It's kind of like a Revel, but not.

[rob cote]

I've just been doing a few various small jobs; tying up loose ends here and there. Or, in some cases not. But at least making progress. In some cases not. I guess I don't know how to classify what the ffff I've been doing.

Let's start from some random spot in the middle, since none of it matters anyway. We have to get our lightly-soiled water into the appropriate tank. That tank sits on the spare tire carrier under the van floor. Our spare is on the ladder, remember? So I worked opposite the flow of water and started at the tank port. I just threw together some PVC fittings so I could cut approximate lengths; none of it is finalized and glued. I wanted to get a start since I had a little downtime, but we don't have the sink or shower installed yet, so I can't connect the other ends and make sure everything is right. So this whole assembly was only installed for a short time, but I at least have a pathway sorted, and some lengths cut. So, when I have the other connection locations, it should go in quick. The lion's share of van building is in the figuring, not the execution.



It looks like it's hitting the axle because it is, but it was also just resting in there so I could take the photo. It easily lifts off the axle and away from the bump stop. And I'll obviously have to incorporate some hangers. This preliminary install gave me the opportunity to see what that might look like and plan ahead. Shouldn't be a big deal when I get around to finishing it off.

We've had a plan for a while now to have an "outdoor shower". That's just what we call it for simplicity. But more accurately, it's a garden hose. But we don't have a garden. I think in the marine world it's called a washdown connection? Something like that. We won't be showering with it, unless we're a place where none of you people are around. I'm aware you don't want to see that. So, you're welcome. It will mainly be for washing muddy boots, muddy dog, muddy van, etc. Call it a mud hose. I don't know. Anyway, there was a plan and zero action. So, I banged out the plumbing pretty quickly the other day. It's just another T off the pressure side of the system, and a Pex line to the back doors.

We got a hose connector from Aquor a while ago that's super nice. Not affiliated, I just really like it. It's just a quarter-turn type deal, with a check valve inside both pieces. So theoretically, you could leave your hose full of water if you wanted. Ours is an expanding-type jobby, so we have to drain it to fit it back in its container to store it. But basically, when you disconnect the hose, there's just a tiny dribble of water that comes out and that's it. And you're not constantly compressing and uncompressing the rubber washer inside the hose end, so it should last much longer. You know how those always fail and you get that tiny trickle of water down the hose every time you use it? Or down your arm. I hate that. This should help prevent (or at least prolong) that. Plus it looks awesome.

So, I made up a panel for it to sit in. It's nothing too crazy, but it was a few days' worth of glue-ups because of the order of operations. I couldn't do it all at once. The panel will also act as a sort of knee wall to help prevent anything falling out of the storage space when we open the door. I'm hoping my ski boots will fit in this space, we'll see once this rain stops. I did test it out yesterday, since I needed to drain the tanks anyways. Our hose reaches all the way around the van so we should be able to do a full wash periodically to keep it nice and nice. And the stretch action of the hose actually works really well as a sort of accumulator, so the water pump doesn't have to run 100% of the time. It's probably approximately 50% duty cycle. I didn't measure it, that's just a guesstimate. But the hose throbs the whole time which is creepy. Looks like a weird giant worm.



A while back, I forget if I wrote this or not, I installed a level sensor on the tanks. I'm not sure if SCAD is the brand or the technology, honestly. It's basically an adhesive foil with wires coming off it, and you stick it to the outside of the tank. You can see it two pictures up on the grey water tank. Through the process of magic, this creates an electric signal that corresponds to the amount of liquid inside the tank. I don't know. I just followed the directions for once. The tanks sat at this stage for a while, because I didn't have the final location for the gauge. Then I did, and it wasn't priority because I had other stuff to get done.

