Helm Pod

[BillK]

I got a request to make a helm pod. Maybe it was better that I didn't know what it was or how they were made, so I had this approach.

A helm pod is used on a boat as the mounting point for the boat's steering and other controls and the trend is to make these out of a nice wood like teak or mahogany in this case to give the boat a little pizzazz. This one is for a small boat being restored.

So I decided to model the sides in Aspire, and to make the other parts mostly with the table saw. The sides need to be really precise mirror images and the edges radiused larger than I could route them.

Also, Aspire allowed me to make an MDF template that I could use on the table saw to help get the cut points exact.

I also used Aspire to calculate the angles of the cuts for the panels.
After all the computer work was done, the rest went quickly, I had this done in 2 days. The radiuses between the panels I hand cut with hand planes and a spoke shave. A marine grade exterior gloss finish was added by others.

finished assembly with no finish

with finish by others mocked up on unfinished boat

[scottp55]

I gotta admit Bill...My FIRST thought was "OMG...I wonder what Teak Firsts and FAS are going for nowadays!!"
(most of the floor to ceiling cloud-lift grab rails in both Bathrooms(and trim) is Teak 6/4-8/4)

THEN I looked at the work
Hope CNC feeds/speeds being more consistent, was better than hand routing with templates on the bits?
(We burnt some bits by the time we were finished 22yrs ago!)
How thick was the S2S(?) Teak, and did you hand nest it, or did software do a good job of nesting on the lumber?
WELL DONE!!
scott

[BillK]

Hi Scott, Thanks for your comments. Hope I didn’t mislead you, but this was Mahogany, nom 1” thickness. Customer was thinking Teak but when I mentioned price and fact that I had some Mahogany in stock, we went that way.

[WNC_Ed]

Bill that is really cool.
Stainless wheel really pops against the glossy mahogany.
I have to admit until the last picture with the wheel installed I had no idea what a "helm pod" was.
Congrats!

[BillK]

Bill that is really cool.
Stainless wheel really pops against the glossy mahogany.
I have to admit until the last picture with the wheel installed I had no idea what a "helm pod" was.
Congrats!

Thanks Ed. Possibly I’ll make a few more of these.