Again I marked all the uprights where the bottom of the board should be. Then I made an 18″ cut of ply and just held up in place more or less and marked the angle along the 2×4. Once the angle was cut then I could clamp it in place and draw the curve onto the back side using my bottom of board marks and adding and inch. I only needed to figure out one side and cut the reverse for the other. Each “board” has a different radius because the prow widens towards the top. I just let the boards run long and trimmed them with a hand saw flush with the back of the prow.
I had a rough idea of how I was going to make a secret panel that would lift out when something else was pushed or pulled. I used a thin kerf Japanese style pull saw to cut the top rail where the panel would lift up.
Then I built a basic drawer that served as the panel. It took some trial and error to figure out the mechanics but it’s just basically two eyelets screwed in to the bottom of the 1×2 that has a rope that runs through it. When you push down on the flag pull it pulls on the rope that raises the panel. Simple as that!
Perfect place for a iPad…and some how-to books….
From the beginning I wanted a name plate to have my son’s name on it so I decided to make it open up. I just built a tiny drawer with a back that extended up above the sides so when in place the drawer couldn’t be pulled out to far and fall.
Stained the front. Printed out a font I liked and transferred it on to the wood. Painted it with watered down acrylics. Polyurethaned the whole thing at the end. Added some brass rivets to the front corners to make it look like it’s bolted on the bolt and can’t be moved.
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