installing Temporary Cabin Sole
I started the day by thinking about the interior arrangement some more. My wife and I had a good discussion up in the boat about some additional modifications to the saloon galley area. I will capture these modifications in writing in the next week or so as I start to make the detail plans necessary to begin the next phase of construction. I bolted in the additional beam to the aft side of the one that was misaligned. Then I set about to build the templates for the curved part of the temporary galley cabin sole. I ripped a 2X4 into 1/8" strips and took them up into the boat along with a pair of tin shears and a hot glue gun. I laid down a couple of strips of 3/4" ply and then glued up a lattice work of wood strips on top of the wood blocks which will show the correct height for the top of the plywood sole. That will represent the widest part of the floor since most of the edge will be beveled back as the hull slopes inward at a steep angle. I did not have enough plywood to finish the sole so I set the template aside for the time being. I will head up to Atlantic Veneer tomorrow to pick up some plywood and take a look at their hardwoods.
This morning I went right to work on the Edson pump. This is a great pump and an even better find. It's a model 117, bronze, gallon-a-stroke diaphram pump. It must weigh about 40 lbs. I bought it last year at a consignment shop for $200. I don't think it had ever been used--or even installed. Anyway, I used some temporary cleats and bolted it into place so it won't fall off it's knees. I need it to stay put so I can build the temporary plywood platform and because I will use the pump later when I get it all hooked up and wash the boat out. Behind it you can see the knees I glassed in yesterday for the aft end of the platform support, and the Doug Fir beam that I test bolted in place this morning after I worked on the pump. I will pull it out tomorrow and coat it with west epoxy.
After I installed the pump and the beam I cut the 3/4" plywood platform. This will be replaced by hard wood at some point later in the construction of the interior. I made a cut out for the pump handle. I think the pump will work fine there but I may move it around a bit later to see of moving it further forward will work better with the handle stored in the up, vice down, position.
Once I installed the platform, and cleated it so it won't slide around, I placed the ladder in position. I think it works great. The angle seems to be fine. What a treat to walk up and down the ladder. In the background you can see the counter top cleat is at a different angle than the steps. The steps are level, but the cleat is not. This goes way back to earlier entries where I struggled with trying to find what was level on the boat--nothing matched. For a variety of reasons, all explained on the water-tank installation page, I went with the deck as the point of reference. I believe the builder installed the interior not level. So, the cleat will be removed and a new one installed later. Man, I hope I was right about this!!
After I installed the pump and the beam I cut the 3/4" plywood platform. This will be replaced by hard wood at some point later in the construction of the interior. I made a cut out for the pump handle. I think the pump will work fine there but I may move it around a bit later to see of moving it further forward will work better with the handle stored in the up, vice down, position.
Once I installed the platform, and cleated it so it won't slide around, I placed the ladder in position. I think it works great. The angle seems to be fine. What a treat to walk up and down the ladder. In the background you can see the counter top cleat is at a different angle than the steps. The steps are level, but the cleat is not. This goes way back to earlier entries where I struggled with trying to find what was level on the boat--nothing matched. For a variety of reasons, all explained on the water-tank installation page, I went with the deck as the point of reference. I believe the builder installed the interior not level. So, the cleat will be removed and a new one installed later. Man, I hope I was right about this!!
Below are photos of some interior work that I have spent time on over the last few days. To make the ply fit the space correctly I made a template using a hot glue gun and some door skin strips that I ripped on my table saw. I learned this technique from Kaj Jakcobsen. It is simple and very accurate. I used tin nippers to trim the strips to the correct length inside the boat and then glued the strips together with the glue gun. Once the template was completed I took it to the lay-out table and traced the pattern on to the plywood. Then, I cut it out and began the final shaping for a good fit. Because the hull slopes down and inward, blocks of wood have to placed on the floor timber to raise the height of the template to the same height as the top of the cabin sole, otherwise you will be making the template to fit the bottom of the sole. You are trying to make the pattern to fit the top of the sole, and to provide enough wood to allow the cutting of a bevel back underneath the top of the sole to match the slope of the hull. In other words the bottom of the sole is smaller, width wise, than the top of the sole.
After I cut the plywood from the pattern I needed to cut the bevel to match the slope of the hull. I used a bevel gauge and a torpedo level to determine the slope. Then I put the same angle on my Bosch jig saw, stood the template on edge, and cut the bevel. I smoothed it out and fine tuned it with a smoothing plane.
The plywood under the companionway is just temporary. I wanted to see just how the space looks and how much storage room I will have without the engine. I also needed a flat place to work. The notch cut out to the right of the landing for the companionway ladder will have a fore and aft bulkhead that will separate the storage space from the galley. The handle sticking up goes to a Model 117 bronze Edson gallon-a-stroke bilge pump. The pump intake will take water from the bilge sump, of course, but it will also evacuate a grey water tank that the icebox and sitz tub will drain into.
