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Project Log:  Sunday, October 23, 2011

I worked on several galley-related details, beginning with the cover/hatch/lid for the refrigerator compartment. When I built the countertop, I saved the cutout from this area, and could have used it as is to fill in the open space.  However, since we'd be opening this frequently, I thought it would be nicer if I trimmed the edges of the plywood with solid cherry, so we'd see cherry wood instead of plywood grain when lifting the hatch.

On the table saw, I removed 3/4" of material from each long edge of the plywood, then glued on 1/2" thick x 3/4" wide pieces of cherry stock.  While the glue was curing, I milled and installed two cleats inside the refrigerator compartment to support the hatch when closed.


Once the glue cured, I trimmed the ends and installed a section of stainless steel piano hinge to the back edge, then took the hatch into the boat and temporarily secured the hinge to the back edge of the countertop at the opening to test the fit.  This was challenging, since the hatch opened barely far enough for me to get drill bits, screws, and drivers into the angled space between the hinge leaves, but there was enough room to get it done.


Meanwhile, I cut a 4-1/2" square of plywood for the scraping block opening near the sink, and rounded the corners for a close fit.  I cut two cleats, which I secured beneath the countertop with glue, leaving a 1/2" cleat surface exposed inside the opening. 


Later, when the glue had dried enough for me to remove the clamps, I painted the exposed edges of the plywood inside the opening with black paint, just to minimize the appearance of seams when the lid was installed.  I did the same thing at the refrigerator opening.

    

With all the prep work complete, I applied contact cement to these two new pieces of countertop, and installed more of the same Formica on each, after which I installed the new sections.  Later, I'd install ring pulls to operate each hatch, but I hadn't yet ordered the ones I wanted.

         

    

The other significant project of the day was the plate storage rack.  Having mulled over the interference factor between the plate rack and the faucet beneath for a couple days, I thought about cutting a dogleg in the cantilevered part of the platform, as only the large dinner plates required the full width; the other plates were much smaller, and there was no need for the full overhang.

I put the shelf in place with a couple temporary vertical dividers (which would separate the three storage areas) and visualized the cut, and how it would look in the end, and decided to make the cut.  Making this cut would reduce significantly the overhang above the faucet, leaving it in the clear for ease of operation, installation, and removal, should it become necessary.


I determined the position of the cut by laying out the plates, then took out about 2-1/2" of the shelf along the forward section, leaving about 11" of full width to support the dinner plates.  At the short end of the dogleg, I overcut by 1/2" so I could install some solid cherry to cover the plywood edge here, as the solid trim I planned for the front of the sections wouldn't cover this area.  I glued the edge band in place.

         

        

From solid cherry stock, I milled what I needed for the face of the storage rack, which would hide and withhold the plates within.  I cut a rabbet on the lower edge to allow the trim to slip over the edge of the plywood.  With this trim temporarily screwed in place, I installed the vertical dividers between the three storage areas, using glue and screws from beneath.

         

Later, I laid out and cut the slots in the front of each trim section, which would allow one to grab the dishes and pull them out one by one.  On the inside of each slot, I cut a large chamfer, which widened the access to the plates inside without enlarging the slotted opening.  The photos below show all the cuts in their "just happened" state, before any sanding, cleaning up, or additional profiling.

I'd really hoped to get a bit further with the construction of the plate rack, but frankly I was rather burned out after a long weekend or progress, so I decided to call it a day around 1500 and go try and fit a weekend's worth of "other" chores into what remained of the afternoon.

         

Total Time Today:  5.5 hours

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