But anyways, I made up a panel that's definitely temporary. It's ugly as hell. But it will act as a stencil for the final product. This has been the best operating rhythm I've found for making weird shapes that aren't exactly measurable. I make something approximate using a piece of scrap, and then I can write on it; add half inch here, remove 3/16" from this section, etc. So when I trace it onto the final piece, I account for the notes, and then it usually works first try. Would that be the second try? In any case, this allowed me to get the final length on the wiring harness to the gauge. It might not land in exactly the same spot, but there's a bit of extra length, it should be able to move a few inches. I installed the water fill port panel thing as well, but I think we're going to use something different. Imagine this, but without all the wires showing, because this is the best picture I have:



Spoiler: In the end, it looks nothing at all like that. The point is that we have a gauge to read while we're filling the water tanks. It's not in the ideal location for regular checking, but it's not difficult to access, and I suspect once we're in a rhythm of daily use, we'll have a decent feel for when we'll need to fill the fresh tanks and drain the grey tank. The most important function of the gauge will be to ensure we don't overfill the fresh tanks because it will spill out the vent. So that's one job as done as I can get it at this point. Once the bench is in place on that side, I will re-make the panel to fit more betterer and look all nice and nice.

Update: Since we've been living in this for a while now, I would advise against using this gauge. Perhaps ours is defective, I'm not really sure. It seems to forget its calibration periodically, which is annoying. Additionally, and I think this is by design, there's a significant time delay for accurate readings. It's probably a few minutes or so. So it's not really useful as we're filling the tanks, because it's a few minutes behind the actual level. We've learned to just put a flashlight on top of the tank which allows us to see through the tank to the water level. Not ideal, but that's vanlife. One other issue, not related to the gauge, but to water-filling business, is that I should have used a larger diameter pipe for the crossover connecting the two tanks. The driver's side tank fills much faster than the water transfers over to the passenger's side tank. So the passenger's side tank may only get half to 3/4 full by the time the driver's side tank is full. Ultimately, this is a very minor issue since we carry SO MUCH water anyways. We don't really sweat it. It's just a minor annoyance that I'll probably address someday. Or maybe not. Who knows? Not me.

 

[rob cote]

I had a fair bit of downtime this week, so no major progress, although I am 100% caught up on work now. You'll find out what that means at the end. So. You already saw the ceiling in place before, remember? Scroll back. Or don't, because it looks better now anyways. I took it all out to make adjustments. A few of the perimeter pieces needed to be trimmed a little. Everything needed to be sanded and finished. Some holes had to be slightly adjusted for better fitment, etc. You know the drill. No, that's the impact wrench, I said drill.

We picked out our favorite piece of the flooring material to make the rear...I dunno...archway piece? It's this crazy birds-eye piece that looks awesome with the finish applied. It took me forever and a day to shape it to the contours of the door opening to fit properly. But you guys get to skip over that part right to the end. I cut in the hole for the factory dome light as well. Here's what it looks like finished:



So, I think I mentioned that we ran into a roadblock with the mattress hitting the ceiling. Basically, it was an oversight on my part - the bed lift actually goes up as it goes down, because it moves in arcs. And I totally didn't consider that when sizing the mattress. MY BAD. So, we spent several days weighing options and trying to figure out the best plan. We were ultimately stuck with the mattress we bought, regardless, so I figured what the hell, I may as well try and make it work because what's the harm? We weren't going to get any value back out of it, except through maybe donating, which I'm not even sure of any places that are accepting mattress donations. Anyway. I ripped the seams, just to have a looksie. I never opened up a mattress before.



The piping IS the seam, which should make reassembly pretty easy, I think. For Mandy. It will be easy for her. Not me. So, I was like I'll keep going, I guess. I rolled the cover back to expose the end of the foam that is the front edge although here I'm working at the back of the van. The thing about a rectangle is it's actually symmetrical. Don't know if you knew it. So I could work where it's easier standing on the rear bumper, and then flip it around after. So basically, I marked a line on the top that was equal to the thickness of the mattress back from the edge. So if I connected that line to the bottom edge, it would make a 45* angle, where there once was a 90* angle. I dunno if that makes sense. It's hard to describe geometry in text sometimes. You'll see in the next picture. Those of you who are impatient already saw it because you literally only glance at the pictures and then go to the next thread. Using a bread knife, I made cuts about 2" apart, give or take, connecting the line to the bottom edge. These just ensured that I didn't get too far off track as I cut across, removing each triangle one at a time.



