October 31, 2019
Having arrived from a work trip in the late afternoon, I decided to get in a couple hours on the boat. The companionway hatch was glued and cured, and was now in need of shaping, so that would be my focus for this afternoon.
I began by moving the work table outside the shop, and then placing the companionway hatch on top. I outfitted the large router with a straight-cutting bit, with a guide bearing. The guide bearing would run alongside the hatch frame to trim the overhanging top flush. With a hand saw, I first trimmed some of the longer slats comprising the hatch top. I then applied the router to the hatch, making my way around the frame of the hatch. With the hatch top now flush to the hatch frame on all sides, I changed to a 1/4" round over router bit. This round over bit also has a guide bearing, and so I used that bearing to the follow the hatch frame surface and rounded over the top.
The router imparted some roughness in the cutting process, so I cleaned up the surfaces with the 5" random orbital sander. I smoothed the top of the hatch and the frame of the hatch.
Next, I outfitted the compact router with a small diameter groove cutting bit. Using the straightedge, I cut the shallow groove at the seems of the glued up slats. Like I had done for the lazarette and forward hatches, the grooves will contain the teak decking caulk - more of an aesthetic than anything.
With the grooves cut, I cleaned up the cut surfaces by hand sanding.
After wiping down the surfaces of the hatch, I applied a thinned sealer coat of Epifanes clear gloss varnish. Application was with a foam brush.
As I had done with the other hatches, I wanted to get a sealer coat of varnish on prior to the black teak decking caulk, and prior to the successive build up of the 5 to 7 coats of varnish.
Total Time Today: 2.5 hrs
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