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Strip: sprung hatchlids
By:Mark Rakestraw in upstate NY
Date: 12/29/2002, 3:08 pm

I cut the three hatch lids in my double and epoxied a lip underneath for them to rest on. My original intent was to use rare earth magnets to hold on the hatch lid. A couple of weeks passed before I got back to cleaning up the lip and fitting the lids. I've found that the front and rear hatches (the more rounded of the three) have flattened out some in relationship to the deck. Rats, I thought they wouldn't move since they'd been glassed top and bottom. I didn't seal the edges, thinking that the house was relatively dry and it wouldn't be a problem for the shortterm. While I can push them back into the same curve as the deck it requires a bit of force to do so and I'm worried that the magnets (or bungee cord for that matter) won't be strong enough to both bend the hatch lid to the proper curvature and compress the gasket to make a watertight seal. Has anyone dealt with this before? Will it gradually re-conform to the curvature of the deck if I hold it in place for a while? If not, could I sacrifice a little underdeck space and make a truss on the bottom of the hatch lid to hold it in the proper curvature? How about using a turnbuckle underneath the lid to draw sides together to hold the right shape?
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated--
thanks,
mark

Messages In This Thread

Strip: sprung hatchlids
Mark Rakestraw in upstate NY -- 12/29/2002, 3:08 pm
Re: Strip: sprung hatchlids
Charles Leach -- 12/30/2002, 1:53 am
Re: Strip: sprung hatchlids *Pic*
Ken Sutherland -- 12/29/2002, 10:21 pm