After completing the storage area under the cockpit I began work on the bottom of the settee lockers. Before I could put in the locker bottoms I need to build a support for the aft end of the starboard locker. I scribed the hull shape on small piece of 1/4" ply. Then I cut it out and test fit it to make sure it was accurate. Next I laid the pattern on a scrap piece of 2" thick white oak that was just big enough and cut it out with the jigsaw. Once I was satisfied with the fit, I mixed up some cabosil thickened epoxy and smeared it on the bottom and aft side of the knee. Then I clamped it to the existing floor beam using a strong back laid across the top to the other floor beams to make sure the top edge was even with the other beams. Then I made a fillet and once it was partially cured I laid a two layers of biaxial against it. Once that task was completed I moved on to the settee locker bottoms.
I made the templates for locker bottoms the same way that I did for the storage area under the companionway ladder. I had to allow 7/8" for the vertical face of the settee to fit between the locker bottom and the where the hardwood cabin sole sill ultimately lay. The vertical face will be comprised of 1/2" ply and 3/8" African mahogany "v-groove" that I will mill in my shop and glued to the ply. I built a test panel of this wood and posted it on 16 July 10.
In the photos you can see spacer blocks between the locker bottom and the temporary cabin sole in the center of the boat. The ply for the locker bottom is 3/4" Okume BS 1088. Right now they are just laying against the hull and on the knees. Eventually, they will be glassed into the hull along the outside edge and tabbed underneath to the knees as well. Once they are glassed in, I'll insert a full length spacer block between the locker bottom and the temporary sole to keep tools and other things from falling into the bilge.
Later I'll make blocks to secure the water tanks in place.
After I cut the plywood from the pattern I needed to cut the bevel to match the slope of the hull. I used a bevel gauge and a torpedo level to determine the slope. Then I put the same angle on my Bosch jig saw, stood the template on edge, and cut the bevel. I smoothed it out and fine tuned it with a smoothing plane.
The plywood under the companionway is just temporary. I wanted to see just how the space looks and how much storage room I will have without the engine. I also needed a flat place to work. The notch cut out to the right of the landing for the companionway ladder will have a fore and aft bulkhead that will separate the storage space from the galley. The handle sticking up goes to a Model 117 bronze Edson gallon-a-stroke bilge pump. The pump intake will take water from the bilge sump, of course, but it will also evacuate a grey water tank that the icebox and sitz tub will drain into.
After completing the storage area under the cockpit I began work on the bottom of the settee lockers. Before I could put in the locker bottoms I need to build a support for the aft end of the starboard locker. I scribed the hull shape on small piece of 1/4" ply. Then I cut it out and test fit it to make sure it was accurate. Next I laid the pattern on a scrap piece of 2" thick white oak that was just big enough and cut it out with the jigsaw. Once I was satisfied with the fit, I mixed up some cabosil thickened epoxy and smeared it on the bottom and aft side of the knee. Then I clamped it to the existing floor beam using a strong back laid across the top to the other floor beams to make sure the top edge was even with the other beams. Then I made a fillet and once it was partially cured I laid a two layers of biaxial against it. Once that task was completed I moved on to the settee locker bottoms.
I made the templates for locker bottoms the same way that I did for the storage area under the companionway ladder. I had to allow 7/8" for the vertical face of the settee to fit between the locker bottom and the where the hardwood cabin sole sill ultimately lay. The vertical face will be comprised of 1/2" ply and 3/8" African mahogany "v-groove" that I will mill in my shop and glued to the ply. I built a test panel of this wood and posted it on 16 July 10.
In the photos you can see spacer blocks between the locker bottom and the temporary cabin sole in the center of the boat. The ply for the locker bottom is 3/4" Okume BS 1088. Right now they are just laying against the hull and on the knees. Eventually, they will be glassed into the hull along the outside edge and tabbed underneath to the knees as well. Once they are glassed in, I'll insert a full length spacer block between the locker bottom and the temporary sole to keep tools and other things from falling into the bilge.
Later I'll make blocks to secure the water tanks in place.
After I had done a lot of work on the boat interior I decided it was time to lay down more temporary cabin sole. I was tired of stepping on the last remaining exposed floor beams as I traversed back and forth between the forward cabin and the saloon. I also wanted to use up some scrap 3/4" birch plywood that has been using valuable space in the garage. I laid 3/4" blocks on the floor beams and then laid out some doorskin strips and fastened them together with a hot glue gun. I didn't have enough wood but the purpose was just to create a safe path through the boat. So, I lined up some strips of plywood under the pattern, traced what I could fit, cut it out and installed it. Just in the little bit I walked across it this afternoon it made a big difference. It also made the head compartment look a little smaller.
