Hi RonR,
Has anyone ever built their own Teak swim step?
Where does one source that much teak? Our local "exotic woods" lumber yard has one piece. And pricing seams crazy high to me. Could one use Sable or would the color be too far off to match the rest of the boats standard teak?
"...Could one use Sable (Sapele)"? Sure, but color should be the least of your concerns with a swimstep. And the labor to fabricate a new swimstep FAR outweighs small reductions in material cost.
So the short answer to your first question is "yes, I've built my own teak swim step." However, I have a fairly sophisticated woodworking shop in my garage, with a large number of essential (and very expensive) tools in which to do so.
And while in my opinion, teak is wonderful wood with which to fabricate a swim step, such a swim step (such as you showed in your original post) will be VERY, VERY expensive. As you have already discovered, Martin Lumber (our Everett "exotic" lumber yard) does not stock much teak, and it is VERY expensive. Architectural Woods in Tacoma (thanks Syjos) may well be a source for less-expensive teak products. Ditto Edensaw in Port Townsend. But beware of "plantation grown" teak. It's a far cry from old-growth Burma Teak, and (in my opinion) ill-suited for a swim step, which is constantly bathed in moisture every time you're underway.
There certainly are less-expensive materials suitable for swim steps. I'm sure someone on this forum will chime in with "I built mine from reclaimed cutting boards", or some such. But if you're heart's set on duplicating a classic teak swim step, there is no free lunch. You must have access to large and expensive woodworking tools (planers, joiners, table saws, etc.) to deal with milling of rough-sawn wood, the ability to design a suitable replacement within the scope of your material at hand, the ability (and shop space) to mill, shape, cut, plane, bend, drill and assemble the thing.
You must also have the ability to either re-use the original step supports off the transom, and/or the ability (again, bring $$$) to buy or have fabricated replacement supports.
Lastly, you must have the ability to manipulate what will probably be a several-hundred pound assembly while mounting it to your transom. Almost impossible to accomplish with the boat afloat, unless you are very clever and fortunate to have multiple friends to assist, and you're able to attach your new swimstep supports without sinking the boat!
So again, in answer to your original question: yes, but I'd never do it again. Nor could I entertain the cost of a new teak swimstep these days. I would recommend you contact Your Boat Shop in the Everett Craftsman Marina building (
https://www.yourboatshopeverett.com/) and ask for a planning estimate for a professional job. That may well aid you in your planning.
Regards,
Pete
