Furniture and Storage Problems

[grundigger14]

Hi everyone,

I'm about to start my coursework for my A-level coursework and have decided to base it on a piece of furniture for a yacht or something similar!

.....anyway I was wondering if anyone had any problems that could be solved with a small storage device or piece of furniture.

Any feedback would be awesome,

Cheers, Granger

 

[Stemar]

Hi Granger, and welcome to the madhouse!

Not a lot of room for extra furniture in most boats. Most of the useful space usually has built in stuff.

Be that as it may, here are a few thoughts. Make of them what you will:

1. Your kit needs to be quite strong and able to be well anchored down. If you can fit it in a caravan and it hasn't moved when Jeremy Clarkson & the Hamster have finished with the caravan, you've got it about right.

2 The door needs to have a good catch so it won't burst open under the Clarkson treatment

3. You should be able to open the door without everything falling out when the boat's heeled over and it must stay open so it doesn't squash fingers or bump heads.

4. It will get stepped on, sometimes heavily, by large people

5. It will get wet and be in a damp atmosphere for long periods. Ordinary chipboard and mdf are not suitable materials

6. Lockers on some boats have catches where you put your finger in a hole to open them. Purely a personal opinion, but I hate these. Imaging putting your finger in to open the catch then losing your balance. with the finger still in the hole. Ouch!

I am talking about sea-going boats, probably with sails. On a canal boat, it's quite different. Caravan quality would probably be fine.

 

[MoodySabre]

A cockpit table that folds away and can be stored easily.

A cabin table with folding flaps and a central wine store.

A pullout or dropdown basin for a small heads with associated plumbing

Good luck

 

[pvb]

A drawer unit where the drawers don't slide out when the boat's heeled, yet are easy to open when required.

 

[FullCircle]

I wan t a wine rack that I can load like a Rifle magazine.

 

[Spuddy]

I taught A level D&T etc for donks and this seems like it has prospects. The cockpit table with storage would be a largish project for A2 ; remember that the thing has to collapse in some way for when boat under way. Storage "downstairs" : the drinks cabinet idea would work - a Dutch friend had a Bokmateque for his Jenever. Might also consider the nav area for pilot books plus binoculars and handbearing compass - good opportunities for a mixture of materials. See if you can find a cooperative boat owner and roam around with digi camera asking lots of questions.

 

[ianfr]

Hi

A cockpit table which can double up as cabin table that can be folded and stored away on little boats like I have!

Best wishes and good luck

Ian

 

[[3889]]

[ QUOTE ]
I wan t a wine rack that I can load like a Rifle magazine.

[/ QUOTE ]
Wouldn't a belt feed machine-gun be a better option? /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Personally, I think a hammock and suitable mountings on a small boat would be a boon as a sea berth.

 

[holly1]

What about something that slots in where your bottom washboard normaly goes, to hold gps binoculars mugs etc. The skill could be in the detail, saw something like this on the forum recently

 

[DRANNIE]

How about seat/chair where the back slides into the washboard slot to give an extra seat in the cockpit?

Or for little boats a (thinking about an idea above) a fold away sink, a sort of frame with a fabric bowel with a tube to empty the contents into a bucket to chuck when you have done your ablutions? The frame folds/telescopes into a little bag and you can remove the bowel to dry it.... hang on why am I giving all these great ideas away...

When you go on dragons den I'd like 2% commission please. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[pvb]

[ QUOTE ]
Or for little boats a (thinking about an idea above) a fold away sink, a sort of frame with a fabric bowel with a tube to empty the contents into a bucket to chuck when you have done your ablutions? The frame folds/telescopes into a little bag and you can remove the bowel to dry it.... hang on why am I giving all these great ideas away...

[/ QUOTE ]Removing the bowel to dry it? Whatever next?! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[Gordonmc]

I have been toying with how to hinge a worktop cover for a small sink so in the "open" position it would act as a draining board. The problem is in supporting the draining board in its open position, if you get my drift.
________ ________
l_ _ l l_ _l
l \___/ l l \___/ l
________l l _______________l l
l berth l
l l
Closed sink open

The easy way woiuld to have a diagonal strut... not very elegant and awkward to set up.

 

[grundigger14]

Wow, thanks for all the feedback guys, should give me something to work with!

Will keep you posted on any progress!

Merry Christmas and thanks again!

Granger

 

[Spuddy]

If you want to take this further, there's no doubt that if you post again and say where you are, boatowners on here will be only too pleased to sort you out with access to a variety of boats. Presumably there's a requirement in the project to design with an eye on batch or volume production ? If so you might want to focus on the popular boats from volume makers - Bavaria or the French lot

 

[reeac]

[ QUOTE ]
How about seat/chair where the back slides into the washboard slot to give an extra seat in the cockpit?

Or for little boats a (thinking about an idea above) a fold away sink, a sort of frame with a fabric bowel with a tube to empty the contents into a bucket to chuck when you have done your ablutions? The frame folds/telescopes into a little bag and you can remove the bowel to dry it.... hang on why am I giving all these great ideas away...

When you go on dragons den I'd like 2% commission please. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

A fabric bowel with tube to empty sounds dodgy to me.

 

[grundigger14]

Thanks for the offer but I've already access to a couple of boat yards.

Granger