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Teak would be an investment as it would last a long time. Other woods will deteriorate quickly from the exposure to water or they will be too weak. A substitute might be marine grade plywood if you keep it protected with a varnish type product or cover it with fiberglass. It's hard to imagine that the cost would be significant considering the small amount that you would need.
I would not go with plywood or Starboard.* Plywood is nowhere near as strong as hardwood (I know Teak, is in fact, a softwood) in will also delaminate without perfect care.* I would*not use Starboard either, it will not support a load unsupported load (anchor); it will bend.* If I had to use other than Teak, I would look to Maghony, Oak, or maybe Cypress..* Seal it perfectly.*
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Boston Whaler, "MUMBLER", 24 Outrage, twin 175 HP Evinrude Ocean Pros
Would you consider a fiberglass bow pulpit. I saw some at NY boat show from company in Florida. Shoot me an email if you are interested and I will look for their contact data.
Ipe aka Ironwood would have the stregnth for a bow pulpit. I'm not sure how good it will laminate and it's tough to work with but it's a very dense wood.
I used teak on mine.
Just thinking out loud here I have no experience with this but what if you cut the pulpit out of steel then seal fiber glassed it and gel coated it I think this is what we have on the parker
Location: Quebec, Canada and Pirates Cove, OBX, NC
Posts: 17,813
RE: bow pulpit
Quote:
Mumblerone - 2/6/2005 11:12 AM I would not go with plywood or Starboard.* Plywood is nowhere near as strong as hardwood (I know Teak, is in fact, a softwood) in will also delaminate without perfect care.* I would*not use Starboard either, it will not support a load unsupported load (anchor); it will bend.* If I had to use other than Teak, I would look to Maghony, Oak, or maybe Cypress..* Seal it perfectly.*
I agree with the above*but remembering that*once you are into hardwood e.g. oak and mahogony, that the price is getting close to teak . . . and remember to through bolt the pulpit and use a good backing plate or you might pull it off of your boat . . . potential for serious injury if boat is in gear
glacierbaze...great job.* I'd say your very well supported.* Put a piece of 3/4" Starboard between two supports, say 2' foot apart.* Make the piece about 30" long, 6" wide.* See what happens.* Again, you did an unusual job.*
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Boston Whaler, "MUMBLER", 24 Outrage, twin 175 HP Evinrude Ocean Pros
auguste - 2/6/2005 2:44 PM
once you are into hardwood ... oak and mahogany, the price is getting close to teak. Remember to through bolt the pulpit and use a good backing plate or you might pull it off of your boat.
While making this custom pulpit below I designed and fabricated for my Parker, I found mahogany about 1/3rd to 1/2 the price of teak, depending on grade. It's strength is comparable to oak. I used 7 laminated pieces of straight/clear grain mahogany milled to 2" wide by 1-3/4" thick. It was glued together with epoxy using biscuits (all wood washed with acetone repeatedly before gluing and clamping. The fulcrum of the pull is only 12" forward of the bow stem (see the drop-thru design with the roller underneath).
Great points by Auguste about securing it to the deck! Each piece is separately bolted to the deck using 1/2" diameter 316 SS bolts, 6" long, with the fender washers inlaid into the top of the pulpit (each counterbore epoxied too for sealant, as was each fastener hole). The Parker deck is almost 3" thick in the center of the bow as it is made to withstand a windlass. The 4 forward bolts capture the outside pieces and the next alternating ones. At the rear, the center piece is captured, as are the last 2 remaining. Staggering them like this also prevents any torquing of the pulpit.
It's coated with 3 coats of Sikkens Cetol Light and 3 coats of their gloss overcoat. "So far", I'll get at least 3 seasons out of the finish before the only the gloss coat needs to be buffed off with a scotch brite pad and reapplied. I've yet to have to go back into the base finish on any of my teak using this method. I saved the pulpit plans as it turned out so well and could reproduce them to a sketch if interested.
__________________ [red]MISS TEAK[/red], 25' Parker mod-V Sport Cabin "Life's too short to own an ugly boat ..." www.classicparker.com
My old glass one was laminated over a plywood base. It came apart over time and I got tired of fixing it. So I made one last year out of Black Walnut. I had some laying around anyway so it was no big deal. I sealed it with 3 coats of epoxy using a non-blushing slow hardner and then finished with several coats polyurathane "Spar Varnish" to give UV protection.
I'm not much worried if it rots out in a couple of years, though with the encapsulation it went through that would be hard to immagine. If it rots away I'll just make another one. Its not like its rocket science. In the simplest sense you just get a board, cut it out, paint it, and then bolt it down. I agree on the mounting. Mine uses four 3/8x5" stainless (316) bolts and backing plates (two straps) inside the rode locker.:
I think I have a picture of it and the old one side by side when I was making them - let me look around.
We have been researching a product called Flexiteek. It is not structural but imitates teak decking without maintenance. It can be sanded and is widley used on decks and swim platforms. I would suggest a piece of 1 1/2" marine XL plywood shaped and glassed over then topped with this product. XL is a 1 1/2" thick multi marine laminate commonly used in transoms. You would not have to be to pretty with the glass if you were covering it. The flexiteek is simple to install. Make a pattern send it to the factory and they mail it back in one piece. It glues to the glass and would provide years of maintenance free use. The marine XL is very similar to a microlam girder use in home construction. You could even glass with epoxy then 5200 the mounting holes and lay the flexiteek over the top. Here is a link. We do not sell this product as of yet but are seriously considering it. The US distributor is in Pompano Beach FL.
(I know Teak, is in fact, a softwood) in will also delaminate without perfect care.
I was a little bit myfed by your comment so I pulled one of my school books out --- Identifying Wood by R. Bruce Hoadley. Teak is indeed a hardwood. You can check here: http://www.eastteak.com/
Why would you laminate Teak in the first place? I'd just start off with a 10/4" board and mill it down to approx. 8/4s, cut it out and finish it. But if you did laminate Teak, you really need to deal with the natural oils the wood is famous for - but I still don't see any reason why someone would laminate Teak for a pulpit, other then they are working from thin stock.
Teak has an Average Specific Gravity (A.S.G.) of 0.58.
Central American Mahogany has an A.S.G. of 0.58.
African Mahogany has an A.S.G.of 0.63
Osage-Orange has an A.S.G. of 0.81
White Oak has an A.S.G. of 0.68
bow pulpit 
photob
ucket.com 
