Settee Backs

I had a couple unexpected hours to myself this afternoon, so I worked on installing the settee backs. As it turned out, the remnants of 1/2" ply from the settee tops were just enough material to construct the settee backs. First, however, I had to define the location of the backs - including distance off the centerline and the angle of the seat back.

On the starboard side I was able to use the existing shelf that's still tabbed to the hull and the shadow of the old bulkhead on the existing galley bulkhead to get a rough idea of where the back should be. I installed cleats on the fore and aft bulkheads, then attached my piece of plywood level but several inches high in order to mark the hull contour for final fitting. The edge cut to shape, I secured the settee back to the two cleats with four SS screws.

The process for the port side was much more involved since I didn't have any existing reference marks. After taking several measurements and doing my best to copy the dimensions on the starboard side, I determined the locations for the forward and aft cleats, installed them, and repeated the process of marking the hull contour on the plywood before finally fitting it in place.

With the settee backs in place, the next step will be installing a shelf behind each back that will provide storage and extra support for the seat.

With all of these pieces coming together, it will soon be time to give the areas under and behind the settees a fresh coat of paint before closing them up. I'll also need to paint the back/bottom of the plywood and construct the hatch openings and support cleats. Does anyone have a recommendation for a quality jigsaw that can produce straight and accurate cuts? My Craftsmen special is most certainly NOT up to the task.

Back positioned to mark hull contour on lower portion of plywood.

Showing the cut line.

Starboard settee back cut to shape and fastened in place.

Kid tested.

Forward port cleat.

Port settee back cut and fastened in place.