| Bolero
Project |
Friday, June 6, 2008 I spent the day working on the starboard side of the hull ceiling, and making and installing ceiling trim on both sides to complete the job. Following the same processes I used on the port side, I cut and installed all the ceiling strips on the starboard side. The job was unremarkable other than the fact that it went slightly quicker than the first side. Completing the second side and hiding the remaining raw hull transformed instantly the interior. |
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To hide the ends of the ceiling boards where they met the bulkheads and chainplate boxes, I milled narrow pieces of trim from leftover ceiling strips and screwed them in place. I was limited in the width of trim I could use by the locations of the screws securing the ceiling strips themselves, so except at the aft bulkhead, where I used 3/4" wide trim, the trim pieces ended up at 3/8" wide. I carefully bent the pieces into place and secured them with more of the bronze round-head screws. Remembering the trouble I had installing the mahogany backer strips for the ceiling some time back, I was afraid that I'd need to soak the after trim strips in water to allow them to bend to the tight curve; fortunately, the cedar proved to be more flexible (not really surprisingly) than the mahogany, and I was able to successfully bend in the trim dry. |
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With all the ceiling construction complete, I vacuumed off the ceiling and entire interior to remove the dust and drill spoils, and then washed the ceiling with paint thinner. Besides removing residual dust, the paint thinner application provided a stunning preview of how the cedar strips would look with their final finish. As much as I liked the look of the raw, unfinished wood, the colors and grain variations that came to light with the solvent wash wowed me. |
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I planned to use wipe-on tung oil for the final finish on the ceiling, and had intended to apply a coat of it immediately, but I discovered that I didn't have any on hand, so that would have to wait till I had a chance to get some in stock. Some final interior details coming up that will truly finish things off: a cherry door for the forward bulkhead; white paint on the v-berth platform; paint over the raw tabbing on the aft bulkhead, adjacent to the ceiling; some cosmetic trim pieces on the forward bulkhead; the cherry chainplate covers; and the completion of the main cabin sole and surrounding areas. |
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