Date: 30 December 2014. Building a Locker (Part
2)
© janice142
[Posted late due to bandwidth issues.]
Well, the
canning locker aboard Seaweed is complete however I must admit I am
less than satisfied by the results. It is done however there is
definitely room for improvement. Let me tell you what I did wrong,
and what could have been better. Still, know this:
The locker is
in use and useful. Though not perfect, it is definitely Good Enough.
This all
began in early December when I opened a kitty litter container
and discovered the canning jars I'd stored in there had been damaged
by condensation. The particulars can be found in the
Building a Locker (Part 1)
article.
After much
thought, multiple measurements and the like, I had come up with the
plan for the canning goods locker. It would be 12" deep, span the
width between the dinette benches and nearly as tall as the table it
would fit under. Here are my original notes:
Cutting up
the sheet of plywood was a given. I would need to haul the pieces back
to Seaweed and there is no way I could physically carry a 4x8 sheet
of plywood. First however a walk over to the local ACE Hardware was
required so I could pay for it.
On the way,
just leaving the bank was a local friend, George. We chatted and I
told him my intention. He volunteered to cut the wood for me,
provided we could get it cut small enough to fit into his car.
Excellent. George has a table saw so I knew the cuts would be far
better than mine (with a jig saw) would be.
The
dimensions were on my 3x5" card, so I was all set. Having George cut
the wood
meant the locker would fit together without issue. Frankly, my
cutting is not spectacular so this was a real boon to me.
It looks like shortly I will have a spiffy new
locker! I need to celebrate with a Woody Woodpecker cup of coffee.
At ACE, the
sheet was cut into strips about 24" wide. The four slices
fit into George's trunk. We headed over to his workshop where I was
delighted to see Pat. She is a gem (George's better half) and gave me my newest
Aphorisms
file addition. And quite frankly, this one sure rings a bell with me
of late...
I'm old, I'm
cold and I want to go home. Pat in Carrabelle.
The next
day George brought me by my new locker. Some assembly required:
Before the
"work" begins... |
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Even though I
had purchased
the better of the two grades of ply sold at ACE there was a
bit of preparation required.
Side
Note: Locally plywood comes in two
grades. The first and least expensive is unfinished on both
sides. The better quality is smooth on one side. It also
will have fewer knots.
First I wanted to protect
the plywood. That means varnish. Ship's stores did me well. I
had less than half a quart of
Interlux Varnish Goldspar Satin Quart, and
that would work. I painted pieces of my puzzle with it.
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Even if I intended to
eventually paint the wood, the clear coat base would be
a good choice for the project. Besides, I had it on hand.
From the scraps, I knew I wanted to make feet/legs
for my locker. Having it set directly on the sole would have
been a bad idea. I wanted air circulation. Additionally the
aesthetics required a bit of a furniture look to the locker.
Adhesive, specifically the
GE
Silicone Glue was used to adhere the pieces together.
This step was to aid stability before the stainless wood screws were
added. |
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The first step was to begin building. Because I
did not want to take the dinette table top off I opted to build in
place, one shelf at a time. This all sounds logical and it sort-of
works. Almost.
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After placing the legs at the bottom I screwed them
in place. The width, 26" meant that three would be required to
support the items on that shelf.
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I had shorter pieces (this one
is 6.5" by 12") cut to support the upper shelves. You can see
one of them in the next picture. A bit of the
GE
Silicone Glue and a couple of screws held it all together.
I wanted short shelves.
Specifically I want to be able to stack my canning jars two
high. The bottom shelf would be a bit higher to accommodate my
pressure cooker and associated gear used when preserving foods.
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Articles on canning can be found here:
Canning Primer (Preserving Meats, Part 1)
and here:
Processing in Pressure Cooker (Preserving
Meats, Part 2) |
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The bottom corner of my locker now fits my pressure
cooker.
While I wallowed in my happiness
as the first shelf went in so well, that was the last thing to go
well until completion of the project. The gosh darn boat is narrower
at the bulkhead than where I measured out by the passageway.
Additionally, nothing (not a thing!) is square -- nor even close.
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Not a doggone thing was
near to fitting after that initial success with the bottom
layer. With a bit of fudging (quite a bit!) I made it
all work. You can see how far off things were in these two
pictures.
This was an exercise in frustration --
like many boat projects. |
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She is a boat and stuff goes wrong.
Fixing it is a matter of perseverance.
I ended up adding extra boards to
the sides to provide support for the upper layers. The sides are not
square -- they lean out. It is wrong, but unless you look dead-on,
you should not notice. Eventually I will do one of two
things:
-
Take apart the locker I built and
remake it as a solid piece of furniture. That unit I can bolt to the
bulkhead so it will not move in a seaway.
OR
-
Find an already built solid wood
cabinet that will fit in the space and buy it. I can add shelves as
needed and where required. It will be important to measure the height
I
need. Dead head space is wasted storage capacity.
Given a preference quite frankly
I prefer Number Two. I am demonstrably not good at mitering corners and
would of course like a locker that can be viewed without me
cringing.
Although not perfectly organized, my medicine locker
does look nice and serve the purpose.
The plastic keeps everything in that locker when the door is opened.
The inside of my canning locker is
all I had hoped. My jars fit two high. After filling the new locker
I found another dozen jars so it is not quite as tidy at present as I hoped. It will be but for now
this is loaded. With a bit of effort I will be able to rearrange
items and make everything sea-ready. In the meantime it is done, and that
is good enough.
The problem I had upon completion
is that because things were wonky (size wise) I had used the locker
doors for shelves. Therefore I needed to improvise. The decision to
make folding down openings versus the standard basically meant I was
able to use what I had on hand. A couple of hinges attach the doors
to the shelves.
There is no way to latch the
things shut. Therefore I ended up using a couple of eyebolts on the
sides and some string to close the doors. This will not open unless I
untie the bow. Still, it looks awful. I'm only posting it because
this is reality: this is not perfect and that is entirely my fault.
There is space for air flow and that should mean
condensation will not ruin my canning jars.
Although I wish the final results
had been more noteworthy I do know they can (and will) be redone.
For now however I have a place to store my canned foods without
having to open the bilge each time I want something tasty. As for
tonight, fresh food is on the menu.
Baked grouper, snow peas and some
potatoes... life is good.
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When making your
own locker bear in mind the difficulties I had:
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I measured not where the locker
would be constructed but where it was "easy" to do so. At the
bulkhead the sizes were different.
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Varnishing would have been easier
if I had a place to spread things out.
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My closures are not good. The next
incarnation of this locker will have a better system for closing.
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Opening this locker will be a
semi-nightmare without fiddles to prevent the contents from sliding
out.
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I should have wired it for a
light. To solve that I shall tuck a flashlight and a pair of glasses in
a little nook.
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George and Pat's crew Monti and Asti were fun pups. It was great
meeting them too.
To you and yours, good luck with your project. I like my canning
goods locker, even with the less-than perfect results. It is
definitely an improvement over what was there previously. The next
time I will be able to avoid mistakes made this time. That said, I
am certain there are other ways to foul up a project. I the meantime
I am so grateful for the efforts George and Pat made on my behalf.
Thanks!
Have you ever built a locker aboard your boat?
I'd appreciate any advice you can offer regarding my next build of this
thing. Thanks!
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