Project Log: Thursday, March 13, 2014
With the freshness of a new day, cutting the sheet goods
for the forward head bulkhead went smoothly and quickly,
and I managed to cut to all the correct lines this time.
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Next, I applied contact cement to the two large
bulkheads, and the corresponding Formica sections, using
a vent fan to remove the strong fumes. Once the
adhesive had tacked up, I installed the two panels
without incident. Then, to hide my earlier mistake
with the after piece of Formica, which I'd cut too short
in one area, I installed two pieces of plastic trim
along the outboard bulkhead. Suddenly this dark
and depressing space was bright--blindingly bright--and
cheery, other than the still-unfinished overhead. |
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Continuing with the indestructible trim, I cut another
piece of plastic trim to cover the edge of the plywood
head platform, dry-fitting it for now. Later, I'd
install some caulk behind it. |
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The inboard bulkhead, on either side of the door
opening, was the last section for which Formica was
required, so I patterned these two tall, narrow
surfaces, and the narrow strip above the door. |
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These little pieces were disproportionately difficult to
make, taking all afternoon to cut and fit. I ended
up making each of the long, narrow pieces twice--not by
choice, mind you, but because in both cases either my
template was off or, more likely, the flimsy, narrow
templates had shifted while I was tracing them out onto
the sheets of Formica. It didn't help that the
edges where these pieces butted into the corners were
far from straight, but somehow had a sort of curve to
them, which made cutting out the Formica a constant
process of remarking and realigning the straightedge to
approximate the curve. |
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For both pieces, my first attempts were way off on this
curved side--the exact mechanics of the mistake weren't
clear, though the smaller pieces tended to slide about
even when clamped, thanks to the rotation of the router
bit, so even though I tried to pay attention to this,
perhaps that was the culprit--but in each case I used
the bad piece as a new template, with an accurate shape
scribed on the offending side, and cut new pieces from
my dwindling supply of Formica scraps.
I was really sick of the process by the end, but finally
I was ready to install these final pieces with contact
cement, completing the bulk of the work in the tiny head
compartment. I still had to seal all the seams,
build a door and frame, and finish the overhead before I
could think about installing the final lighting
and plumbing here. |
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Total Time Today: 6.75 hours
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