Capping seat edges

[lenny]

Hello to experienced builders,
At present I am finishing the building of a sailing dinghy and have used, being from the NW, some recyled fine grain old fir for the three seats. The seats are 7 7/8" wide and 7/8"+ thick. I have thought I might cap the edges with 3/16" mahogany for a little extra look in appearance. The gunales, transom seat and breasthook knees AND slot cap/trunk are all mahogany so there is some continuity to adding the caps. My question is : Is this a good idea? Can mahogany be used in such this strips (middle seat is 48" long)? Or am I just going over the top with this project?

Len

[ccx2]

Hey Lenny, i dont think there is any such thing as going over the top with a personal build. I think what you suggest would look nice. Go for it.

[P.L.Lenihan]

Sounds like you're doing just fine and no,it is not over the top yet. Perhaps a few years down the road you'll wonder what the hell were you thinking to pretty it up so much and all the work it takes to keep her looking pretty but....we're not there yet:). Enjoy and go for it while you still have the drive and the vision! Alot of folks never get the chance to even begin building. You've already got them beat:)


Cheers!


Peter

[TerryLL]

Adding mahog trim strips to the long dimension of the DF should present no problems, but you might have some difficulty with the strips across the end grain. The DF will want to expand and contract with humidity changes, and the mahog long grain will not lengthen or shorten to accommodate the DF changes. So, that join on the end grain may fail. I think I would leave the strips off the ends and just do the faces.

[lenny]

Thanks for the encouragement. With re: TerryLL's response about the woods compatibility around expanding/contracting, I only plan to cap the faces and not the ends which I assume is the portion of the seat flush with the panel. The mahogony will be ripped so the directional grain will be in parallel to the fine DF grain. I hope the epoxy bond will not be compromised by it in terms of the concerns expressed.
Thanks again,

Len