Bavaria 40: Cockpit table bigger and better

[Krumelur]

The cockpit table in my 40 is an annoyance. It's too small, the parts folding out aren't levelled. To fold it, one must remove everything from the center part and the same is true when unfolding it. Finally, the cabinet has only one lid which - again - means removing everything from the table to open it, plus, the table must be unfolded.

So my lovely wife and I started making cardboard templates to see what a good table size would be and how it would fold.
We decided to increase the center piece by 10cm in length, extending it towards to companionway and increase the width of the foldable parts to 29cm in the back and 26cm in the front.

Instead of folding the side parts up, we made them fold down and have them supported by two triangular beams on each side of the table.

The wood I used is an 18mm texture coated board, fully water resistant. I bought 0.6mm teak wood veneer and applied it to the top surfaces and to the inside of the cabinet lids. It's painted with three layers of transparent resin.

All hinges and screws are stainless steel and responsible for the majority of cost :-)

The whole thing isn't finished and currently installed in my basement for final assembly but we're getting there.

[elias]

Good morning looks great !
We are in the process of a new one but we want it to feel smaller , meaning same dimensions but smaller when folded so that we don’t have to bang to each other so much when we are moving around the cockpit .
The wood you used is 18mm marine plywood?
Was there a reason that you used texture coated since you applied the teak veneer ?
Do you think it will last the uv and water ?

[Krumelur]

There's a longer story behind the wood I used. The German word is "Siebdruckplatte" (https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Screen-printing-plates-printing-plywood-pendant/dp/B084P76DRC).
I had it still around from when we built a sauna hut in the garden. We used these boards to cover the floor. That was back in 2017.
Since then the board sat outside in the garden, more or less exposed to the seasons.

Originally, I wanted to use it to create a prototype which I would then take to a friend who has more pro tooling. The idea was to use my prototype and mill the real thing out of the same material used by Bavaria (not sure what it is called, some sort of wood-plastic-composite). However, when I was done with the prototype, it looked so much better than I imagined so I thought:

- This board has survived 4 years out in the rain, snow and sun and is still in perfect shape.
- It's super stable.
- If I had a way of making it look nice, it would make a great table.
- I would safe the money for the composite material.

Originally, I wasn't planning to use veneer but a sticker film. I found a company producing textured stickers for outdoor use and they said it would be fine when exposed to rain and sun. But then I looked at the original table and found that it's using veneer, so I went with that. Also, it was cheap. I paid €40 for it.

[elias]

Thanks for that , I think I ll go for a wooden too, it looks and feels much better !