Dove tails.
I know about end grain, but hatches are easy to revarnish or paint as
needed.....The hatch is in the open air so does not suffer "permanant
wet"....
And good dove tails are strong enough to stand on (assuming reasonable
scantlings)
"Bernard Randall" wrote in message
...
I am at the planning stage of replacing some deck hatches on a sailing
boat.
The framework is mitered, to prevent endgrain being open to the sea, but
as
these are stepped on they also need to be strong.

I see the altenatives being miters with routed slots for loose tongues, or
mitered mortice and tennons. Anyone have any experience with this type of
work?

Thanks.

BernardR