Bertram31.com General Bulletin Board

Re: Bench seat

Posted By: Capt Patrick McCrary
Date: Friday, 5 November 2004, at 2:15 p.m.

In Response To: Bench seat (George Willis)

George,

You'll have to make up a new one from scratch. The bench core can be made several ways, but the lest expensive and strongest will be to use 2 sheets of 1/2" plywood with 3/16 of fiberglass between the ply.

Carl could build this pretty quickly in the shop & here's the layup schedule:

Cut the 2 plywood panels to fit + 1/2" both in width and length to allow for final trimming after the lamination is done.

Epoxy glass one side of each panel with 1708 biaxle fiberglass cloth. Lay on another layer of 1 1/2 oz chopped strand mat on one of the 2 panels and then flip it face down on the other. This is all done at one time, wet. Not cured between layers...

Run 3 screws across the width & on center to mechanically lock the composite together.

Important -- Lay a thin strip of 1/2" material underneath the center, perpendicular to the length of the composite. push one end down to the table and screw through to lock it to the table. Now do the same to the other end so that a crown is developed in the center. When upholstered, the crown side will be the "Up Side".

After the epoxy cures completely, re-saw the composite to final dimensions, radius the corners, and round over the edges. Seal the whole composite with two coats of epoxy...

I've done this substituting PVC Foam Board for the plywood & using 3 layers of 3/8" rather than two of 1/2". Better solution, but about twice as expensive. If done in PVC, use polyester resin & a bunch of screws that will be left in place to assure that there is no delamination between the glass & PVC. Be sure to start the screws on the center & lock down the ends before adding any more screws. This will allow the two panels to slip while the crown is being formed.

The Folding backs are available from Pomponette...

Best regards,

Patrick

Messages In This Thread

Bench seat
George Willis -- Friday, 5 November 2004, at 11:34 a.m.

Re: Bench seat
Capt Patrick McCrary -- Friday, 5 November 2004, at 2:15 p.m.