With the curvy V-berth walls and the bed foundation installed, next I’ve got to build the closet/hanging locker on the starboard side. This is way more complicated that it needs to be because I once trusted a guy who had a good reputation as a woodworker–I call him Mr. Good-but-slow since that’s how he described himself. Turns out the slow part was right but the good part…not so much. As I explained when I was installing the lower V-berth cabinet, ol’ Good-but-slow had installed the face of the V-berth head wall panel square to the floor, but the leading edge was ~4° out of square…it leans in at the top. That error wasn’t visually apparent until I tried to install the cabinet. It’s too late to fix it now, so I spend a lot of time hiding it. For the closet, instead of being able to make the solid mahogany pieces nice and square, I’ve got to cut miters that match the out-of-square that Good-but-slow built into that wall. This adds a lot of tedious tinkering to a project that’s already complicated enough.
Pocket screws hold the new corner piece in place
Miters scare me
I have to be really careful when cutting miters. I leave each stick a bit too long, then fiddle around with the angles until I get them dialed in. I also had to joint the bottom of the lower cabinet door opening piece to match Mr. Good-but-slow’s custom ~86° angle on the okume wall. Once all the angles are right, I cut off bit by bit and back the miter in until it just fits.
Oh, and if anybody’s wondering, I’ll be putting nice mahogany moldings and fiddles on all of the exposed plywood edges eventually. That’s detail work that’s not mission critical right now.
Getting close…need to adjust the miter a couple of degrees
Not too shabby
I’ll knock off the little tip that sticks out at the bottom when all of the pieces have been fitted together.
It’s a good idea to protect the pretty wood with corrugated paper
I added a 1/2″ plywood strip to the overhead frame
The overhead frame wasn’t quite in the right spot to attach the mahogany closet panel I’ll be cutting soon. So I added some strips of 1/2″ marine plywood that will make the panel square. Next, I fitted the solid mahogany corner piece that will attach to the leading edge of the mahogany panel I haven’t made yet.
Machining a 1/2″ groove in the corner piece
Nice fit to the 1/2″ mahogany plywood
Looking good!
One challenge is that it’s so hot in the tent, even with 20″ box fans blasting away on high at each work station, sweat runs down my arms and onto the wood I’m working with. Once it gets that hot, it’s time to go home. I spent the whole weekend making these three little pieces. Granted, they weren’t straightforward, and the fit is nice…I guess that makes me the real Mr. Good-but-slow. 😉
Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: More On the V-berth Closet
1969chriscraftroamer46 
Dear Mr-Good-But-Slow, my annual question… Are we splashing the freeeeee bateau this year? 😉 I think at this rate you will be ready to retire and putt putt off into the sunset when she finally gets wet! You are a man of vast patience my friend. I don’t know how you do it! Beautiful work!
Thanks Bill! I keep hoping it’ll be ‘this year,’ then something comes up and it doesn’t happen. So I’ve decided to just stop predicting and keep going. It’ll splash when it’s ready to splash.
How’s bow and arrow sales going?
Q
Archery sales are slow but the wall tent business is good, better margins less work! I took the real estate course at UBC this spring and just finishing up the practical course next week and will then be eligible for licensing. However, I’ll wait to get licensed until after the early season archery elk hunt in September… priorities!! Cheers
It might help the sweat-on-the-wood problem to wear wrist and head sweat bands. You’ll have to wring them out more often than you like but if they can keep your hands and especially your eyes even semi-dry for a few minutes it may be a little help.
Hi Julian.
I’ve been using headbands for years but only recently started using wrist bands. Thing is, it’s so hot in the tent that even without the sweat problem it’s just too uncomfortable to work.
Cheers,
Q