-MattK- Posted December 28, 2015 Report Share Posted December 28, 2015 This is kind of a fun one... a friend in Australia needs a new boss for his boat's steering wheel (photo below if, like me, you don't know steering wheel anatomy). He sent a diagram with dimensions (in metric - yikes!) and I'm pretty confident I can make it... the only question is "what wood?" In 8+/4 wood in the shop, I currently have sugar maple, walnut and purpleheart... do you think any of those would work? Or should I got for something more "nautical" like teak? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Z. Posted December 28, 2015 Report Share Posted December 28, 2015 Easy day. Do NOT use maple. It is not at all rot resistant, and does not belong on a boat. If you want white, use holly. Walnut can work, but there is a seagoing superstition against walnut on boats. That superstition has to do with coffins being made of walnut, so sailors did not want to ship with things made of coffin wood. Purple heart would work well, and with something that small, don't worry about the weight. Teak would work. Elm or Locust would be good. Osage Orange would work. Yew would be fun. You can make your own bearings from Lignum Vitae. What it really comes down to is esthetics. Decide on a color that goes with the rest of the boat (Match? Contrast?) and go from there. From your list, I'd go with the purple heart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted December 28, 2015 Report Share Posted December 28, 2015 And protect the crap out of it with finish! Unless you go with teak, anyway. How will it attach? That center hub looks like the original part may have been a chrome "cup" that snapped over the preforated rim around the bolts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted December 28, 2015 Report Share Posted December 28, 2015 True mahogany would work as well if you have a scrap that size. Maybe an epoxy finish with a uv resistant varnish top coat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Cancelleri Posted December 28, 2015 Report Share Posted December 28, 2015 I would say Teak with Epifanes for the finish. It's a marine grade varnish with UV blockers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boatworks Today Posted December 28, 2015 Report Share Posted December 28, 2015 More and more some of the high end builders are using cherry due to the high cost and availability of good teak. In actuality you can use almost any wood and use a stain / grain filler to get the color tone you're looking for. Classic Chris Crafts, Hacker Crafts, etc use mahogany for all of the exterior and go over with two different stains / fillers. Most common is a stain made by Pettit; their 1081. To get the dark chocolate brown color used for accent pieces you just mix in some black oil based paint :-) Not the best video in the world, but this shows what I'm talking about ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted December 28, 2015 Report Share Posted December 28, 2015 http://www.ebay.com/itm/EXOTIC-WOOD-RED-AMBOYNA-BURL-WOOD-TURNING-BLANK-GALLERY-GRADE-4X4X2-/262192398532?hash=item3d0be280c4:g:c6gAAOSwlV9WR9kv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-MattK- Posted February 19, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2016 So I made this for my friend Paul a few weeks back, packaged it up and sent it to Australia. I went with purpleheart because it's just such a dense wood, I though it would handle the weather well. Paul installed it - it fits great but it looks terrible. TERRIBLE. How terrible? Like a clown nose. Don't believe me? Try this: HAHAHAHAHA!! Honk honk! I can't stop giggling every time I look at that photo. Soooo... any ideas on changing the color of purpleheart? Can you ebonize it like maple? Otherwise I'll make another one, I'm happy to do it, it wasn't very difficult at all - easily less than 2 hours. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxdabroxx Posted February 20, 2016 Report Share Posted February 20, 2016 I think I would try and match the color of the burl that is in the dashboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-MattK- Posted February 20, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2016 5 minutes ago, xxdabroxx said: I think I would try and match the color of the burl that is in the dashboard. I would too, but I'm not sure how to get there starting with purpleheart. So my friend's going to play with ways of making it less obnoxious and if he can't get there then I'll be trying to find something to color match the burl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted February 20, 2016 Report Share Posted February 20, 2016 Tell him to let it sit in the Australian sun for a few weeks and it'll be nice and brown. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drzaius Posted February 20, 2016 Report Share Posted February 20, 2016 No personal experience, but I've heard from others that purple heart looses that color before long (so Eric isn't just being a smart a$$). But ya, that does look pretty hilarious. Bet your buddy loves it though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted February 20, 2016 Report Share Posted February 20, 2016 Eric is quite right. Give it a few weeks in the sun and it will darken into a brownish purple tone . Can get really dark but I still notice the purplish hue . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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