Seat hatches

[sscoville]

I have almost completed the gluing up the various pieces which make up the side seat hatches and I have the side chamber/side seat tops ready to install.  I want to make sure I get the order of installation correct.  Do I glue the seat tops on and then cut the piece for the hatch top from the seat along with cutting through the inboard stringer and side of the chamber/seat?  And then take my assembled hatch, less the cover, glue it into the cut out, then attach the cover?

[wkisting]

Yes, that's the process I followed.

1. Glue up the seat tops so you have a totally sealed compartment.

2. Carefully mark and cut out the hatch covers (which wrap over the edge onto the face of the seat a bit, so you end up with a somewhat L-shaped cutout that becomes the hatch lid). Don't forget to mark each hatch AND the corresponding space from which it was cut with some identifying mark so you know how to match them up again later (otherwise you might confuse which hatch lid goes where when you come back to reinstall them).

3. Make and glue in the hatch rims (i.e., drainage channels) that run around the edges of the cutaway opening. Make sure your drainage channels are wide enough to give adequate clearance for the side pieces of the hatch lid to recess into when the hatch closes.

4. Test fit the hatch lid cutouts (the L-shaped pieces) back in place, making sure the angle of the L-shaped lid is correct (has not distorted) to match the seats. You can make minor adjustments to fix any visible distortion of the lid when sizing, cutting, and installing the little triangular-ish side pieces that get attached to the L-shaped piece to turn it into a rigid lid.

5. Install the little triangular-ish side pieces that complete the hatch lid and make it rigid.

6. Attach finished hatch lids (usually by installing one long piano hinge or a pair of smaller hinges for each lid)

7. Attach some kind of hold-down device to keep the hatches shut in event of a capsize. Some builders use shock/bungee cord. I used padlock-able metal hasps/latches. Whatever you prefer.

Hope that all made sense... hard to describe, easier to visualize in practice

[sscoville]

That's great.  Thank you very much.