galley counter material

[James.Taylor]

The galley counter on my boat is translucent white plastic stuff about 1/4" thick. It is cracked and scratched after 20 years of use. I am thinking of replacing it. What has worked for your galley counter top?

[Nicholas Carey]

I saw a really nice 30's-vintage Lake Union Dreamboat that still had the original Monel (!) counters in her galley.

Very nice looking. Tough, too.

[Mike Vogdes]

Corion is all the rage now a days as I'm sure you know.

How about granite? There's a custom tile shop across the street from my shop, and they make custom counter tops out of stone for their upscale clientel. I have seen them throw away sink and stove cut outs that would be more than enough for a typical galley on a boat.

[Bob Smalser]

I like to lay up maple strips, say 3/4" X 1" on edge and drift together with dowels on the ends. Add a couple 1/4" walnut or other contrasting color wood between and walnut wedges in the ends of the dowels for decoration and it looks good. Mineral oil finish so it's a safe cutting board...when it gets cut or scuffed up, a touch of 150 grit ont he belt sander and new mineral oil fixes it after removing the sink.

[ChrisConnie]

My 59' Connie is still sporting the orig. stainless steel. Still looks great and is back in style.

You could go this route. Create a cardboard template, have it 'fabbed' and glue it right over the top of your current top. I did this in an old house to cover up burnt orange formica left over from the seventy's. Had a backsplash and rounded front bent in...no seams!

[Aramas]

I suspect that the most convenient and long lasting would be stainless (ick!) or brass over an insulating backing. Stainless has the advantage of being a crappy heat conductor, so putting a hot pot on it won't heat the whole counter. Brass sure looks pretty though.

Bare wood also works well, but it stains and scorches and has to be rubbed back occasionally.

The synthetic laminates invariably seem to crap themselves if you put something hot on them.

Stone is a nice idea, but it's a little heavy smile.gif

Ideally you want something that you can cut on without marking, and put hot things on without scorching. I'm all for a brass unit with built in sink, raised edges to stop dripping, and continuing up the bulkhead as a splash/scorch shield. Especially if someone else was paying :cool: Since we all have to pay our own way, it would be wood, wood or wood. There are a number of scorch resistant hardwoods around that would do the job. I'm thinking karri, but you guys probably don't see a lot of that. The 'little sticks' approach works, but I'd be going for 2 - 3 planks fastened with dowels and glued, then installed to allow some movement - ie hard fastened at one end and held in place to allow movement elsewhere.

Incidentally karri, being a eucalypt is not only scorch resistant, but has strong antibacterial properties which is nice in a food preparation area.

[ 10-26-2003, 12:22 AM: Message edited by: Aramas ]

[Bob Smalser]

Got an email that questioned that didn't maple and water not mix.

True...and if I had Aramas' access to scorch-resistant woods cheaply, I'd sure use them. But I'd still lay them up in narrow strips on edge...less movement you have to deal with and those epoxy or resorcinol gluelines are tougher than the wood when it comes to wear.

Maple is white, hard and cheap. Personally, I like scuffs and burns in my wood....character....so long as it's kept well-cared-for....oiled after thorough scrubbing with an oil that doesn't go rancid.

What I don't like, is black mold stains that can occur around the sink and faucet holes. Prevent those by sealing the hole cutouts and the underside thoroughly with epoxy and insuring good tight gasket seals at the flanges.

For 5 bucks in wood, you can make your countertop in a couple hours if you have a thickness planer...and if it gets too gross for your tastes, you can make another easily enuf.

[Nicholas Carey]

It all depends on your boat. What might look proper on a Concordia yawl might be completely out of place on a Cigarette.

The monel was [mostly] tongue-in-cheek (monel's a bit spendy)

But you could have other sheet metal (stainless, copper, zinc, etc.) fabricated for a [somewhat] reasonable price.

Check out the phenolic laminates (e.g., Formica). They even make metal laminates these days. They have the advantage of price and ease of installation.

Corian, stone, etc., look nice, but very heavy. Corian, in particular, also suffers from temperature/humidity movement. If it's not installed properly, according to the book, you may likely see cracks develop as it moves.

