Sandy Shores - Layout Box Construction (3)

Just a short one for today; as due to the inclement weather, I was unable to make a start on priming the MDF. That said, I did make some progress, including some minor adjustments to the box for Sandy Shores. The first thing to do today was a dry-run of the box assembly:

Above: To my surprise, almost everything fit as it should; the two exceptions being the bottom, and the shelf as shown here. The former was 4mm too long (it's actually made of two parts to save cutting into a 3rd full sheet; the second bit can be seen in the foreground), and the shelf was only 2mm out. Both were attacked with the Skilsaw, and their edges trimmed to size.

Above: The test fit of the lift-up lid shows that it fits perfectly; all 4 parts interlock as they should, and they sit squarely in the rebate on the side panel.

Above: After a brief discussion with my Dad, we came to the conclusion that it would make more sense to assemble the lid, and a few other parts, before priming. Here, the lid is being glued, and clamps are being put on. It was important to make sure it clamped square, so every joint was checked.

Above: I also glued the handle supports onto the side panels, and clamped them up to cure.

Above: You may remember that the original design had the castor wheels attached to an angled cut of two PSE softwood lengths. I decided to simplify this by instead cutting out four MDF risers for them to be screwed to instead. These were glued, and have also been left to cure overnight.

I did start late today, so I didn't get much else done, but I did cut out some other components; I decided that the handle would need additional supports and crossmembers, so these were cut out of PSE/6mm plywood. This means the handle assembly can be glued/screwed tomorrow (once I've checked I've got all the dimensions right).

I'm planning to prime all the interior faces first, then glue the main shell together, before priming the outside faces after the whole lot has been assembled. Whilst the paint is quick dry, and the weather looks decent(ish) tomorrow, I don't know if I'll get it all done in one day... we'll see!