I've been continuing with the interior framing starting at the bow and moving aft. The last project was roughing out the vee berth and attached settee below. The bulkhead under the berth supports the stem attachment to the keel so I took the opportunity to add strength to that section by tying it to the bulkhead aft via the settee. That is 3/4 plywood on the sides. The back is the actual bulkhead as well as the foot of the seat. If you look in the seat you will see the last floor timber on the aft side of the bulkhead. This timber is bolted into a notch in the stem with the bulkhead in between. The stem is also bolted to the keel via a long taper. Nothing is glued yet. It is all put together with temporary drywall screws. When I'm happy with it I'll take it all apart, apply glue and put it all back together with silicon bronze screws. The drywall screws are nice because they are thin and have a high pitch on the thread. These will not weaken the holding strength of the fatter, finer pitched bronze screws. All joints are backed by white oak strips. You can't see them in this picture due to the lip of the vee berth being 2" (5 cm) higher than the bed (not installed yet) of the berth.
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| In the center is the seat between the 'V' of the vee berth. I've use 1" oak for the supports and to back the plywood joints. For the horizontal supports that cross the seam in the bulkheads, I've used 2"x1" lumber to support the butt joint. All the butt joints in the bulkheads will eventually be backed by plywood or white oak. It's a good idea to wait to put the permanent backing wood in after all the cut-outs are made. The seat will have 1/2" (12 mm) plywood with a hand hold so that it is removable. The seat will have tow positions: one as a seat and one up even with the berth to fill in that hole. Below the seat there will be a large drawer. There will be a locker to the left and an entrance to the head on the right. I've used the 3/4" plywood for the seat sides to structurally connect these two bulkheads. It is the only place I am planning on using 3/4" plywood in the interior. |
Well. I went in for minor shoulder surgery that turned into repairing two tears in the rotator cuff.
No boat building for the next 4-6 weeks.
July 2,
Healing slowly. I still need to give my shoulder another week before I can do any work.
July 9,
I'm going to try to restart the work this weekend. I'm moving slow.