[Aramas]

Bob, I expect you have a lot more experience than I do (not difficult ;) ) when it comes to putting bits of wood together. My favourite woodworking tool is, after all, a disk sander tongue.gif

The reason I don't like the 'little sticks' approach is purely aesthetic. I like big bits of real wood. I have a cutting board that's just an unfinished 12" x 24" Tasmanian Oak offcut from a new skirting board used in renovationg a victorian house. It has a kind of ogee thingy on one edge that's handy for holding knives and things, but other than that it's just a big bit of naturally beautiful wood. I've used it for about 10 years, and sometimes it will warp a little when the weather changes, and it gets knife marks and coffee stains from time to time. Every now and then I give it a good scrub with a brush, and a couple of times I've gone to town with some steel wool.

Point being, it's just a big old bit of wood that shows evidence of a long and hard life, and it's beautiful. When I see those little stick things, it just doesn't make me feel the same way. It's like an industrial object, rather than a natural one. I can live with painted over wood/epoxy boats as long as there's lots of big bits of real wood to offset the sterility, but if it's for something that's going to be right there in my face, it's gotta be a big chunk of real wood. smile.gif

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

I suspect that this is not ideal, but mine is 1" teak, with 2 pot polyurethane varnish. You can put a boiling kettle on it quite happily.

[Concordia..41]

James, I couldn't get your website to open. Please remind us what your boat is.

Granite - egads!!! I darn near fell out of my chair - 'cause my brain thinks mainly about sailboats and weight - but if James has a large trawler or similar it wouldn't be the same.

BTW I have a really radical idea for replacing Sarah's when we get to that point.

[Aramas]

BTW I have a really radical idea for replacing Sarah's when we get to that point Do tell! tongue.gif

[Bob Smalser]

Nice to hear other folks like wood, too...some think I'm nuts....just too cheap to buy that ridiculously-expensive Corion or precious metal, don't like the look of it full of knife cuts and don't like the plastic feel of it.

Solid boards are dandy...just make the plumbing cutouts large enuf so they don't bind and crack the wood and mount the top so's it can move:

http://pic3.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/2594265/36332508.jpg

[ 10-26-2003, 09:14 AM: Message edited by: Bob Smalser ]

[Jack Heinlen]

Just a side note. Cutting boards of wood have been shown to hold and breed bacteria at a much lower rate than plastic ones. I suppose if it's sealed in a poly it won't make much difference.

[ 10-26-2003, 11:16 PM: Message edited by: Jack Heinlen ]

[huisjen]

We have maple counter tops in our kitchen. Near the sink we had problems with staining that mineral oil wasn't overcoming. We've found that Tung oil works much better.

Dan

[Bob Smalser]

We've found that Tung oil works much better.
Probably a better idea...but steer clear of the "polymerized" stuff with poisonous heavy metal driers in it and use pure tung.

[Concordia..41]

Light Weight "Wood" Thread (http://media5.hypernet.com/cgi-bin/UBB/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=6&t=001104&p=)

I've not made my table yet, but we got the foam in - paid something like $68 for a 4' x 8' sheet of 3 lb. - including shipping.

The table for the little boat will be a simple starter project. </font> Remove fiddles from old table </font> Cut foam </font> Apply Formica (original surface) </font> Attach fiddles </font>Oyster e-mailed some helpful instructions and links that I've saved for reference.
As far as Sarah's galley goes, it's not so much about the weight savings - it's more about weight I don't want falling on my head and/or scratching whatever it falls against. Plus I believe the sky's the limit as what you can do with foam.
Sarah's last owner went to quite a bit of trouble/expense having counter tops made from Formica (over 3/4 ply) that wrap around all the way from port, under the companion way, to starboard - most of which lift for storage and/or engine access. Each piece weighs anywhere from 5 to 15 lbs. and has to be held back with a latch or physically moved out of the way.

WHY????? do I need all that weight dropping down on my fingers or the back of my head when I lean in to get to the bottom of a compartment????

After all the work we're doing, I can assure you the Formica isn't going back in. That leaves us with completely remaking the cabinet tops - either out of solid wood (hard to get, expensive and heavy) or out of veneered foam (easy to get, same price probably after buying veneer and scaling the learning curve, and light) Plus it's really COOL :cool: .

