A25 sapele plywood refinishing

[Northern Spy]

Certain crew who shall remain anonymous broke the folding leg on our table. I have sourced a new piece of sapele to replace it but it is unfinished. I saw a few videos on the interweb about how to finish it but none rally match what I have in my 1975 A25.

I also have a few spots on the original wood that are getting thin. The Albin manual says to use "varnish" IIRC, that seems a bit generic, any input?

[DesertAlbin736]

Try Harbor Sales located on Maryland's Eastern Shore.

http://www.harborsales.net/Products/Wood.aspx

Back in the early 2000s I owned a 1980 Montgomery 15 sailboat & needed to replace companionway hatch boards that were 3/8" teak veneer plywood. I found Harbor Sales (not to be confused with Harbor Freight) in Maryland while visiting my parents in Delaware. I bought a 4 X 8 sheet of marine grade 9MM Okeume ply with teak veneer finish on both sides, cut into thirds (32x48) for shipping. Was not cheap, but is close to A25 joinery. I had some leftover from that project that I've kept around for years and finally used it to make the teak hatches on my hardtop project last year. Try calling them, & if nothing else they might be able to help point to a source. In the picture below are the unfinished hatches. I used a radial arm saw to kerf shallow grooves which I filled with black polysulfide caulk to simulate teak strips, then finished with varnish over West System epoxy as shown in the 2nd photo.

[tego]

Spy, Your sapele is just a little lighter shade than the teak ply that was originally used. Any light/medium shade of Minwax stain, available at Walmart or HD or Lowes will bring it to a similar color. The varnish or polyurethane you use as a finish coat will also darken it a bit. Use a sample of your scrap/leftover sapele to experiment on. You'll get it really close with no problem. Ben

[Northern Spy]

I found several pieces of sapele on Ebay, Ordered a nice piece of 1s 4/4 for $27. i got it today and it looks great. i dont know how long it has aged but it looks darker in person than images I have seen on the net. I think I'll try a few samples with cherry stain at different ratios into a good satin spar like epifanes.

On another note has anyone come across a source for the little rubber strap that holds the table leg down?