Bertram31.com General Bulletin Board

Re: Helm bench seat *LINK* *PIC*

Posted By: JohnV8r
Date: Wednesday, 18 May 2005, at 7:06 a.m.

In Response To: Re: Helm bench seat (John F.)

Vince,

I'm the guy that made the bench seat. The link to Shambala's website is below and you can check out the pictures. Here are a couple of comments:

First, you will likely be MUCH happier making a bench seat for yourself as opposed to buying one. The challenge for you is going to be finding the hinges for the seat backs. However, I'm sure you can have something fabricated by any marine fabricator.

Second, if you build a bench seat yourself you will not need to have center supports. What I did was use a material called skidguard (an epoxy infused plywood wood for dock surfaces). It's a heavy plywood that doesn't flex very much and is obviously very resistent to rot. I took two 3/4" pieces and attached them together with fasteners every 4". I also used West System epoxy with collodial silica mixed in to bond the two pieces together. I did spend $400 to have two stainless steel supports made, but never used them because the bench was so stiff on its own (the fasteners and epoxy will prevent any flexing).

Third, I went to an auto upolstery shop and had the guy hand stitch the pleats in. It turned out awesome and only cost me $600 with high density foam and premium vinyl material. The marine upolstery places all wanted $1000+.

Fourth, I made mock up/template version out of 1/2" plywood and put that in the helm for two reasons: One, I wanted to be able to test the fit for movement, etc. Two, I decided I only wanted two seat backs, but wanted them larger than the stock bench seat. This enabled me to exit the helm easily, but maximize the seatback area. I can sit three on the helm easily. Two on the bench with seat backs, and one sitting sideway straddling the bench. It works much better this way is really nice when the reels go off and I want to get off the helm in a hurry. I used to frequently catch my foot on the folded down seat back and was convinced that sooner or later I would do a header into the cockpit.

If you have any questions, feel free to post them or e-mail me and I'll get you my phone number.

Shambala's website

Messages In This Thread

Helm bench seat
Vince Forte -- Tuesday, 17 May 2005, at 4:39 p.m.

Re: Helm bench seat
Walter Kaprielian -- Tuesday, 17 May 2005, at 5:14 p.m.

Re: Helm bench seat
Brian Smith -- Tuesday, 17 May 2005, at 7:31 p.m.

Re: Helm bench seat
Mike G -- Tuesday, 17 May 2005, at 8:37 p.m.

Re: Helm bench seat
John F. -- Tuesday, 17 May 2005, at 9:16 p.m.

Re: Helm bench seat *LINK* *PIC*
JohnV8r -- Wednesday, 18 May 2005, at 7:06 a.m.

Re: Helm bench seat *LINK*
Bill -- Wednesday, 18 May 2005, at 9:21 a.m.

Re: Helm bench seat
Capt. Dave Kosh -- Wednesday, 18 May 2005, at 11:49 a.m.

Re: Helm bench seat
Rocket -- Wednesday, 18 May 2005, at 12:03 p.m.

Re: Helm bench seat
JohnV8r -- Wednesday, 18 May 2005, at 3:16 p.m.

Re: Helm bench seat
Capt. Dave Kosh -- Wednesday, 18 May 2005, at 3:48 p.m.

Re: Thanks
Vince Forte -- Wednesday, 18 May 2005, at 6:15 p.m.

Re: Helm bench seat
Rocket -- Thursday, 19 May 2005, at 5:13 p.m.