January 2002 -- I just had to stop doing repair projects
and do what I really like to do...
trick little wood projects!

With the new rig and new VHF antenna, I wanted a new Radio. The old radio was a little cheap thing, and it was stuck out of the way. There are lots of things on a boat that need to be out of the way, but the radio isn't one of them!
By putting it here I can use it standing up, sitting down at the future Nav station, or easily get to it by reaching around the corner while I'm still in the cockpit.

You can see a bigger picture of the installation on the Headliner page.

I made it out of some mahogany stock that was laying around the garage. Mahogany is much lighter than Teak, doesn't have the oily-wood issues so it will keep the finish longer,
and will match when it's finished.

I added a fiddle on the front edge so that I can stash a cell phone and keys and other stuff I want to keep really handy. I used a router to create a good solid joint, since I'll be willing to bet someday I'll accidentally use this for a hand hold!

The belt sander is my favorite tool. Man, that thing can make some sawdust! I've done enough work on it that I can just handhold the piece against it and shape it like sculpture.

I also used it to create the weird angles needed to make it really fit correctly. The corner isn't square, and the liner on either side goes at weird angles. In truth, I dragged the belt sander to the boat and rough shaped it on the dock to fit. It was the only way to get it right.

To attach it to the fiberglass liner, I have five screws per side. It's over-engineered, but like I said I'll probably accidentally grab it to keep from falling, so I want it to be solid. I used my new drill press to create 3/8" holes that stop 3/4" from the edge. Then I used a smaller bit that fits #6 machine screws, which go through and into the liner. There's no way to bolt it from the back side.

The drill press was a Christmas present to me. I picked it up at overstock.com for $65! No bells, no whistles, and it's not that well built, but all I need is something that can drill holes more accurately than I can do with a hand drill. It's perfect for that, and I won't feel bad about throwing it away when I move onto the boat. (Okay, I'm dreaming again...)