A25 Reversible Helm Seat, Part II

[WillieC]

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Details to finish:
1. Install EZ-LOK threaded inserts and knob handles to hold seat in position.
2. Sand and varnish all exposed plywood so my bottom looks as nice as dkirsop's.
3. Start go-fund-me to re-upholster seat. (Just got sewing machine today!)

[dkirsop]

Very cool! Now you just need a foot stool or a leg stretcher so you can rest your feet when facing backwards. How about a beer cooler for a foot rest?

[WillieC]

Yes, the port side facing aft needs a footrest. A beer cooler...nah, I need all the floor space I can get. Maybe something hinged under the seat or its frame. Our engine cover needs to slide all the way back to access the engine, None of this fancy hinged stuff some of you have. At least we don't have to remove the seat to access the engine. (Don't worry, I'll find room for the beer cooler.)

The next project is opening up the port stowage area for the new super, duper cooler we got earlier this year. It HAS to go there and pretty much stay there, so I am noodling ideas on that now. Last summer we chased our old thinwall cheapo cooler all over the boat. This new one, a Pelican, is heavy enough empty so it needs a home.

The whole thing started with wanting to make the pilot house more usable for visiting guests. Now I think we can get six in there reasonably comfortably. Our table rests on its post just aft the seat, but not all our guests would appreciate me flopping my feet on the table.

[kerrye]

Nice work. I think I got it. How did you make the plastic dohicky with the threaded rod in it? How stable is the seat? Does it have any tendency to spin if you put pressure forward at the port end for instance?

[WillieC]

I was wandering through Hardware Sales in Bellingham a couple weeks ago and found a bin of UHMW plastic scrap chunks and bought a much larger piece than I needed. I whacked a 3"X3"X1" piece off in my table saw. Then I used a 1-3/8" hole saw to drill half way through the chunk. Back to the table saw to remove the excess shoulders, then finish the corners with a hacksaw and a bunch of filing. This is an early attempt at working with this stuff, others may have more experience. Careful! It tends to grab your tools, so count your fingers at each stage.

I now have installed something that will last far longer than I or the boat itself. The same piece could be made out of good plywood or even a solid piece of wood, maybe even a chunk of aluminum. It is under no stress, but my concern was to have something that will not split. Simpler to buy a 3"X3"X1" chunk of Starboard from Tap Plastics. I also scrounge junk stores for abandoned kitchen cutting boards for the same stuff, but have not found anything over 1/2" thick. Note that I was able to tap the UHMW for the 3/8" threaded rod.

The placement of the pivot piece was extremely fortuitous. (The lower piece of 3/4" plywood is not part of the original installation. I added it to make it all work. It, and the additional height provided by the pivot guide, raise the seat back to the height originally provided by a PO installing two solid runners atop the aluminum channels, which I removed.) I toyed with scraps of paper up in my Own Private Starbucks window on the Canal and found that simply by pivoting on the center of the base, the back would run into the wheel. When I finally got off my stool and actually went out to the boat, I soon found that the balance point of the seat, not the center of the base, is the preferred location for the pivot. This location accounts for the weight of the back and moves the pivot point several inches to the rear. This proved to be enough for the back to clear the wheel and it was time for happy hour.

As to the wobble factor. I did not show the additional strips of white plywood I added on each side of the center guide strip, which raise the base to the same level and provide the required support. Two things at work here: corner clearance and restoring original height, mentioned above. The aluminum corner gussets on the seat, with their attachment screws, hang below the base of the seat which is why I made the slot guide instead of simply slotting the lower piece of plywood. Raising it up that half inch allowed the corner gussets to clear the base as it pivots. That also made the whole thing wobbly without the additional strips of support. I will post a couple more pics when I finish installing the EZ-LOK inserts which, hopefully, will be enough to hold it all back together. We were on enough rough water last summer to drill into my head that everything is secured when under way.

