Kind of like a Grumman

[Dusty Mark]

Cutting all those grooves in the foam seems like it takes forever, but it sure makes the foam bend easily...

[ELM]

Cutting all those grooves in the foam seems like it takes forever, but it sure makes the foam bend easily...

Cutting to grooves was way less time consuming than cleaning up the foam dust everywhere. But grooves do make it bend really nice. Today I'm going to sand the foam down flush to my framing. I will post pictures later today.

[Dusty Mark]

That's where I was thankful for my dust collection system connected to the table saw. It didn't get all of it, but almost all of it.

[ELM]

That's where I was thankful for my dust collection system connected to the table saw. It didn't get all of it, but almost all of it.

I did hook my shop vac to my small table saw that I was using outside and it did catch most of it.

[ELM]

Here's a few pictures of the foam before and after sanding. The 1 1/2 foam that I bought was actually 1.587 so it needed to be sanded. I made a long sanding board or in my case a piece of 1"x1" steel tubing with a piece of 40 grit sand paper glued to it.
This a picture of the left side before sanding
And this a picture of the left side with some of the sanding done.

And the left side done.

This is the front before sanding

And the front after sanding

And the right side before sanding

Right side after sanding

And the top sanded

I'm glad that job is done.
Next I get to start putting on the 1/4" Baltic Birch for the walls and 1/8" for top.

[ELM]

Here's a picture of the right side 1/4" Baltic birch installed. I think I used 33 different clamps.


I let the right side glue dry overnight and installed the left side the next day.


And the left side galley wall.

[ELM]

Here's a picture of the right side unclamped and trimmed.

Here's a picture of the front with Birch glued and trimmed.

And a picture of the right front birch glued and trimmed.

And here's a picture of the top glued and trimmed.

That's a good job done.
Next up is skinning the outside of the hatch and running the wires for lights. I'm also going to install the window and door for a test fit.

[KCStudly]

Looking great!

[ELM]

Looking great!

Thanks KC
I just glued ( Loctite Premium) the birch plywood on the outer hatch frame. I think I might add some 6/32 brass screws to the outer frame also.

[plectrudis]

Gosh, it looks handsome, ELM!

That sanding job on the insulation must have been a major pain the arse. But I'm sure it's worth it to have such a tight, trim, clean fit.

[ELM]

Gosh, it looks handsome, ELM!

That sanding job on the insulation must have been a major pain the arse. But I'm sure it's worth it to have such a tight, trim, clean fit.

I'm glad I sanded the foam. It was well worth the time in the end, But a big mess.
All the joints came out nice and tight along the roof line I can see the end in sight. Thanks

[ELM]

Got the outer hatch Baltic birch trimmed and the hatch back on.

A view from the front looking back at the hatch.

And a view from the right corner of hatch. I'm happy with the way it fits.

I installed the tail lights, license plate light and an old plate for hole placement.

I want to put a third brake light up high on the hatch but I can't find one with a angled bezel so it points back and not up in the air.

[cubbyboy57]

WOW! Looks great ELM, she is going to be a beauty.

[ELM]

WOW! Looks great ELM, she is going to be a beauty.

Thanks.

[ELM]

I've been working the teardrop but just a bunch of little things. I've also been working on the wiring on the under side of hatch like the three Galley lights, tail lights and license plate light. Here's a picture of the foam installed and sanded.


Here's picture of the Baltic Burch glued and clamped. I needed one clamp