Saturday, June 30, 2012

Blender / Food Processor

From previous posts, you can see that I removed the old CRT TV, and hung a flat screen on the helm bulkhead. Of course, this leaves a rather large open space in the galley, where the old TV was, so my wife and I had to decide what to do with the space:

1 - Make it into storage, by simply enclosing it with a door.
2 - Remove the old TV from the slide it was mounted to, and perform some lengthy modifications to that slide, so it no longer rotates, but still comes in and out. Then, painstakingly drill out a custom piece of granite to mount a combination food processor / blender, along with both glass carafes and the blades, such that the whole assembly can be slid out and used at a moments notice. Then, machine and finish some custom teak bases for the carafes, along with 4 custom machined bases to secure retaining straps for the carafes to hold them firmly in position while underway.

We went with #2.





The whole thing slides right out for use, and the blender is plugged into the old TV outlet, so I didn't have to do any re-wiring (for once). There is a carafe for blending, and another for food processing. One food processor blade is in the carafe, while the other is on a custom pedestal, behind the base. The carafes fit tightly over the wood bases, and are retained by the nylon straps. The whole rig slides back into the opening when not in use, and looks damn fine, I  might add. I think we'll be adding some glass holders above it, so it will become an integrated marine-rated drink mixing station, but I need a bit more time for that.

More soon.....

2 comments:

  1. Looks really good!
    Thanks for sharing. you gave me some really good ideas... I just wanted to ask about the price of the engines as I'm considering changing them and if I can get your opinion about switching to Diesel ones and how hard that would be. thanks a lot.

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    1. Engines were just shy of $14,000 each, complete. I can't comment on a diesel conversion, as I have no idea what boat you have. But, I can say that I considered it for my 340, and it's doable. You really have to consider how much you use the boat, and how long you intend to keep it, to determine if this is a worthwhile endeavour. It does add resale value if done correctly, but it will cost a lot more up front. Send me an email at ddu101@aol.com, and we can talk more about it.

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