The kitchen continues

The final support panel for the left side kitchen bench was finished and taken to Clarabelle where I had a bit of a play arranging the bits.

The end support panel completed at home ready for the trip out to Clarabelle. This is a laminated construction around a piece of 12mm ply with Silky Oak trim. On this side a piece of 18mm ply has been added below the height of the bench top thus providing a ledge for the bench top to sit on and a flush inner surface for the dishwasher compartment. This panel stands around 300mm above the bench top dividing the kitchen from where the potbelly stove will eventually go.

Up at Clarabelle the last support panel and the next one just standing in place for a test fit. Here you can see how the end panel will extend above the bench top and the cavity for the dishwasher will be created below.

A rather awkward shot showing all four bench support panels in place but note that, at present, only the second one has actually been fixed. Fixing the other three is next weekend's job!

Another Step Forward

This was actually a couple of weekends ago: I took the panel from the preceding blog and another that I fabricated up to Clarabelle and had a bit of a play. This weekend I have the final under-bench panel to take up to her, then I can start assembling the kitchen on that side!

Two new partitions in place. The one on the left is a laminate of three pieces of 12mm Ply with a composite post at the front from two pieces of Maranti edged with a veneer of Silky Oak.

Pallave hard at work, again - more painting. She's just so damn good at it!

Happy New Year!

All the best for 2016 for viewers of Collecting QR! And let's start the year with something different: a video. This is how to make a panel for the kitchen area.

And then, once all glued together, I took the panel out to Clarabelle and fitted it into place.

You can see at the bottom that the panel is about 3mm too wide, to I took it home again and trimmed it.

Still only a test fit, this new panel creates an irregular area for small display shelves.

Friends for Tea

Я вижу, что число россиян, начали следовать мой блог о восстановлении Clarabelle . Добро пожаловать , ребята, я надеюсь, что это представляет интерес для вас !

Stayed on Clarabelle over night last weekend and the highlight was having some friends over for afternoon tea! I also got some more work done on her, ably assisted by Pallave.

Chester and I were joined by Pallave, Richard, Heidi and Indigo for afternoon tea on board

The perfect opportunity to break out some of that QRR crockery and cutlery!

More work on the seat back support for the splash back, installing one side of the strips that will hold the splash back in place.

And this is why I need a splash back here, save burning dinner's hair or splashing them with boiling fat!

End view showing some of the detail of the beautiful Silky Oak timbers.

Work also continues on the left hand side cupboards

At the conclusion of this week's carpentry I started the varnishing process with a mop down with a very dilute varnish solution.

Still a work in progress but I'm getting there!

A little more woodwork

It's been over a month since my last post and I have been out to Clarabelle a couple of times since then, not staying long but fiddling about. Yesterday I was there for a couple of hours and managed to install the base and surrounds for the splash-back on the top of the divider between the dining area seat and the stove bench top. All silky oak and coming along nicely!

From the dining area side, trim yet to be added

From the stove/kitchen area side, with added trim!

Did a little more ...

Sometimes it seems that, the more time I spend out on Clarabelle, the less I actually get done! Last weekend I joined together two bits of wood and slapped some paint around. That's it!

I need a piece of Silky Oak to top the back of the dining area seat as a base for a splashback behind the cook top but I don't have one piece long enough. So I had to join two pieces.

Close up of the lap joint glued and clamped in position.

And I got some top coat on that patch of rot that I sorted out last time. Now I need to scrape the paint off the glass. Again.

While I had the paint out, I slapped some around on the entry door and some adjoining panels.

Fitting the kitchen

After weeks at home building part of the left hand side kitchen benches, this last weekend I took out my handy work and fitted it in place. I also chased down some more rot on the outside.

I started by sanding off the supports and base plates that I'd installed years ago.

Then I fitted the end wall. It's just standing in position here after two hours of adjusting to assure that it stands straight and level.

I then fitted three pegs to the bottom edge...

... and drilled three holes in the support.

And here she is in place! No fixings needed other than the pegs at the base and a clamp to hold it in place until I build in the rest of the bench around it.

A broader view showing the setting within the carriage.

I also found a bit of rot that I sanded and scrubbed out of a toplight above the kitchen.

A bit of bog and a slap of paint and she's as good as new!