| Bolero
Project | Tuesday, April 15, 2008 Once again, I spent the day on the v-berth/settee understructure. After water washing yesterday's epoxy fillets, I continued with the forward sections of the berth's support structure. The berth would need some additional transverse supports forward of the footwell, and I also needed to create a means of support for some removable panels in way of the mast step, so that the mast could pass through the berth top and then be re-enclosed to minimize the visual impact. I also wanted to add hardwood cleats to the top edges of all the existing bulkheads (i.e. settee structures) for better support of the plywood top, so I began down in the woodshop, where I milled a series of mahogany cleats for this purpose. I also milled two 3" wide pieces of mahogany to use for the transverse supports at the forward end. I located the first of these supports just forward of the end of the footwell, where I installed a mahogany cleat to support the support. To determine the location of the ends of the support where it intersected the hull, I used a level to transfer the height of the settee top over to each side, and parallel with the forward end of the footwell. Then, I measured the width and cut the cleat to size with angled cuts on the end to accommodate the hull's curvature. |
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I secured the support in place with glue and screws at the centerline cleat and thickened epoxy adhesive at the ends where it met the hull. Then, I transferred additional marks forward to an appropriate location ahead of the mast step (I placed the actual step in position temporarily during this process) and cut and installed a second support there, much as the first. In the center, I supported the forward cleat with a mahogany block cut to fit between the mast step block and the bottom of the support, which I secured with glue and screws. |
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All I needed to complete the basic berth platform structure was a final cleat along the forward bulkhead, to support the forwardmost end of the platform. However, I couldn't work on that now, as I needed the epoxy to cure on the new supports, so instead I cut and fit mahogany cleats along the top edges of all the plywood berth structures in the after part of the cabin, including the short transverse bulkheads I installed yesterday. These cleats would provide additional bearing surface and a place for screws when I installed the platform itself, and would also allow ample bearing surface at any location where a plywood seam might be required. In each case, I secured the cleats with glue and bronze screws, using a level from other fixed points in the cabin to ensure that the top surfaces were consistently in line and level with the others. |
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To wrap up the day, I cut and installed fiberglass tabbing to the areas that I filleted yesterday--the short transverse bulkheads and the longitudinal settee bulkheads. Strictly speaking, this tabbing wasn't necessary at all, as the epoxy fillets and other means of securing these structures would be adequate on their own, so I used a single layer of 4" tabbing only. |
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Finally, I lightly sanded all the cherry plywood in the footwell, cleaned it up, and applied a sealer coat of varnish for protection through the remainder of construction. |
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