Gallery 4

This is the end of the project as far as wood and epoxy goes. Since these pictures have been taken,all of the sanding is complete. I procrastinated sanding the plank lap reveals for about a month. I finally got to it and it only took about 6 hrs. Now I am waiting for warm weather. Meantime,I am tuning up things I figured to get away with with my semi workboat finish. After doing the tedious laps it now seems I have alot more time for detail.

I dont have any pictures yet of the underside of the hatch covers. I wanted to use the leftovers of the meranti 9mm that was left but there wasn't any quite large enough. Using a mahogany grid for stiffeners I was able to make larger panels for the covers. The ends of the grid rails underneath the hatches are tapered and mate with ramped mortises in the framing around the hatch openings. These hatches are very light yet very strong. Especially since the grid and the panel are both supported. This worked perfectly and it also automatically centers the cover. Notice the way the plywood is arranged in breadboard fashion. Alternating the grain on the ends like this also adds stiffness and helps keep the panels from warping. Now I am thinking I would have done it this way even if the pieces were big enough.

The trim on the outside corner is also part of the hatch. I installed the corner trim with the hatches in place and just cut through the top part of the trim with my pull saw. When you lift the cover that part of the trim comes with it. This also adds stiffness. Have to be careful to not get any epoxy on the intersecting trim pieces in this area.