The first job on Monday morning was to put the first coat of wood dye on the edge trim pieces and while the first coat was drying I epoxied a wooden block at the top of the opening under the cooker for the fixed part of the latch for the drop in panel. I then started on trimming up the heads door openings most of the work involved trimming the laminate lining the bulkheads flush with the door openings also I got the two final coats of wood dye on the edge trim pieces.
On Wednesday I continued with the door openings this work is somewhat laborious as the laminate is 4mm thick on both sides of each bulkhead I found that the easiest way to remove the excess material was to use a tungsten carbide pull scraper it made much less dust than an angle grinder or power sander the stuff tends to come off in shavings rather than large amounts of dust, I finished off this morning.
Door openings all cleaned up
The door openings look as though they were originally hacked out with a jig saw and are a bit uneven so the new frames will be secured with screws and thickened epoxy to fill the gaps. To finish off today I pinned and glued the edge trim to the drop in panel, it just needs the latch fitting and a couple of coats of varnish on the edge trim which will be the first job next week. I know have a plan for the door frames and I will form the top semicircular section with several segments glued and screwed into place I just have to find some decent hardwood, I am going to try a source of recycled timber in Strood to start with.
Drop in panel ready for varnish
Back of drop in panel
The above picture is not so clear, sunshine through the hatch, the panel is secured at the bottom edge by the strip of timber with a rebate which hooks over the lower edge of the internal galley moulding, the top will be secured by a spring latch as the various locker doors.