Gas Fire Fitted

I bought this fire about 5 years ago with the intention of fitting it in our previous boat but never got round to it.  I got it off e-bay brand new and delivered for a stupid winning bid of £50. 

I then bought the canopy and an LPG conversion kit and that came to £120, so all in all a bargain.

I am glad I didnt fit it in the other boat now as it chucks out so much heat.  It would have been way too much for the space.

I have made the flue from 3mm walled tube which catches and radiates loads more of the otherwise wasted flue heat.

So why a gas fire you may ask as I have oil CH.  Well 3 reasons, as a secondary form of heat in case the CH fails for any reason, as a focal point and also gas because as a second source Id rather carry a gas bottle than logs or coal and theres no ash to clear up and the heat is on and off on demand.  OK I know firewood can be generally gathered for free, but I really cant see myself gathering and chopping and storing etc.

A local wood turner made me this oak flue trim which I am delighted with.  He is going to make the trims for the mushroom vents when I know the size.

A lot of preparation has been going on in the bedroom.  Next week I should finish the bed and furniture fitting.  The bed base is made and the first wardrobe is in place.

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Headoard Kitchen Work

The custom made headboard was collected from the makers last Saturday.  I needed to finish making the bed base and once that was done I could fix the headboard in place.

The bed base lifts up to access a storage space.  Once I have the mattress  (Next Thursday) I can weight it and the base then I can get some gas struts made to the require lifting force to assist with and hold the base up when required.

I have been preparing the kitchen for the breakfast bar, while doing this it became apparent the island unit was pretty mobile at the end section.  This, in a stationary house is no problem but on a boat which moves about could be a problem especially as the weight of the worktops would act as a massive lever if the boat were to thing anything head on, or indeed if while being transported the lorry had to break suddenly.

A solution was needed.  Screwing through the end unit base would not be strong enough the load needed to be transferred through the vertical walls.  

I knew one day I would have a use for the really long screws that came with the engine crate.  

The head is 17mm AF to give it scale

I made a bracket to transfer the load through the vertical panel and some filler blocks to bear down onto once the screws were done up.

Glued and screwed

Stop blocks and 3 screws into the floor

The island end is now nice an rigid now. I will make a nice cover the the metal bracket to hide it in due course. 

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