Making Wooden Deadlights Portholes Portlights for SCAMP - the Argobuilder; Craftsmanship, Adventure, Enjoying Life!

Making Wooden Deadlights (Portholes) for SCAMP "ARGO"

The brass portholes were too expensive so I decided to make my own...

There are some beautiful brass portholes available from England, but at many hundreds of dollars each, I decided to build my own deadlights. I had seen others on the SCAMP forum build their own from wood, so that's what I will do. It is important to note that these deadlights/portholes/portlights on the SCAMP do not keep water out of a submerged, or even interior, part of the boat, they are "windows" in an exterior cockpit canopy. I think this design is suitable for this application, but I would not use this design in a submerged application, or one where the porthole was holding back water from an interior compartment or cabin.

Rings sketched onto a piece of scrap 1/4" plywood.

After I cut the OD's of the rings I screwed them all together as shown, and drilled the holes so the holes will be aligned. Then I cut out the ID.

Cut out rings. The plexiglass is 1/4" thick and will be cut out on the band saw with a narrow blade.

Making SCAMP portholes, Making SCAMP deadlights,

Epoxy the middle ring to the outer ring to make the rabbet in which the glass will rest. I put down plastic so that the rings wouldn't get glued down to the table, and I used lightly greased screws to align and clamp the pieces together.

After two coats of epoxy I sanded the pieces and used a chisel to finely scrape the rabbet to ensure that it is flat and square. Then two coats of spray primer and light sanding.

SCAMP portlight, SCAMP deadlight, SCAMP porthole

Finished deadlight. 2 coats epoxy, 2 coats primer, 2 coats hammered metal rustoleum spray paint. The glass is installed but it is hard to see; it is not glued in place just held in place by the retention ring.

Deadlight mounted into the cabinside of the SCAMP Sailboat Argo. Bedded in clear silicone.

Interior view of installed deadlight. machine screws ground flush with nuts. For some extra detail, I painted the ID surface of the sidewall red.