18th July 2010

4th July 2010

Another busy weekend... I finally got round to two of the jobs I really was not looking forward to, in fact dreading! They were cutting the windows out of the front cabin and also refitting the wardrobe in the front cabin. Both I knew would be painful jobs.

I knew that if I cut the windows wrong then it would look bad and there would be little or no way to fix them as you cannot put wood back that you have removed. I spent Saturday making templates out of 3mm hardboard for the front window panels and after some sanding these fitted well.  Once I am ready and happy with them I will bond them in using epoxy and epoxy filler, so that water will never again penetrate the wood.

The old window frames had survived from the front side windows as I screwed those in place and used a router to cut the window, I was pleased with the result and they look like they were always there:

 

I then used the old glass in the front to make some templates for the front windows, but was not happy with the shape when I drew them on the wood so I make some new ones from scratch and they looked a lot better so I cut the holes out. My Dad and woodwork teacher always said measure twice and cut once, so I did.... but I measured one side wrong so the windows were not level, it didn't matter as I was able to enlarge the windows and even them out, quite pleased with the result.

  

The rear side windows were marked out using a long ruler and pencil, I'd marked the panel when I first made it so knew roughly where the lines were. I used the front windows as an alignment so I could get the flowing lines right, then used the frame of the front window as a template to cut the curves out. I need to go round with a sander and clean up the holes, but on the whole I'm more than pleased with the result. It might not seem like a lot of work for a 10 hour day, but I took it slow and steady making sure I got it right.

In that last photo you can see the wall of the wardrobe, it was a pain in the neck to fit, I used the same method as for the windows, cut a template out of 3mm hardboard then cut the main panel out, its now all glued in place so next weekend I should be able to clean it up and fit the rail and also the door jam.  I'll try and get to the boat sometime in the week and nitromors the front cabin ready for the weekend then all I need to do is make the mounts for the windows and then on the Sunday bond it all together.

Sounds simple... :)