Kaholee Refit | March 31, 2007

The custom stainless steel panels for the inside of the stove enclosure arrived late Thursday, so I began this morning by test-fitting the panels and making minor adjustments as needed.  Rather than attempt to measure for the angled cuts on the top corners of the side panels, I chose instead to order rectangular sheets cut to the proper overall dimensions, leaving these small corners for me to remove.  After marking the edges of the cut, I cut the waste with an angle grinder and cutoff wheel.

I installed the panels with panhead sheet metal screws around the perimeters, keeping the screws 1-1/2" from the edges to allow room for trim that I'd eventually install to cover these edges.  Then, I carefully masked off a consistent distance from each of the seams between panels, and applied caulking to cover these joints.

The material is 304 stainless steel, .024 gauge, with a #4 brushed finish.  It looks great.


    

    

    


The new head platform required sanding to smooth the fill around the edges; I had held off for a couple days to ensure that the final coat of paint on other parts of the interior had had plenty of cure time, but now I sanded this area as required. 



I decided to unwrap and test-fit the bow and stern pulpits as a precursor to their imminent installation.  Because the bow pulpit wanted to tip forward on its own, with a center of gravity far forward, I slapped together some elegant foam to support the rail on the bow so that I could align and adjust the pulpit to the proper location and mark the screw holes.   I also aligned the stern pulpit for marking and installation and noted a need to make two wedge-shaped pieces for the after two mounts, as they didn't properly account for the deck camber.


    


During the afternoon, I knocked off some odds and ends:  miscellaneous arrangement work for the pulpits and stanchions, future project planning, sanding and paint on the companionway sliding hatch, and more sanding and varnish for the various mahogany bits currently underway.



Total Time on This Job Today:  6.25 hours

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