After viewing R-MATEY's Fiddles in their TugNuts Photo Album on their R-25SC the other day I got inspired. R-MATEY was busy after I had asked for details so being the impatient type at times I decided to move ahead and design/customize/build my own.
...Now if only I could extend my Cockpit by 24" and replace my Yanmar 4BY2-150 with the Volvo D3 200 engine I would have an R-27 on my hands.... :lol:
My task was to buy the raw material and make a Fiddle for the full length starboard ledge that runs from the Head/shower wall to the engine throttle ledge. Too many times things on this ledge have simply flung themselves onto the counter top and onto the floor in rough weather... so it was time to fix that.
One other thought was to also install shelves with Fiddles in the head room space as you enter the cabin -- much like is done for the R-27.
Raw materials used...
1) 5 pieces of 12" x 1/2" x 1/8" thick brass strips (more than enough for the Fiddle I mention above but also for the head-room space as you enter the cabin). Cost $17.06 at the Woodinville McLendon Hardware store that was having a 10% sale. 🙂 I actually ran them out of stock of the brass strips. The brass strips are not easily found at stores and I had to hunt for them in various places such as Home Depot, West Marine and ended up at McLendon where I found them.
2) 3 pieces of 8-foot red oak screen molding 3/4" x 5/16". Cost approximately $15 at Dunn Lumber in Shoreline.
3) 1 8-foot piece of CVG Douglas Fir 1/2" x 4" vertical grain. Cost $11.06 at Dunn Lumber in Shoreline.
4) Brass screws, washers. Cost $12 at Woodinville McLendon Hardware and Dunn Lumber in Shoreline. Care must be used to obtain the right screw lengths for screwing the brass strips to the oak molding. They must not be to long to go all the way through the 5/16" thick oak moulding. Ones used for securing the brass strips to the ledge can be longer but not long enough to go all the way through the ledge lip. The brass washers can help in this regard to allow slightly longer screws to be used. Just take care in selecting the right length for the screws.
I cut the 12" brass strips into 3" long pieces and drilled 3 holes in each (see photo example, 2 holes for screwing into the ledge and the other to support the oak molding -- made large enough to allow the small brass screws to easily pass through). I used a center punch to center and align the holes before drilling into the soft brass. I drilled one piece of brass and then used it as a template for the others to make all brass fittings consistent. If a center punch is not used the drill bit can wander off-center and spoil the brass. Used a low RPM for drilling brass.
I stained all the wood pieces with a Teak stain and let them dry for 24 hrs at 72ºF. I then doused them with Teak Oil and let them dry.
I cut the oak molding to be 60" long for the starboard side ledge. I cut 3 other pieces of molding into 2x 26" and 1x 23" for the cabin head room entry's shelves.
I cut the 1/2" x 4" Fir pieces into 2 x 26" and 1x 23" for the cabin head room shelves. I rounded the ends that will be facing the cabin door to avoid having sharp corners that could present eye gouging danger to tall people entering the cabin. Figuring how to attach the three shelves was a real puzzler... but I did come up with a very simple solution which I will detail later when I have them installed. Suffice to say here, I found I could slide thin metal joint straps/plates 4" wide between the head lining and the cabin's fiberglass ceiling. Using 2 such plates for each shelf would be more than enough structurally for supporting the shelfs. More on this later.
Then down to the boat and got out my handy Rigid battery powered drill set and drill bits and went to work.
Photos below show the end result for the starboard side ledge. I will add more when I get around to the head-room shelves and Fiddles.
...Now if only I could extend my Cockpit by 24" and replace my Yanmar 4BY2-150 with the Volvo D3 200 engine I would have an R-27 on my hands.... :lol:
My task was to buy the raw material and make a Fiddle for the full length starboard ledge that runs from the Head/shower wall to the engine throttle ledge. Too many times things on this ledge have simply flung themselves onto the counter top and onto the floor in rough weather... so it was time to fix that.
One other thought was to also install shelves with Fiddles in the head room space as you enter the cabin -- much like is done for the R-27.
Raw materials used...
1) 5 pieces of 12" x 1/2" x 1/8" thick brass strips (more than enough for the Fiddle I mention above but also for the head-room space as you enter the cabin). Cost $17.06 at the Woodinville McLendon Hardware store that was having a 10% sale. 🙂 I actually ran them out of stock of the brass strips. The brass strips are not easily found at stores and I had to hunt for them in various places such as Home Depot, West Marine and ended up at McLendon where I found them.
2) 3 pieces of 8-foot red oak screen molding 3/4" x 5/16". Cost approximately $15 at Dunn Lumber in Shoreline.
3) 1 8-foot piece of CVG Douglas Fir 1/2" x 4" vertical grain. Cost $11.06 at Dunn Lumber in Shoreline.
4) Brass screws, washers. Cost $12 at Woodinville McLendon Hardware and Dunn Lumber in Shoreline. Care must be used to obtain the right screw lengths for screwing the brass strips to the oak molding. They must not be to long to go all the way through the 5/16" thick oak moulding. Ones used for securing the brass strips to the ledge can be longer but not long enough to go all the way through the ledge lip. The brass washers can help in this regard to allow slightly longer screws to be used. Just take care in selecting the right length for the screws.
I cut the 12" brass strips into 3" long pieces and drilled 3 holes in each (see photo example, 2 holes for screwing into the ledge and the other to support the oak molding -- made large enough to allow the small brass screws to easily pass through). I used a center punch to center and align the holes before drilling into the soft brass. I drilled one piece of brass and then used it as a template for the others to make all brass fittings consistent. If a center punch is not used the drill bit can wander off-center and spoil the brass. Used a low RPM for drilling brass.
I stained all the wood pieces with a Teak stain and let them dry for 24 hrs at 72ºF. I then doused them with Teak Oil and let them dry.
I cut the oak molding to be 60" long for the starboard side ledge. I cut 3 other pieces of molding into 2x 26" and 1x 23" for the cabin head room entry's shelves.
I cut the 1/2" x 4" Fir pieces into 2 x 26" and 1x 23" for the cabin head room shelves. I rounded the ends that will be facing the cabin door to avoid having sharp corners that could present eye gouging danger to tall people entering the cabin. Figuring how to attach the three shelves was a real puzzler... but I did come up with a very simple solution which I will detail later when I have them installed. Suffice to say here, I found I could slide thin metal joint straps/plates 4" wide between the head lining and the cabin's fiberglass ceiling. Using 2 such plates for each shelf would be more than enough structurally for supporting the shelfs. More on this later.
Then down to the boat and got out my handy Rigid battery powered drill set and drill bits and went to work.
Photos below show the end result for the starboard side ledge. I will add more when I get around to the head-room shelves and Fiddles.
