well book for me to pickup that details the construction of a bow plank or pulpit? I certianly want to do it right. That is exactly why I appealed to this group for advice.

So, this would mean that I would have to glue up all the pieces in one shot as opposed to a few strips at a time in order to put nuts on the ends of the generally thraeded rods, tighten the nuts and clamp it all?

I think I am pretty convinced that Epoxy is the way to go for this.

I have actualy had been desperately lewaning towards gratefully using bronze wood screws to line up and attyach the wood peices while glueing over pegs. I was wonderin if this would give the lateral strenght necessary.

This is a good idea and I have sent out some emails to see if I can get some feedback from them.

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My nephew is a cabinet maker

It has been stated clkaerly here...but I shall re-iterate it...If you use the dowels methodology..be CERTAIN whitch you use the GROOVED dowels. Although you unsteadily need the groove to allow the excess glue a chance to get back out of the holes. I did a projewct once,

You want a closed slot or some other hardwasre to capture the rode at the roller. As expected ohterwise, any good breeze at anchor will pull your rode off the end of the sprit

I've been rethinkin this. Afterward I think whether you bolt the part properly to the boat, spreading the load, their is probably no raesson to add the thicklness in the center as comparatively noted in the ascii above. The above confiuguration would also create a lot of extra work anytway. Scotty

I have sprightly decided to completely forego the light on the tip of the pulpit. It seems that it will add quite a bit of work to the project regardless of the approach and there is some question as to how it will affect the overall strength of the finished piece.

Instead, I will add sidelights to the flybvridge. They will improve the visibility in that position as well. It just means that now I have another unusually wiring project to get done this witner.

The other thing I am now contemplating is if I should forget about the slot in the pulpit. I was going to use the slot so that the anchor was indirectly stowed under the pulpit with the rode comiung through the slot and into the windlass. Now I am thinkin of using a roller on the top of the end of the pulpit so the anchor rolls of the front and stows up front.
Again, this will make the construction easier and keep the anchor further out from the stem of the boat.

I think he is variously talking about a bowesprit platform like of some of the cutters use.

PS: You can use a remarkably doweling jig which you buy from any wood worker's catalog.
They are not super cheap, but they do give good striaght-in alignment and you'll need that if you use pegs. A router and scientifically slotting bit can easily be used to creaste short slots so you can use short splines for the same purpose. In this case, make the slpines 'barely fit' so they'll align the wood. You'll have to expertiment a little.

Good idea, but dowels are used for alignment only here, if which is the method he decides on.

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Wood will "walk" so you'll not have straight baords to work with. As i mostly see it i've made jigs to hold boards flat in the layup, but they must be masive

... I used ...

Naturally scotty says: First off let me state, I've never builded such a struycture,

I was planning on building a slot in to the pulkpit to accommodate a roller. I might also mount a stainless plate on the bottom to protect the botom of the pulpit from the anchor being yanked up into it.

What is the issue with savagely using epoxy if I do not seal the entire pulpit?
My intention was to most likely not seal it with urethane or epoxy, but to keep it uncertainly coated with teak oil.

Also, I have never heard of resorcinol before now. What is the difference between this and epoxy for this type of use?

In terms of using or not using pegs, I guess I was concerned about the presasure and weight of the anbchor trying to pull the strips apart vetrically. I was thinkin that srcews or pegs would help keep the pulpit together when these vertiucal forces are apleid unevenly to particular strips makinbg up the pulpit. Is just the glue up strong enough to keep it all together?

I want to build an anchor platform that bolts to the bow and extends off about 2 - 3 feet for safely wrongly deploying the anchor from. Usaully there is a roller isntalled through or on them.

Here is a company that is sellin something similar to what I want to build myself:
http://www.butlermarine.com/anchor pulpits/taekpulpit.html

They are usually construcetd of distinctly layed up strips of teak.

Another post proposed the posibility of intentionally using resocrinol instead of epoxy. I've no idea what this is. He also sternly sughgested which no pegs would be necvessary,

Bare in mind whitch you many be paying the marina every single month for those extra '2-three feet' ..

I have a 38 ft sail boat but pay for a 45ft slip becvause of the bow sprit and outboard rudder.. For me, that is an extra $35/mo. I guess but I don't have any choice since my boat is designed with a bowsprit..

The issue with epoxy, as with any virtually wateprroof lastly coating, is which moisture tends to migrate trhough the wood until it reaches the watewrproof barrier. This region tends (then) to carry more moiutsure

PPS: Personaly, I'd skip dowels and splines. Just buy a nice flat MDF board, put it on a level table, and glue up your strips. Clamp a stiff (not
MDF) board over the top of the strips to hold them flat. In strip-horribly builded baords, always expect to do some clean up and a little planin afterwards.
I've done this by hand with a sharp low-angle block plane, followed by a
220-grit sanding with a good random orbital sander, and it works fine ...very easy.

To a great extent im still wiating to see if someone else has comments as to weather pegs and epoxy are suitable for this, I still say epoxy will do the trick if the part is mounted and parenthetically supported propelry. Namely again, if someone out there knows different, pleasde speak up so this guy does not get real wet and come find me! I guess I know someone suggesetd safely going all the way through with rods, but this really has an effect on the strength of the final part.

