Ive been asked about these a few times and had some time this morning so I put together a tutorial on how me and my buddy Wayne who built the 35 Crow Point made them, they are cheap, lightweight, simple, dont get hot, blend in with the deck ,and are pretty watertight, I have the templates/ cutouts at my house for a 21x12 opening ( Im 6ft 195lbs and can just squeze into on of these if I need to lay down below deck) if anyone wants to borrow it I can ship them to you , just have to ship it back or send to the next guy.
Basically I just used the technology Armstrong deck hatches use but routed a groove into the deck and used a " D type" car hatch seal that I got off ebay and 5200 them into the groove. I made them out of coosa/ glass.
Steps
1) lay out where you want the hatch and any obstructions and measure, you want to use the same hatch throughout the boat as it makes it a lot easier.
2) make a template on Microsoft paint or print the ones out here and take them to staples and blow them up in multiple sizes til you get it right, you need the cutout template and the lid template which is the same size just 1.5"-2" bigger.. its up to you.. you could just trace this using a scribe from the cutout template if you want too.
3) make a cutout template on a piece of plywood or whatever you have.
4) position it where you want and trace it on to the deck.
5) cut it out on the deck but make sure you start the cut off out with a oscillating saw because the piece you are cutting out you are gonna be reusing. cut the remainder out with a jig saw.
6) sand down the edges of the piece you just cutout and label top and bottom, everyone will be a bit different so if you are building a bunch of them label them.
7) make the top/ flange out of straight fiberglass, til you get it about 3/16"-1/4" thick,, it should be 1.5" to 2" bigger but you can go bigger if you want.
8) position the top flange in the middle of the cutout piece and bond it down with hull and deck and or epoxy
9) drill a pilot hole right in the center of the hatch and bore out the top with a fostner bit so that the bolt and washer lay below the surface.
10) Make the T bar out of PT or whatever you want , I just used porch railing balusters from Lowes, just make them sticking out say 3/4" longer than the cutout.
11) drill out the center of the T bar 5/8" or whatever size bolt you are using,,, then hammer in the T-Nut on the backside, for the Nut youll have to play around to get right length, use a bonding washer to seal it.
12) make or borrow router template and route out a 5/8" groove about 1/4" to 5/16" deep. play around with this on a scrap , you dont want the gasket too proud or too deep. then 5200 the gasket into the groove.
then just gelcoat or paint them.
Video of water being sprayed on one
pics attached are better than my description any questions just reply here or PM thanks
Here is some of the materials needed..
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Basically I just used the technology Armstrong deck hatches use but routed a groove into the deck and used a " D type" car hatch seal that I got off ebay and 5200 them into the groove. I made them out of coosa/ glass.
Steps
1) lay out where you want the hatch and any obstructions and measure, you want to use the same hatch throughout the boat as it makes it a lot easier.
2) make a template on Microsoft paint or print the ones out here and take them to staples and blow them up in multiple sizes til you get it right, you need the cutout template and the lid template which is the same size just 1.5"-2" bigger.. its up to you.. you could just trace this using a scribe from the cutout template if you want too.
3) make a cutout template on a piece of plywood or whatever you have.
4) position it where you want and trace it on to the deck.
5) cut it out on the deck but make sure you start the cut off out with a oscillating saw because the piece you are cutting out you are gonna be reusing. cut the remainder out with a jig saw.
6) sand down the edges of the piece you just cutout and label top and bottom, everyone will be a bit different so if you are building a bunch of them label them.
7) make the top/ flange out of straight fiberglass, til you get it about 3/16"-1/4" thick,, it should be 1.5" to 2" bigger but you can go bigger if you want.
8) position the top flange in the middle of the cutout piece and bond it down with hull and deck and or epoxy
9) drill a pilot hole right in the center of the hatch and bore out the top with a fostner bit so that the bolt and washer lay below the surface.
10) Make the T bar out of PT or whatever you want , I just used porch railing balusters from Lowes, just make them sticking out say 3/4" longer than the cutout.
11) drill out the center of the T bar 5/8" or whatever size bolt you are using,,, then hammer in the T-Nut on the backside, for the Nut youll have to play around to get right length, use a bonding washer to seal it.
12) make or borrow router template and route out a 5/8" groove about 1/4" to 5/16" deep. play around with this on a scrap , you dont want the gasket too proud or too deep. then 5200 the gasket into the groove.
then just gelcoat or paint them.
Video of water being sprayed on one
pics attached are better than my description any questions just reply here or PM thanks
Here is some of the materials needed..
