jobs wot I is doing

An inbetween update ... generating some content to try and stop Roger from complaining

Finished the internal fitting out of the big cabinet with everything except the shelving
(as a temporary measure for the next few months)
I will be using it as a wardrobe as at the moment all my clothes are in a gigantic pile on the second bed in the fwd cabin
This does not have a great deal of cupboard space as it was only mean't to be a visitors room

It was finally the time that I had been avoiding ..... making the doors.
This was pushing my woodwork skills to the very limit and I had spent ages trying to work out what would be the easiest way for me to do it
(apart from buying the bloody doors, which if I could have found ones I liked that didn't cost a bloody fortune, I would have)

I decided that hanging them like kitchen cabinet doors was also advisable as that is more tolerant of fitting inaccuracies

anyway the small door was my first one and I only had to throw away one of the edging mitres, which for me was stupendous !!!

I am very pleased with the result but I don't think I can be quite as proud of how long it took ...... nearly 2 days

(and it still needs varnishing )SAM_4191 by mudlarker2, on Flickr

When I started on the second door. I immediately ran into a problem

The centre panel has to be made from two bits of ply (I didn't have any bits long enough)
so it has a glue joint in the centre and I need 2 long clamps to compress the joint after glueing and I don't own any.
I used to own a couple of huge sash clamps but after I was ill I no longer had enough strength to move the damn things let alone use them.
I gave them to a friend who is a carpenter and would put them to use.

I had a little ring round people who might have been able to help and ... then around hire shops with no luck
none of my friends owned any and the ones at all the local hire shops were 50mm too short
I even looked at buying a couple of those light weight ali ones but they were too short as well
(trust me to make the door an awkward bloody size)
All they had were the bloody great heavy steel ones like those I had given away

In the end I built my own giant wooden frame using a couple of old cramps that can be reversed to use as spreaders to squeeze it up

SAM_4193 by mudlarker2, on Flickr

Incredibly it worked !!! ... I am very pleased with the joint
(incidentally the shiny stuff is clingfilm to stop the glue sticking to the frame and the clamps)

SAM_4194 by mudlarker2, on Flickr

Lets hope the rest of it continues as well !!!

It may be hard work to you JohnV but it's entertaining reading to me.

Thanks for the updates

Rog

another update

still progressing (but slowly)

made the top for the cabinet, I found a bit of 12mm ply for it ....
I would really have liked something thicker, maybe 25mm but it was what I could find
A good colour, a slightly boring grain pattern but still nice bit of ply

Found a bit of solid ...teak? Iroko? just over an inch square which planed and shaped made the top look more substantial when glued up

SAM_4195 by mudlarker2, on Flickr

SAM_4197 by mudlarker2, on Flickr

then given three coats of yacht varnish

Successfully hung the doors which were stained and painted ..... I'm a little disappointed in the staining of the pine edging

I think it might have looked better just varnished .... too late after I started, it all had to be completed
still overall I'm pleased, don't think it's a bad effort for an old gimmer

SAM_4198 by mudlarker2, on Flickr

That just about completes the rebuild of the saloon, still a few niggly finishing jobs (lights, stove flue, stove plumbing)
I won[t even mention decorating (papering and trimming the deckhead, and carpeting) but that will have to wait for quite a while
I have no intention of putting new flooring down until the bathroom and bedroom have been done
(you can guarantee that if I did it would get damaged trekking stuff through the boat)

Well a long gap after finishing the last cabinet in the saloon
After got back from seeing my sister, had a few small outside/maintenance/repair jobs to catch up on
(modifying the log store, lowering it by 8" so that it doesn't tower over the sea wall
the lean to roof has been re'done (although it looks a bit odd because it's "tiled"
in miscellaneous bits of ply of different sizes, some painted, some varnished.
Mixed with various sized bits "no more ply" cement board, some painted some not.
It looks a bit ..... unusual

I have a bit of tarpaulin about that size, I might tack that over the top just to make it a little more ... normal
(I have plans to extend it for another 3 metres so I think it might be better if it all matched)

I wouldn't want to fall out with the land holder

Been stripping out the flooring beams in the toilet (new one) area and cleaning out and scraping the bulkheads and deckhead
ready for a coat of rust treatment (Not a lot of rust surprisingly, the paint just scraped off in places and under it was grey steel and not rust
What rust there was seems due to condensation probably because the dampproof membrane was damaged in a few places.

It was hard work getting the flooring out of one area as it was one single sheet almost a full 8 x 4 sheet of 25mm marine ply.
I know I carried a load of them on board when I was fitting out .... but that was a long long time ago
I could barely drag the bloody thing round to where I could lean it against the wall
I definitely couldn't lift it. Reckon I'm going to have to cut it into at least two and possibly three pieces to actually use it

Well at least I'm started again

no more pictures ATM but been steadily progressing
Mostly with the cleaning and painting with rustconverter
Slow work because the temperatures have dropped and condensation is now a problem,
(meaning I can't start early until it has dried up)

Muchthunking and poncing round with measuring stick produced a couple of options
It means that I have gone ahead ordering the new (very bloody expensive) hot water tank
I now have a plan "B" and a plan "C" if I have to increase the space round the tank
Studying the wide variety of shower trays around I realised that there are rectangular ones
that would suit.
I wanted to increase the size of the existing tray (700 x 700) and was thinking of an 800 x 800
I have a feeling that will be a bit too tight but if I have a side entry doo then either
a 700 x 1000 or 760 x 1000 would fit and give me the reduction that I might need
(I am going for one that I have been assured can be fitted with silicon instead of cement)
an 18mm base is the recommended but as I will have some spare bits of 25mm ply I will use that

Yesterday I went and collected 2 sheets of 50mm insulation board and 1 sheet of 100mm board
Fortunately the place is very close so I was able to collect and carry them (two trips)
back to the boat. I was feeling pretty knackered after a long day on Friday but when I saw the weather
I knew I had to do it while it was dry as they needed to be cut mostly to size outside.

(I have cut that stuff inside on occasion and the mess is 'orrible

However the main reason was that I would have had to open up the hatch to get full sheets in
and that is a palaver.

Anyway have started putting up the insulation on the side as that is the first to warm in the sun and dry
but I am now waiting for the deckhead to dry which is why I'm on here now

Might be worth a couple of days R&R while this weather goes through ... sounds like you need the break!

The wood work looks terrific JohnV

As a complete ignorant bodger I remain in awe of your skills.

Rog