The white plywood is scrap I have been carrying around for over thirty years. It is melamine covered marine plywood, no voids, that is super slick. Plain old 1/2" plywood or OSB, heaven forbid, would be good enough. I figured with the UHMW pivot and this stuff, once my grandkids figure out where the holddown bolts are, they will entertain themselves for hours in spite of pinched or severed fingers and endless hours of jocular discussion of whose turn is it to spin the thing.

[WillieC]

Here are a couple more pics.

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The geometry says that one should be able to use the same inserts and pilot holes in the seat base whether facing forward or reversed. Easier said than done. Just keep oversizing the holes in the base until they fit either way. Then go get a new piece of plywood and start over. Just kidding, that's what fender washers are for. Up to a point. It might have been quicker to use a piece of 1/4" or cardboard template, but then you would also need to mock up the pivot pin. Or go buy the $350 reversing seat that has been suggested elsewhere.

[DesertAlbin736]

Slick! That's the trick, being able to slide the seat back at what looks like an angle to clear the steering wheel.

Hmmm, I wonder.... yes it would mean spending some $$, but what about a pair of bucket seats on locking swivel bases, something like this, $120 each from Defender?

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Or, for lower budget option, seats like this from Walmart, $36 each. But personally would be tempted to use the nicer seats, although the WallyWorld seats would be OK, probably as or more comfortable than our stock bench seat.

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Mount them on s/s locking swivel bases, also from WallyWorld, $39 each, bolted to a plywood base...

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Of course to rotate one or both seats 180 degress you'd have to slide the inboard one out of the way sideways some, for which you could buy or make dovetail drawer slides like this, available for $10 each in 22" lengths from Rockler.com, held in place with toggle bolts or locking pins.

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Advantage here vs bench seat is that the helmsperson could be steering under way while the mate (or swab as the case may be) could be swiveled around on the other seat facing aft to chat with guests. We do keep our cooler under the seat, which could serves as foot rests.

Total cost $332 plus plywood for base & fasteners for the upgraded seats, or $95 for the cheaper seats plus plywood base & fasteners.

[WillieC]

Nice alternatives, Steve. I like the bench for grandkids. One of the boys was about six when I took him out and showed him the ropes. I went down the checklist before departing our mooring ball and his job was to say "Check!" as I went down the list. I lament the day when he's too big for that kind of nonsense.

[DesertAlbin736]

I think we'd need four point restraints for the grand kids as they tend to bounce off the walls & pick on each other incessantly. Actually they're the great-grand kids, two boys which are now 8 & 9 going on 9 & 10. They are good boys, just need to mellow out a bit more. As for the other 8 mostly grown grandchildren, our youngest granddaughter graduates from high school this year, with honors of course, and the youngest grandson turns 21 on his next birthday. None of them are much interested in the boat, and even if they were they're all busy with school & work & live across town, some as far away as 45 miles. Until those great grandsons become a bit more mature, learn to settle down some & not pester each other constantly they're not going out on the boat with us any time soon. See how happy I look to have them along? Their "other" grandpa can take them out fishing on his bass boat. This was almost 2 years ago, and they haven't gone on out on our boat with us since.

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But of course I guess I wasn't perfect at that age either when my dad used to take me out fishing & crabbing in his boat.

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Anyway I think I can make the two buckets seats work without having a slider if I space the seats at least 3 inches apart.

This $60 Wise brand folding high back seat from Walmart measures 19.25L x 17W x 22.5H, which gives it a rotating radius of about 12 inches from the center, assuming the length dimension is front-to-back. So you could rotate them one at a time if they're spaced at least 3 to 4 inches apart. The existing seat base is 42 inches wide by 22 deep. Even if the long dimension was side-to-side there's room to space them at least 4 inches apart, since the outside edge of the seat platform is 4 or 5 inches from the side wall.
So this would be about a 2 boat unit project.

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[WillieC]

Here's the view from the final install.

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Sort of.

[DesertAlbin736]

...the view from the final install. Sort of.

If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.

If wishes were in fact horses, this would be my ride...

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