bertram31.com

bob lico wrote:here is close up as you can see i use matte finish varnish .the ipe border takes the place of alluminum border strip in OEM wooden sole.eight years and the ipe takes a beating dropping sole pieces into place .

Is that solid teak & holly or is it plywood with a teak & holly veneer?!...

Bertramp wrote:Yeah... I always kinda chuckle and think ....
it's a "Smart Car", until that full sized pickup is about to hit you, then it aint so "smart" !!

Steve

Since the google car just hit a bus, I guess the smart car is as dumb as a human.

Looking good Bob..love the rich look of that wood. Sliding door is pretty slick as well. BH

answering a PM on line for the brothers to see. Bending corian was by far the most differcult undertaking on the bertram interior.i went to a professional manufacturing plant on long island that is a Corian dealer in northeast.the formen indicated that it would not be possible to make a contour or bend into 90 degrees without oven. ok lets reinvent the wheel again .i took a 2" to 4" pvc. pipe bender and put the 4" corian back sprash in the bender and moved back and forth for even hear then with welding gloves i took entire piece in cabin and form to contour of Bertram interior wall.

I had no idea corian was any flexible at all ! I would bet it would break. Nice !

so did i but as i walk thru the plant i saw them making intricate bends for citibank countertops in mahattan. Phoenix my corp. (now my son`s) does mainly commericial electrical contracting so we have all sorts of tools like 4" pvc bender. What the hell it becomes a crude oven you just have to keep turning the piece to get evenly heated. and use a copper wire that will bend to contour to give exact measurement.

corian brand counter top is actually easy to work with as a matter of fact wood hand saws,power saw with fine teeth,files and sandpaper all work fine i also inserted a brown laminate in corian used in head to jazz it up a little. this is the final version of vanity with air slots under right side of vanity for A/C return air to compressor. i build a sliding door with shelf above compressor for ladies"s sanitary needs. left side essential storage for t/p ,toilet cleaners,soaps and every other damm thing you forget to bring for overnight stay.which brings up a discussion. the sink is very ,very important to the boat.four grandchildren plus friends and adults wash hands before all three meals plus all use sink after using toilet.well i never figured the 18 gallon tank would run out in overnight stay but it does.i sealed top of tank and made waterfill under cockpit hatch so i don`t remove floorboard at busy time but i have to put additional water tank forward of existing tank.galley sink is used all day to wash coffee mugs in morning and BBQ utensils. knifes, and of course while fishing handling bait,chum you got to have brass balls to make a sandwich or eat anything unless you are immune to the dreded food poisoning.-------been there saw that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bob, I posted this upthread but I guess you missed it so I'm reposting it:

bob lico wrote:here is close up as you can see i use matte finish varnish .the ipe border takes the place of alluminum border strip in OEM wooden sole.eight years and the ipe takes a beating dropping sole pieces into place .

Is that solid teak & holly or is it plywood with a teak & holly veneer?!...

i take 3/4" Coosa 26 then i coat it with thicken epoxy on all sides .i cut the floorboard to size minus the 5/16" border of Ipe then one layer of thicken epoxy on top and place 1/4" teak and holley plywood on top with weight for a day.. good for a thousand years and no rot also far lighter (were it counts up forward) then old style OEM.

Thanks... How does the relatively thin teak and holly veneer hold up in usage?!...

How would you think it would hold up in a high traffic area (like the salon on a 46')?!...

i semi retired 11 years ago at 58yo so i figured i wouldd enjoy my hobby .my best friend became wealthy and love to piss away money so he took up fishing and i went out a made him buy a Bertram 510 i am the captain. all the sole of this boat is teak and holley 1/4" thick over a 1 1/2" membrain of F/G over and under with plastic acordian type of material. so i copy the contruction and use Coosa board instead to retain OEM. thickness dimension .

not sure of spelling but all new Bertrams use Nidacore on cabin sole. sometimes teak, sometimes cherry but veneer is 1/4".plywood

Thanks for that information... I'll have to see where I find that sort of veneer... What I have seen so far is plywood (available in various thicknesses) with a top veneer layer (teak & holly) of less then 1/16"...

Navatech wrote:Thanks for that information... I'll have to see where I find that sort of veneer... What I have seen so far is plywood (available in various thicknesses) with a top veneer layer (teak & holly) of less then 1/16"...

Nav

That is it. It is 1/4" plywood with a thin veneer on top.

Tony Meola wrote:It is 1/4" plywood with a thin veneer on top.

I just double checked the sample I have and the teak & holly veneer layer is about 1/32... I would have thought that's so thin that it can't hold long term... Especially in a high traffic area?!...

ok i will bite!!!!!!!!! what differance is it if 1/32" or 6" of solid teak or holley??????????? you walk on the varnish surface not the wood under the varnish.

bob lico wrote:ok i will bite!!!!!!!!! what differance is it if 1/32" or 6" of solid teak or holley??????????? you walk on the varnish surface not the wood under the varnish.

It's called wear and tear... Plus, if you happen to drop something (e.g. tool box or deep drop weight) you might (probably will) damage the top layer of veneer which will then show the substrate...

Maybe I'm over thinking things but that's why I'm asking about people's actual experience...

I've used the teak/holly veneer ply in 2 boats. It was in my previous B31, and I have it in Crows Nest. In my previous B31, the Anna E., I coated the ply with 4 coats or so of West and then 4 coats of a 1-part poly (Spar varnish satin, which really is a poly and not a varnish). The West/poly approach provides a lot of protection and makes it really durable.

The center parts in Crows Nest were done by Doug (previous owner), and I don't think he used West first. He put down a couple of heavy coats of a poly floor finish that included some nonskid. I sanded that off and redid it with West/poly, and its fine. Long story short, it'll last a long, long time if you do the West/poly approach. I'm with Bob on this.

Amtico is the hands down winner over wood, especially on floors in boats

i have never repaired the engines on the phoenix but i bring tools on board for maint. the tool box stays on dock on cart with air impact tank and hose comes on boat along with plastic mechanics tray with tools i am using.i never go in cabin with tool box.the floor has had a high flow of traffic for over 8 years and still looks good. like john said i used four coats but first coat was 50/50 cut with alcohol.i am very satisfied with the durability and the satin finish does not show the beach sand fine scratches like gloss ,however the floor boards are easy to remove and lay out on saw horses and give another one or two coats in future.the satin finish is also less work to recoat because gloss would have to be sanded off to recoat.

I guess you can use teak and holly, if you have women on your boat.

I used diamond plate aluminum. I've dropped all sorts of crap on it. No dents....... no substrate to show through.

mike ohlstein wrote:I guess you can use teak and holly, if you have women on your boat.

That was mean.

It's a dirty job, but.......

mike i cannot have diamond plate in cabin or no sinks because the women out voted me . bride and number one daugther team up .the cockpit for men and cabin for family!that why the head looks like a hair salon with full mirror behind door,sink etc. have to keep peace for beach runs. daughter battles in court every week to much for me to get word in.