Plastic cockpit table bc44 2004 repair

[elias]

Hi to all and I wish everybody to be safe and healthy!
So I m thinking of taking care the table by eliminating some scratches by grinding down . I started on the 2 plastic rails as you can see in the foto. But I think that if continue to the flat surface I might lose the surface texture that looks non slippery , that looks like the zest of an orange  . Any ideas?

[Jake]

Yes, if you keep sanding/grinding the pebble grain surface will be gone.  The surface will be quite slippery.  It might be better to consider replacing the surface with a similar product, King Starboard, for example.  It wouldn't be too difficult to use the existing pieces as a pattern.  The plastic is easy to cut with woodworking tools such as saws and routers.

Jake

Bavaria 44
Hayes VA

[elias]

Thanks a lot for the advice , it sounds good idea but I don’t think that I can find such material in an ordinary hardware store . I was thinking a spray or paint . I ll give a try to look for it

[Salty]

...................but I don’t think that I can find such material in an ordinary hardware store ....................

That’s true, but maybe you should think beyond an ordinary hardware store and look perhaps at a supplier of building plastics, or possibly a supplier of plastics for sign making and head towards your nearby industrial areas. Further possibilities might be suppliers of plastic laminates used for kitchen surfaces where they can have quite a range of surface finishes. The only down side being that for such original uses the plastic may be attached to one side only of a man made wood fibre board, though for bathroom uses there are plywood boards but still only plastic coated on one side. Also look at kitchen equipment suppliers say for an extra large plastic chopping board used for food preparation that is large enough to be cut down to the size you need.

[Yngmar]

I don't know what the plastic used is, perhaps PP or LDPE. You can find sheets in any sizes and there are many suppliers that will cut them to size/shape and ship.

But none I've seen do a non-slip pattern, so I'm not sure how you can reproduce that, other than scoring or heat-forming it yourself, which should be doable but maybe tricky to work out.

You will also find that paint (or pretty much anything else) doesn't stick well to this plastic, so painting it is pretty much out.

[PEA-JAY]

I would consider replacing the panels with wood. Teak would be nice, but iroko is good for the job and much cheaper.
You would need to make up the panels in strips say 6" wide with a tongue and groove method and incorporate fiddles etc.

Raph.

[Jake]

Whatever material you choose, make sure it is waterproof and UV resistant.  You can't go wrong with a product like King Starboard.  https://www.kingplastic.com/brands/king-starboard/
It is probably very close, if not identical to what was used originally.  It is available through many retailers, including Amazon.

Jake

[elias]

Thank all of you , I ll see what is available in Greek market , the measures of social distance will ease I guess in 2-3 weeks ( till now things are not extreme and a big hit was avoided but sailing is still prohibited ).