A25 Cooler Improvements

[WillieC]

Click on pics to correct rotation.

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[kerrye]

You got a double hinged cabin door??? Haven't seen that before. Did you do it?

[Hortense]

And you seam to have removed the fiberglass above the cabin door!!!
Please can I see some more pics covering the windshield and top of cabin door?
Regards Steve

[Hortense]

P.S. love the workmanship. This is where I wanted to put my fridge but didn’t want to remove the original doors and shelf. Good idea with the folding door - and drawer space.

[WillieC]

I made it myself with my trusty table saw, some masking tape and my router. The door is hollow cored, I didn't expect to see cross pieces, but they are there.

I taped the center of the door on both sides with masking tape and carefully scored both edges of the saw kerf to minimize splitting. I may have overdone that but I got no runaway splits from the veneer. It is more critical when sawing cross grain.

Then I infilled between the cross frames with scrap 3/4" plywood rips which I had to rip down thickness-wise to match the metric door frames. Still looking for a metric table saw. These I simply glued in and clamped overnight. I left them proud of the new edges and then ran the pieces back through the table saw to clean things up.

Probably the handiest use of the router I learned years ago is fine dadoing and edge cutting using a metal guide that screws into the center of the router base. This guide, used with a 1/4" straight flute carbide bit, runs against whatever template you make for it, in this case for the hinges. Having the table saw and 1/4" plywood scraps makes it easy to make whatever template you need. I used the same setup on the rotating bench seat plastic pivot bearing you may have seen elsewhere. With more patience and skill than I possess, one could recess the hinges with a chisel and sharp knives. Were I to use that method, the final product would look like I took an axe to it.

Since I had new (reclaimed and re-purposed) plywood to stain and finish, I refinished the doors at the same time. Much easier for this hack painter to do with the doors removed and horizontal. I used Minwax urethane spar varnish, semi-gloss, at least three coats. Cheap disposable brushes to start and a foam brush to finish. Don't look too closely. I like the result, but I admit Hortense's white paint looks pretty stunning.

Today, I will figure out how to re-use the old door holder that secured the door in the open position against the original tiny shelf. My biggest concern before splitting the door was putting a huge dent in my shiny new cooler box front from the door handle. But I do like the reclaimed aisle width and I am pleased with the end result.

BTW, the original hinges on the door on the WillieC are made of plastic. Does anyone else have the same or where these swapped out at some point?

[Hortense]

I have the same plastic hinges on hull no 2127 1975vintage.

[DesertAlbin736]

Awesome work! Can't wait to see it!

BTW, the original hinges on the door on the WillieC are made of plastic. Does anyone else have the same or where these swapped out at some point?

Yes, the head compartment door on our boat had plastic hinges. I say had in past tense because a while back I bumped up against the open door & broke one of those plastic hinges, so I had to replace them with brass ones.

The only thing I might have done differently in the case of your project, and my wood working skills are nowhere near as accomplished as yours, might have been to go with a marine grade teak veneer plywood instead of plain construction plywood. In any case you could still overlay some sheet veneer to more closely match the rest of the joinery.

Years ago, back around 2003, I needed to replace the companion way hatch boards on my little Montgomery 15 sailboat. Those original 1980 vintage boards were 3/8" teak finish plywood. I happened to be visiting my late parents in Delaware that year, and found this place called "Harbor Sales" in a little crossroads called Sudlersville on the Eastern Shore of Maryland about 20 miles west of Dover, DE. After returning home I ordered a 4 X 8 sheet of 9mm marine grade teak veneer okeume plywood from them & had it shipped here to AZ, which they had cut in half crosswise to two 4 x 4 pieces for shipping. The stuff wasn't cheap, almost $200 including shipping. But I had the whole half sheet left over & kept it all these years & used for some other projects including most recently the roof hatches on my hardtop project. I still have a few small left over scrap pieces.

In case you're interested, here's their website

https://www.harborsales.net/Home/Produc ... eak+veneer

I'm sure there are other sources of marine grade materials closer to Seattle, but this is just an example.

[kerrye]

Nice job. Stainless hinges on ours.

[WillieC]

More pics:

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(Hortense, I thought this hatch was stock. But since we have the super-duper deLuxe 1973 model, perhaps it didn't come with all models. The level of quality sure doesn't match work done by POs. I'm trying to be charitable here. )

A cascade of circumstances led us to this modification, as all things boaty seem to be.

I have been following everybody's redo and upgrade to electric refers and ache with fridge envy, but we have chosen to keep our electrical system low tech. And we are limited by the 3/8" (10 mm?) original alternator belt that comes with the old Volvo Pentas. That may be in our future, but we are cruising now. We could spend all our kids' inheritance or go cruising, so the major electrical upgrade can wait.

A bit of research led us to look closely at these new super-duper coolers that can hold ice for 10 days! (In Antarctica, in the winter, with the engine frozen solid in shelf ice, awaiting rescue.) Visiting my son in Bellingham, we stumbled into Yeager's and found a glut of these Pelicans and though overwhelmed by the physical size, we didn't want to go any smaller.

Taking our cues from all you good Albin handi-folk, and knowing we couldn't chase this cooler all over the cabin floor like we did with our previous cheap-o cooler, we knew I would have to hack the boat. I really didn't want to lose that lovely door next to the original cooler, but I have a knack for re-using stuff. It will reappear somewhere.

But that thing is big, so I really had to sharpen my pencil. And I needed to reclaim as much storage as possible because that is where we keep a bunch of engine related items. Thus the drawers and then the storage against the hull down low for fluids. I have softened all pointy edges down there with blue foam and hose ends over protruding bolts. (You are correct! These items are also recycled.) Don't need any more oil in the bilge, VP does just fine all by itself. Since my default storage method is to layer all horizontal surfaces several strata thick, and then pile the overflow into hell buckets, the little drawers could bring me to a better place, A happier place. But I will need to thin things out. Not happy.

DA, my sediments exactly. This whole setup is basically a mock-up. We'll see how we like it and can upgrade to nicer wood in the sweet by and by. Then again, everything you see is repurposed scrap and recycled from other projects, thus...what is my favorite word? hmm..FREE! I can give you the exact pedigree and lineage of each hunk of wood you see. The shaped hinge mount for the top cover came from a lumber drop on our remodel project five years ago. It was a sticker for the hardi-plank siding. You will be pleased to know that I haven't resorted to dismantling pallets yet, but you can often salvage some decent hardwood that way. And the pallets are in too good of shape.

Feb. 20 and it is snowing on the Canal. Fire is fading in shop so I need to stoke it and find more inside projects to do. Wanted to get to the rudder seal, but PNW snow is wetter and colder than even I like to crawl around in.

[WillieC]

There are other options. This helps clarify my choice.

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f11 ... +Emails%29

If you got through the first post you deserve a break today. Go buy some ice now. Or cut it out of the lake.

[dkirsop]

I was wondering why you were quiet in January, now we know. Instead of being in Mexico you escaped to the warmth of your shop! Nice work on a well thought out installation. I am envious of the drawers. Your hatch cover looks the same as mine which is similar to all the other ones I have seen so I think it is stock. I will now don my toque, mitts, winter coat and insulated boots and venture out to my shop! Lots of snow on the ground here.

[DesertAlbin736]

Cold day here too. Cloudless sky but only up to 62 F for a high.