Imagine someone sitting in the salon and I toss the lid to the ice box at them with a 'Here, hold this' - They brace for impact, but it weighs less than a pound :D

Some (including my husband) disagree, but he'll come around.

A while back John Blazy (I think) had a link to a site with the most amazing veneer selection. I won't be going with anything exotic, but there's some really cool stuff out there!!!

[ 10-26-2003, 12:12 PM: Message edited by: Concordia..41 ]

[JimConlin]

Margo, I just bought some 1/16" Honduras mahogany veneer from Edensaw. Lovely stuff. Shipping from Seattle to Boston took only five days.
Have fun!

Let's see... In the Concordia, the galley counters are above the CG, so lightening them makes the boat more stable...

[Meerkat]

Maple and water; how long is long? The Pardeys related that they had to replace their maple counter after (about) 10 years of use because it had started to rot. After 10 years, maybe a change would be nice! ;)

I have something scatching at the back of my head about how one constructs a cutting board (same notion as a "stripped" counter eh?) so that it won't warp or cup and something about the way the end caps (for lack of a better term) are attached. Can anyone (Bob?) enlighten me?

BTW, in lieu of making a whole counter out of granite (sheesh!), a small insert or a few fancy tiles might be a nice touch for setting hot stuff on etc.
http://www.redondobeachhistorical.org/images/tilesample.jpg
So called "California" or "Mailbu" tiles. Many more pics at http://www.arttileswest.com/styles_mo.htm

Tiles like this might make a very nice backing for a cabin heater installation too.

[ 10-26-2003, 03:28 PM: Message edited by: Meerkat ]

[Concordia..41]

Re: Meerkat's idea of a spot area to set hot stuff on. One of the boats I work on has one insert made out of butcher block. It goes over a seldom used compartment to the left of the cook stove. You can set your pots on it, or you can move it to the table or other location as needed. :cool:

[Gerald]

I like the idea of the wooden counter top with cuts, dings and scratches. I helped my best friend build crude butcher block counter tops in his kitchen. He only has one arm and has special ways of doing things with meat cleavers and knifes. He also has flash backs so there are lots of dings and the like from flying pans. I really like his house better than mine but I can't bring myself to live with dings and scratches. Strange huh?
In my boat I installed 2" ceramic tile as a counter top right over the 35 year old Formica and worked in some antique tile on the sides. When I get tired of the tile top and really decide what stove I want I will change to a stone top.
Here in Brazil we have a stone cutter on almost every corner. The very very poor and very very rich use Formica. The very very poor because Formica on pressed board is cheap and the rich because they are copying what they see in the states. The very poor use stainless and the rest of us use stone.
Margo ..... I am surprised that you rejected the idea of a stone counter top in such a hurry. If you don't count the sink and stove top my counter top takes up 1000 sq. inches. I calculate a 3/4" maple top to weigh 19 pounds and a 1/4" marble top to weigh 23 pounds, not counting the seating compound. However, if you are considering foam core etc. I can see where natural materials would not suit your needs.
Gerald

[JimConlin]

I've seen marble applied to honeycomb in fahncy yachts.

I've been thinking of 1/4" Corian over plywood in the current project but have been deterred both by the weight and by having a hard time finding it at a reasonable price.

I think i'll punt and go with Formica on 1/4" ply or on Core-Cell and glass. We're going for lightness in this one.
Will epoxy bond formica?

[Aramas]

An old multihuller trick is to use ply and gut the bottom of it with a router, leaving several 'beams' to support it, then fiberglass over the bottom. Light strong and at least it still looks like wood.

[igatenby]

I've kept the sink and stove cutouts from our kitchen renovation for the galley in Grantala - I'm told this stuff is 600 million years old.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid85/pbed9d0dd34d2581021255a2e2770ebfa/fab90741.jpg

The plan is to inlay the granite in timber.

Weight is not a critical issue - says I, having just fitted another 2 (of 26 - 6 more to fit) windows in 10mm toughened glass. Grantala displaces 24.8 tons.

Ian

[JimConlin]

We have different perspectives. My current project, a 28' Newick tri, is to weigh 0.75 tons empty.

[igatenby]

Horses for courses... My 20' plywood Tornado weighs in at 120kg. Getting a bit old to sleep on board it though.

Ian