build A bow pulpit

[phatmanmike]

has anybody done this themselves. what did they use, materials wise. i have a 16 foor center console and want one so i can use an anchor roller. can i build one out of teak or mahogany and make it shiny with shellac?<br /><br />m ikey

 

[ThomWV]

Re: build A bow pulpit

I built a replacement one for our boat this past winter. Not much to it to tell you the truth.<br /><br />I made the new one out of Black Walnut just because I had a bunch of it laying around. The widest chunk I had that was 2" thick was only 10" wide so I had to glue strips on each side, then replane the whole thing. Once I had it to size I cut it out rounding the nose a bit and then we (a friend of mine is a woodworker so it was really him doing the work) rounded all of the edges to a half inch radius.<br /><br />I drilled the hole for the anchor line and the holes for the bolts that hold it down then I rubbed the entire thing down with epoxy made up with a slow set hardner. That allowed the epoxy to soak into the wood as much as possible and also water proofed the holes. The picture below was taken when it was in that stage. I gave it two coats of epoxy, with it lightly sanded between coats, and then I finished it with about a half a dozen coats of clear lacquer. I don't think I have taken a picture of it on the boat yet but it looks quite nice.<br /><br />Here it is next to the old one right after the first soaking with epoxy:<br /><br />

<br /><br />Thom