I like making counter-tops

I spent an evening making what, if I do say so myself, turned out to be a pretty skookum little counter-top.  I've made a couple before, and they're not all that difficult.  However, things could sure go pear-shaped in a hurry if the contact cement were to get out of control!

I started with the base plywood, under-counter brace in place and holes made for the various things sticking through.  We know it fits where it's supposed to because it's been there and back already:

Here it is again, only this time it's coated with sticky (and stinky) contact cement.  The masking tape will prevent the glue from sticking behind the line where the electrical raceway and upper cupboard members connect.  I'll trim it with a laminate cutter and a straight edge:

Firmly stuck on and flush-trimmed:

Now it's time for an end piece.  I'm aware that we're a little on the big side here.  I had a lot of extra material, and I wanted to avoid the funny yet tragic, "accidentally twitched and now the contact cement is stuck in the wrong place" problem.

The overlap near the rear cabinets was trimmed without incident:

And here it is, done!  I flush trimmed the end and ran over it with a 45 degree bit to make a nice little reveal:

The baltic birch makes a nice, layered reveal, which you absolutely can't see in this awful, late-night cell-phone flash photo.  Here instead is a pale strip between two layers of dark stuff.  At least it looks nice and straight:

Trimming the holes for the sink, tap, and propane was just another quick job for the router:

It's the next day, and I still have bits of contact cement on my hands.  I hope that means it'll keep sticking.

Cabinets roughed in

Now here's a happy-looking boy, modelling alongside a beautiful hardwood cabinet configuration.  What an adorable little scene:

Very nice work, sir.  Well, thank you, Master Finlay!

The cabinets are fully roughed it, which is slightly less progress than it sounds.  Everything still needs to be pulled apart, finished, then re-installed.  Finishing all the tiny nooks and crannies would take me until the end of time, and most of the joints still need glue.

Surprisingly, the cooler, the water jug, and the propane cylinder all fit comfortably under the counter, just like they were supposed to.  There's even room for a few kitchen odds and ends.  The big stuff will get fastened in transit with a system of tie-downs to avoid spectacular spills.  The drawers on the right are staggered to follow the profile a little.

Fin's sitting there with the locking pliers like he just installed the tap or something.  He definitely didn't.  At this stage, he's more of a "back seat" plumber:

At first, I was fully intending to cut out all the panels, finish them, and install them for the first and final time all at once.  I'm glad I didn't.  There were tiny design changes that happened when I saw the thing in real life, which would have generated a lot of re-cutting, refinishing, and general cussing around.  Everything is cut, drilled, and dry-fit, so it won't take much to undo and redo.

The water comes out the hand-pump tap from the blue jug.  It's slightly slower than a simpler gravity feed option, but it avoids having the awkward, large container sitting on the counter.  The sink just drains out a hole in the floor through a hose, which later will be directed somewhere that's unlikely to be right where we stand.

Here's what happened in the cabin.  It's a fairly plain-looking affair for the moment.  Once the more important stuff is finished, I'm planning to add a lot more clever storage and even some fold-down eating trays.  The left door goes through to the cabinets for midnight snacking access and early morning brownie point coffee pass-throughs:

Time to tear it all out again!  I won't take photos of Fin during this process, because he may look less proud than he will confused and concerned.  When I told him we needed to take the cabinets apart for finishing, he told me to stop before I take the wheels off.  I said I thought that was a good idea.

Making things civilized

These days, I'm about 1/2 way through cutting and installing the galley pieces.  The plan is to install everything, make sure our various effects will work with the configuration I dreamed up, then take it all apart, finish each piece, and re-install.  I have little interest in trying to sand and finish inside all those tiny spaces, particularly considering the number of laps you have to do for polyurethane.

But first, let's take a look at those pretty spars.  That sheet of plywood is just hangin' out in the corner, keeping things square:

Of course, it was some yahoo's idea that we should have a skylight and a vent fan in the roof, so we need to frame those in now.  The skylight has attractive, curved corners, which will make it more convenient to install in general:

Lovely work.  Here's the top of the base cabinet, which will form the counter top and the bottom of the electrical raceway inside the cabin.  Fin is pounding in some angle brackets using that little piece of wood.  At this stage, he sincerely believes we are making an airplane.  Silly boy.  That's for the next project, right after we buy enough flat land to make an airstrip:

The sun came out on Sunday, and I happily worked with the garage door open all day.  Fin and Terri gardened and worked in the yard, cross-assisting as necessary.  Periodically, I got a tickle fight.  Great day!

This little stinker thinks the base cab is just the right size for his bed.  I'm just noticing now how wet he was:

Here's the base cabinet installed from the cabin side, showing the bottom electrical raceway and the mid raceway.  That's where things like wiring, fuses, and plugs will go.  It's surprisingly difficult to build a 2-side-access set of cabinets with 1/2" stock and hide all the screws:

See, there's even a clever little hatch for access.  Golly gee, I just thought of everything!  Remember, this is all just roughed in for now.  Much exciting finishing work to come later, and a facing / dividing plate (presently cut, not yet fully installed) over this assembly as well:

What a great looking half-built kitchen!  A 5-foot counter is roomier than I thought it would be.  Not exactly your modern steam kitchen, but a huge step up from squatting beside a rock.  It's the perfect height for casually leaning on while we sip beer and forget about whatever is cooking on the stove.

Incidentally, there is a small conflict with the impromptu re-alignment of the base cabinets and the future hatch assembly.  I'll need to take off those braces, and trim about an inch off the bottom.  The base drawer will be inset more than the top one, but I think it'll all work quite nicely with the curved walls:

This is fun!  It's a little more complex than I anticipated, but cutting square things is easier and quicker than curvy stuff!