New Year's Eve 2017

And so, we have come to the end of another year.

Glancing back at 2017, it's neat to think that a year ago today I was drilling holes in the transom of Perseverance in order to bolt the motor on.

By the end of 2016, I had been working on Frame #4 for just over a month... and I'm still working on it. In fact, I was working on it earlier today. More on that in a moment.

I started out 2017 doing some basic upgrades to my old trailer. As the weather warmed up, I spent more time at the lake, now that I finally have a boat of my own to enjoy. Before the end of summer, however, the old trailer was in need of a new axle and wheels. When the weather cooled off again, and I put the boat away for the year, I resumed work on the Zip frames.

So, here we are.

Today, I finished work on the cherry inlay that will be the backdrop for the Zip's gauges...

Here, I have clamped the cherry inlay into the dashboard, and placed the two gauges I have and the switch knob. I wanted to get an idea for how it was all going to look, as well as arrange placement of the pull switches.

Holes for the switches drilled, and parts temporarily fastened into position.

Overhead view of the inlay, showing both the front and back sections of the gauges and switches.

I temporarily assembled the parts in order to get an idea for what I'll be in for when it comes to wiring.

The gauge mounting hardware needed the inlay to be a bit thinner than its 7/8" thickness. The rabbeting bit I bought a few days ago handled this job nicely.