| Bolero
Project |
Thursday, April 10, 2008 Today, I continued on the critical bones of the interior structure. With the first key piece in place after yesterday, I turned to the settee/berth supports. Before beginning those, however, I decided to build the transverse floors required to support the cabin sole. I knew that the access would get very tight after installing the settee sides, so while the area was still as wide-open as possible, I thought I'd better address the floors. Using my guide stick, placed between the forward and after cleats, I transferred some rough height measurements to the sides of the space for reference, and made some measurements of the widths and heights for some cardboard templates. I cut out the templates and made adjustments as needed until they were the proper height, and then transferred the shapes to a scrap piece of 12mm Sapele plywood, which I then placed in the boat to check the final fit. |
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Satisfied with the fit, I milled limbers in the center of each piece, then added mahogany cleats on each side of the plywood, to increase the bearing surface and provide a wider area for adhesive or fasteners as needed. I glued and screwed the cleats in place, and then coated the entire assemblies with epoxy for water resistance and left them to tack up for a few hours. |
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While I was working with cleats and glue, I installed the two horizontal cleats on the aft bulkhead, which would support the plywood settee/berth eventually, but which, more critically, I needed to transfer the height and level of the settees to the settee sides for their final fitting. |
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Meanwhile, I worked on the final fit for the two main settee sides, which would form the basis for the remainder of the interior structure. I worked through several rounds of scribing, cutting, fitting, and repeating before achieving the fit I needed at the bottom edge and aft edge. Then, with the piece in final position, I marked and cut off the overhang at the forward end (flush with the small bulkhead there). Finally, I transferred the height and level of the settee cleats on the bulkhead to the new sides and cut off the excess. |
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Before final installation, I masked off the visible surface of the plywood, and coated the bottom edge of the plywood panels in epoxy for water resistance. Then, I installed them with glue and screws as needed. Later, I'd add epoxy fillets and, on the inside (non-visible) edge, fiberglass tabbing |
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Finally, I epoxied the transverse cabin sole floors in place. |
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