The galley hatch construction begins with the wall seal system. Layers of ply of different thicknesses, make up the sealing surface. This is a 1/8" ply spacer. It is cut to the exterior shape.

This is the galley wall, a 1/2" layer. It is cut to the full profile of the wall and hatch lid together.

Here you can see the layers. Left to right, exterior panel, 1/8" spacer, 1/2" inner wall.

Following the exterior panel with a guide bushing and 1/4" router bit produces a slot for the seal to go in later.

Here is the sealing surface. the other section cut from this piece, is used as a pattern for the lid sides next.

The lid sides..The exterior section cut earlier, with the 1/2" piece just cut, and a 1/8"spacer cut with the 1/2" piece as a pattern.

A shot of the seal area. the gap, 1/4" is where the seal will go.

I use a gusset made of 1/2" ply for the lid edge. This adds strength and keeps the lid in the shape you make it. No springback. This gusset is glued to the lid edge shown previously with a 1/8" spacer cut to match the top seal surface.

The actual lid construction begins by shimming the gussets from the wall so that the outside surfaces are flush. In this case, 1/8".

With the sides clamped in place, build the lid. Be careful that the spars are not pushing on the edges.
I cut and numbered all of the spars, then took everything to the bench for gluing and assembly.

I pre-wired the hatch for lights and fit the headliner before adding the exterior panel.
Exterior skins in place and trimmed with a 1/4" radius router bit.

Michelle didn't want upper cabinets, so I installed a shelf.
I fastened the shelf to the galley walls with biscuit joints. Pre-made spindle rail adds a nice touch.

The cabinet framing is 3/4" square cleats, covered on one side with 1/4" ply.
This saves the weight of solid ply. The top is 3/4" ply with heat-set edge banding.

The rest of this galley is in the stove drawer. I put a drop-in cooktop in the top of a drawer.
The space left under the cooktop has drawers for unensils.






Contents and images, Copyright, 2002-2006, Steve Frederick
Design ans photo-realistics renderings, Copyright, Mike Schneider
No image or text may be reproduced for any commercial use without permission. Updated Dec 24, 2007

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