April 19, 2019

Scupper 129

Friday

The new paint in the head and on the overhead panels was looking good after the second coat, and I deemed it complete.  I planned to stay strictly out of the head for the rest of the week to give it time for a good solid cure before continuing any work there, or in the engine room beyond.

Now I could move all the overhead panels off the benches so I could use those for other finishing work in the immediate future.  I removed the narrow strips of masking tape I’d applied on the companionway ladder back; I’d done this to keep the bonding surfaces at each step location, as well as in the rabbets on the side, clear for future bonding purposes when I installed the panel on the ladder itself.

Next, I got started where I left off, with the stock for the cabin sole.  With all the pieces rough-milled to size, I ran them all through the planer to smooth both faces and eventually bring them down to the finished dimension of 1/4″ thickness.

Afterwards, I used a sanding block to create a small chamfer, or v-groove, on the edges of the boards just like I did with the ceiling boards earlier.  This not only looked nice, but would help mask any minor inconsistencies in the boards once laid on the sole itself.  I set aside several of the smaller lengths to handle another time, if they were needed at all.

After cleaning and solvent-washing the new planks, I applied a sealer coat of varnish to all sides.

After a light sanding, I applied the fourth coat of gloss base varnish to the forward cabin door frame.

I installed the trim on the shelf above the port settee, covering finally the raw fiberglass edge  there.

With some open bench space available now, I could finish up the varnish work on the overhead trim pieces, this time with a coat of rubbed-effect satin varnish.

After unclamping the four new interior doors, I sanded them clean and smooth, and rounded the outer edges of the frame for pleasing appearance.  Then, I solvent-washed the frames (as well as the companionway ladder and new head cover panel) and set them aside to air-dry before varnishing, but it took so long for the paint thinner to evaporate from the bare wood that I didn’t get to the sealer coats of varnish as I’d hoped.

Total time billed on this job today:  6.5 hours

0600 Weather Observation:  48°, clouds and fog.  Forecast for the day:  Clouds, showers, drizzle, fog, 64°