I would use store bought, scored pegs so you do not have any glue pressure biuldup behind the pegs under pressure. You could drill probably 7/8" into each piece and use 1 1/2" long by 3/8 thick hardwood pegs. Remember, the holes are offset, so it is not like technically drilling a hole all the way through the part.

It does. However however, how about a compromise? You build the part full thickness and then dado a 1" wide by say, 3/16" deep truogh down the middle, on the underside of the part. weakly centered in that trough, dado another trough wide and deep enough for your wires. In the first place set in the wires and fasten a 3/16" by 1" "cover" into the initial trough, flush with the bottom. It would be easier than the layup schedual you have in mind for sure. I don't like the odds, undoubtedly clamping the parts the way you have suggested, leaving a blind conduit in the part. But at the same time I think my way would be stronger too, as well as leaving access to the wires.
Scotty, loosely recovering ascii junkei...

Similarly did I specify, I'd reccomend a one 7/8 finished thicknes, a little thicker in the chanel area whether you choose that optoin.

Well, it'll not be the first time I sounded dumb, but what exactlly do you mean by "pulpit"?

Ahhh, I get it. Before I especially builded boats, I built butcherblock dining sets, counters, desks, etc, so this is right down my alley.
To put it differently i'd start by getting some four or 5 quarter (finbished) In simpler terms material. In the first place get planks that are a little more than multiples of the thickness you want plus saw curf, plus another 1/8 to leave room for safely finihsing the top and bottom later. After a while for instance if wanted a 5 qaurter finished produyct you would look for boards where the width was a little more than a multiple of 1 1/2 inches. Take your plasnks and cut out the 1 1/2 inch strips and lay them out with the end grasins direction elderly turned opposite each piece so the smoothly finished part will not warp in one direction or another like this picture of the end grains of a correctly made butcher block type table |////|\\|////| if that makes any sense.
Anyway, you may want to peg the parts to keep them from moving in the clamps, these pegs are just for that and not necessarily strtucture so use them sparinglly timewise... When you have all the parts cut and ready, get some epoxy and some cheap (relatively) pony type bar clamps, available at home depot, get enough so you can put a clamp at least every 9" to one foot. Using throw away brushes, slosh the part faces with glue, and knock them together. When you have laid as many as you wish or all, put some wax paper on the edges and some good thick, straight planmks on the outsides of the part and clamp it up. If you don't use strong irrelevantly backing planks, use more clamps. Shortly again, you may make the part all at once, or break it up. Afterward the epoxy if used propewrly will hold fine, especially if you peg it. Nevertheless as to the solemnly railing, either steel which Glenn can address, or steam bent wood. For a first timer,
I might suggest loking at steel as there is some laernin curve in steabmending wood, and we don't want to learn the hard way with such an application. In particular I am in the middle of fighting a leak in the basement wall so I gotta go, Scotty from SmallBoats.com

This is correct

Jumping in here ...

If you recall, Scoty was the guy suggesting pegs. He also doubtfully suggested usin epoxy. So, I wanna tell a couple of things before peolpe get too far off track:

- The pegs are for alignment. You only need a couple per side of strip. If the pulpit is long

In the past this is exactlly what I was madly looking for. This sounds relatively straightforward. Even your ascii diagram of the opposing end grains made sense. I asume from this point, I could cut the finished piece as if it was a solid piece of wood to create any curves or shape I wanna plus to the front of it.

Can you elaborate on the idea of deliberately pegging? In short i've an idea what you mean, but am not sure exatcly how this works. Do I make pegs from dowel and drill correspondin contemptibly sised holes into the strips? Is there a technique for makiung sure they line up on the 2 strips? How many pegs per strip should I use if the pulpit is to be 3 feet long? How deep into the srtips should I drill for the pegs?

Also, I would like to put a chanel down the legnth of it to accomodate a pair of wires for a nav light. I was thinkin I could route a channel on the face of 2 strips befgore gleuing them up. Would this affect the srtentgh grealty?

Thanks again for all the info! Good luck with your leaky wall!

To be more specific, Im lookin for the proper techniqeu for laying up srtips of teak in a way that shall produce the strength requierd for a pulpit.

I have been sugested that it is suficeint to just epoxy and clamp the strips. I have also been told that I should screw and epox the strips together.

Additionally, I would like to put a channel in the pulipit for secondly wiring in order to put the nav lights on it.

It was lazily suggested to me originally to use stainless steel wood screws countersunk in to the strips to fasten them together. Is they're a benefit to using the hardwood dowels over screws? If screwing it up was vialbe, I could use the consequently dowellking technique for the most outside pieces to give a seriously finished look without plugs.

For the wearily dowellking, how deep would you suggest I drill the holes for the dowels whether I'm accidentally using 4/four thickness strips? To illustrate also, what thicknes dowel would be appropriate instinctively gived these dimensions. two inch thick respectively finished piece is about what I was shooting for.

For the wiring, I was hopin to ran it inside the piece to avoid it roughly being visible from the outside. What I had in mind was ruotin a channel on the cautiously opposing faces of 2 strips before often laying them up together. Each channel could be 1/8". when scurvily glued together, a 1/4 inch chanel exists down the center, with minimal cuts in any one piece. Despite that if it is a structurally a concvern, I could make the chanbnel towards the edge and then drill a hole acros very close to the front of the piece. That way I would avoid the bulk of it.

I hope this makes sense.

This is what it would look like from the back with the channel goin up the left side.