I think I didn't do it right........... this is last weeks post. Crappy connection and Ben is downloading the entire internet.
It seems that I don't have enough to say until the weekend. The ol' pickup had it's engine light come on so I had to take it in to get it fixed. It's been coming on for a while. Exhaust manifolds were Swiss cheese and the bolts were rusted in. So it's exhaust system repairs week. This is not an easy (or cheap) job. They found a few other things and the truck will be back next week. Ya know, I never named the truck. I guess it's the same as the middle names of Henry The Eighth and Kermit The Frog. I always called it "The Truck".
So, what was the problem with me last week? It was the fit and finish of the galley. We are in the middle of BFN, Texas and the availability of materials is close to non existent without great expense and extensive travel. Ben said "Why don't we use the oak?" I was reluctant, as our lack of equipment here makes everything difficult. We have a source of vintage aged weathered palletized oak (like that description?) in our backyard free for the taking. What caused me to relent was that we dragged the jointer over to the shop and I cleaned it up and it could work. I invested in a resaw blade for the band saw. I need cabinet doors, table and countertop trim and other trim as we get to it. What I had was a pile of pallets in the neighbor's yard. You remember the two by fours we got. Some of those pallets were oak! Now oak is hard and removing nails is difficult.
We spent the other parts of the week getting the galley pieces coated and prepared for gluing into the port hull. I am hard headed and wanted the galley table to double as a bunk so I had to accommodate the finished look I wanted. This required some cutting. The galley requires support pieces and it all depended on what I was going to do with the cabinet doors. Everything hinged on that decision. I will spare you the thought process as it will only confuse you (and me). I wanted sliding doors, but my design made it too complicated so there will be swing out doors (not the best in a boat). I also built in curves into the countertop to accommodate the bigger sink thus making it more difficult. We had to coat all sides of the ply pieces with epoxy.
I spent the better part of a day making boards out of the oak pallets. I still have to process more today.
There is some nice figure and character to this oak. I am cutting the cabinet door panels to 1/4" (5 mm). They will have to be glued together to form panels. Cabinet top trim and table top trim will be different. While we're at it, I'll make some more boards to use as trim on other parts of the boat.
The Music ♫ La Bottine Souriante
This should get tour foot tapping. This is Ben's standard of music: "If it gets my foot tapping, whether it's considered good or bad by others, I like it". Those of you who know the music of Quebec know that the rhythm is provided by the fiddler, who is seated and step dancing as he plays the fiddle. I am in awe!
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