Dave_a wrote:Jim, have you done this repair to an old mahogany console?
I have not.
DAVE--do you have any experience in working with Plexiglass or with making templates or with using a disc sander?
Let me explain the basis for my advice that has been offered.
My advice on suggesting you make a template from the original frame was not based on having made a template from the original frame of a NAUSET console, but it is based on using other original parts of other components to make a template for a replacement part for those other components.
My advice about fabricating the replacement window panes to be slightly larger than anticipated and then trimming them down to the exact size need was based on making replacement components that need to have an exact fit into an opening. From that experience I learned that to trim down a slightly oversized part to exact size is easier than to make an undersized part grow larger to fit exactly.
My comments about working with Plexiglass are based on my experience in working with Plexiglass. If you do not overheat Plexiglass when abrading its edges, you can easily trim the edges of a part made with Plexiglass using a disc sander that is in a fixed mount and has a table to support the workpiece.
After further thought, you can make the initial window pane to be slightly larger and trim it to exact size. Once you have the exact size you can make a duplicate to that exact size. I suspect on the NAUSET windshield the size of the window panes will be the same for the corresponding Port and Starboard sides of the windshield openings. Or, at least, you would expect the window frames to the same size, but 50-years after they were made and 50-years of exposure to weather, the size of the window frames might vary. That possibility of variation is another good reason to make a template FROM the actual windows on your particular 50-year-old boat.