Last night, I finished up the bellows/reservoir box (except for the spring fittings). The centerboard valves still needed to be done, so I laid the two pieces of 7" x 1 1/4" blackout cloth over the rows of holes, and glued down a 1/8" x 1/8" strip between the valves to prevent any possibility of a cross draft from one valve that might disturb the seal of the other. I secured each end of the valve cloths with a spot of glue then fixed a couple of hardwood strips at each end to keep the valves and the center strip in place.
Here's a wider view of the completed valves
Then I put the self-adhesive foam weatherstripping around the base of the reservoir box, staggering the seams at the corners. I doubled the width of the weatherstrip, which left me about 1/16" too wide, but I decided that it was OK if there was a little excess on the interior side of the box.
I wasn't enthused with the grey foam, so once it was all stuck on, I decided to color the edges black
I used a Sharpie for the edges, which had the added benefit of hiding the rough seams somewhat
I think the black foam wound up looking less conspicuous, and once it was compressed, it looked like black felt more than foam.
I realized that I needed screws longer than the 3/4" No. 6 brass wood screws I had on hand, if I were to penetrate the plywood of the centerboard and get down to the hardwood strips below (Except for the side nearest the pipes, which has no hardwood below it). At first I was determined to make a trip to the hardware store for some 1" screws, but I got impatient and decided to use my 3/4" screws and countersink the screw holes in the battens by 1/4" deep using a forstner bit. I got everything put together and then gave it a test using a 2.5lb (1.1kg) weight to see how fast the reservoir emptied.
Here's a short video clip of the test:
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