110 Cookson Lane | Whitefield, ME 04353 | 207-232-7600 | tim@lackeysailing.com
After removing the clamps and braces from the cherry panels in the main cabin, I decided it was a good time to add some support cleats to the port settee, to support the newly-cut top pieces. From 12mm plywood, I milled 3" wide cleats to fit, which I secured in place with epoxy adhesive and screws.
I spent most of the remainder of the day working on the drawers. The new solid cherry drawer fronts required several additional milling steps to create the hand grips, overlays, and groove for the plywood bottom. While these operations were generally straightforward, I found that duplicating the cuts according to the original drawer fronts required three different setups for the four sides of the rabbeted overlay around the back side of the drawer front, as the top and bottom reliefs were slightly different, with an additional, wider rabbet on the two short ends.
Once I'd completed all milling operations on the six drawer fronts, I finish-sanded the pieces through 220 grit.
The original plywood drawer boxes were in generally good condition, but there were some old paint splatters and other issues with their cosmetic appearance, so after a thorough cleaning I lightly sanded the interior, bottoms, and outsides as needed to clean and brighten them, and remove other residues.
After cleaning up and dust removal, I installed the new drawer fronts, using new bronze screws to secure them through the original nail holes in the plywood boxes.
Each drawer featured a little block beneath the front edge, which slipped over the cabinet face and prevented the drawer from sliding out when closed; the drawers needed to be lifted slightly to open. Because I'd installed 1/4" cherry veneer over most of the bulkheads where the drawers were installed (except the galley), I needed to move these blocks slightly to accommodate the increased thickness. The blocks were secured with a little glue and a single screw, and I found it no problem to remove and reset them an appropriate distance back from the new drawer fronts. I replaced the original steel screws with bronze.
With the drawers rebuilt, I applied a sealer coat of varnish to all surfaces, and also varnished the fiddle trim for the hanging locker shelf that I'd built the other day.
To wrap up the day's work, I measured for several other interior trim pieces that I'd begin milling in the coming days.
Total Time on This Job Today: 8.75 hours
