Last night I didn’t get much done, just started laying out a scenario for the rib stiffener/paper towel hanger. Mostly it was SOP (Standard 'O'-voidence Procedure); wasn’t sure I was ready to pull the hatch skin back off yet.
Tonight before pulling the skin off, I tried a couple of different methods to trace a line on the edge of the wall parallel to the underside of the skin. Although I had tried for 1/16 inch gap, in some places it is tighter and I don’t want the canvas to bind. I’ll probably end up hand working the high areas down to the line or maybe take the line, too, to give me a little leeway for pleats. That way when I rabbet the outside edge of the wall where the wall canvas will wrap and the seal will seat, there will also be a nice even gap at the reveal. (I should have given this all more attention in the design phase, but I still haven't pinned down just how much to allow for the canvas.)
Next I set the drill driver on high speed and spun all of the little screw/wooden washer fasteners out of the skin like little tops spinning madly. The skin had taken a nice set and to try and preserve this I propped it up against the front wall with a board clamped along the front edge to keep it straight. I used the same tether technique just in case.
So now I’m back to here.
It was about this time that I realized that I never went up under the hinge spar and predrilled for the screws that need to go up thru the skin into the spar in the areas between the ribs. The panel seemed tight enough along this edge, but I suspect that the PL will expand a little.
… and I am getting really worried about how I am going to get the skin back on with adhesive without smudging it all around where I don’t want it. It will definitely take a second set of hands, and then some.
Decided that I need to wait until the skin is glued on and I can cycle the hatch to decide where the paper towel hanger needs to go; too close to the hinge and it will be too far back to reach easily when the hatch is up; too far away from the hinge and it might be too high for the wife to reach when the hatch is up.
I’m at one of those spots where you have to slow down just to be sure you are not screwing up, or painting yourself into a corner, but my goal for tomorrow (or at least the weekend) is to have the hatch skin on permanently.