1760Hrs- On The Up
Business and some essential Land Rover maintenance has used up a chunk of building time so far this week but today I was finally able to get cracking again. I got the recently completed port cabin roof off the mould, cut out the companionway and sanded off all the edges so that it’s all ready to use and then I turned my attention back to the starboard side. I took my time checking measurements and making sure everything was square and then concentrated on templating and cutting the aft end of the cabin sides. It was fairly straightforward using hardboard as the template material although it’s natural tendency to bend easily meant that it was impossible to get it perfectly right but it was near enough to allow me to cut the actual section out of 9mm ply and then make the final small adjustments. I also hit on what I think will be a really handy way of keeping things in place whilst the epoxy glue goes off…… a hot melt glue gun. It grabs almost instantly, is strong enough to take a fair bit of pressure, but releases cleanly with a sharp tap of a hammer. Using this method I was able to glue a few small wooden blocks in place to keep things in the right place whilst I concentrated on the gluing. My plan is to get the forward and aft sections in position, glue the cabin top to them and then fit the sides afterwards, thereby avoiding a repeat of my now infamous tumblehome saga!