Ultimately, I had to go back and make the angle a bit steeper. For this, I just drew another line 2" back from my original, and again connected it to the bottom edge. So we lost about 8" of width at the top of the mattress, but the bottom is still the same width and the front has a weird angle. But there's still plenty of mattress for us, and the slope actually makes entry and exit a little easier I think. It looks weird, but it works. So who cares! The mattress still brushes the ceiling during the transition, but it doesn't really hang up like it did before. One thing I have left to take care of is to lop off the corners of the steel bed frame. I just need to take out about a 1" triangle of material that's not doing anything, because this part still hits the ceiling. I ran out of steam yesterday, and we're doing a little road trip today and sleeping in the van tonight. By doing a 2-person move with the bed lift, one person can hold the front down so it doesn't gouge the ceiling, and for one night that's not a big deal. I'll deal with it tomorrow or something.

Anyway. So the ceiling went back in once the bed issue was reworked. It looks basically the same as before, but with a little bit more yellow and gloss. It's a satin finish polyurethane. I also cut the driver's side dome light into the ceiling because we totally forgot about it when we built the wall. I had seen someone else build a ceiling in this configuration. I think it was George, from Humble Road vans? I think that's the name of his YouTube channel. He's got some pretty great videos. He glued a fabric strip to the back of all the ceiling slats to help hold them together. So I tried the same. It was way too awkward to try to lift into place by myself so I ultimately ripped it off. I dunno. Maybe he had help or he did something different, but he made it look way easier. So each slat went in one at a time and I stuffed a layer of Havelock wool above so half our ceiling is insulated now. Finally. We're almost 100% insulated which is sweet.





So that's where we're at now. We're going to a concert and tailgating out of the van. I'm stoked to cook a good dinner right in the parking lot before the show and then have a comfy spot to sleep afterwards. It's gonna be awesome. And the plan is, when we get back home tomorrow and Sunday (we get back home tomorrow, but we will continue to execute this plan on Sunday as well; we're not getting back home on two separate days - well, unless we leave and then re-return, I guess) to get as much done building our bathroom as we can. I'm hoping that it's to a point where it actually looks like something. I believe we have all the components we need on hand. But we've called in help because this one's a bit above my pay grade. Actually way above, because I'm on that zero dollars a year salary. Bye.

 

[rob cote]

Meanwhile the shower was being built, I cut in some of the dome lights. The shower is going to take a while, and it's this whole big thing, but it's kind of unique, I think you guys will love it. The rest of the lights will have to wait till the ceiling is finished, otherwise I'll have to remove and reinstall them because I don't feel like putting them on removable connector deals. They're wired in parallel because, for whatever reason (remember I'm mechanical, not electrical), the dimmer didn't like them in series. It's just barely over my head.

Here's full bright:



And all the way dim:

 

[rob cote]

Well, it's not finished yet, but I wanted to give you guys an update. We make dirty dishes obviously. And dirty hands. And we like to brush our teeth over a sink. You get the point - we need a place for a sink. As such, I've been chipping away at making a sink base cabinet.

It's not terribly exciting, I think. I mean, we're excited to HAVE a sink. I just mean, the making-of is not super interesting. It's just a box, basically. But we've done a few things which I think are kind of unique-ish. So, follow along if you want. First, I obviously took a ton of measurements and stuff. But per usual, I'm not gonna show that part. There's not much to see of it anyways. Eventually, I was able to make the carcass of the cabinet:



The front edge pieces and dead panel are trimmed with more apple wood - same tree. I milled them from logs myself. Don't recommend; it's SO MUCH WORK. The toe kick is probably not the standard dimensions. But I made it to the height that I needed it to be. You'll see. Actually, you won't because I don't have a picture of it. But I'll explain further down this post.

We received the sink and I obviously had to test fit it to make sure:



You can also see our shower valve there cut into the side of the cabinet. That was the next step. Please ignore the bite marks from when the drill skipped out of the hole. Getting the depth of the valve just right without actually cutting into the shower yet was a little difficult but we got it done. I think. We'll find out once it all goes together in the van. Once I had the valve located, I was able to nearly finish off the plumbing. Obviously, the shower head is a loose end at this point, but everything else is all set. Well. Not exactly. I have to thread on the sink supply lines once the counter is in. Spoiler. I told you at the beginning it wasn't done yet.

So anyway. The plumbing was kinda a pain because I had to do it inside the cabinet mostly. Bunch of Pex crimpies. I've left one on the hot and one on the cold un-crimped so we can remove the cabinet still. In case. Most of the time up until now, I've been planning to put a wall panel between the sink and shower above the counter. I wasn't exactly sure how, it was just one of those things I'd get around to figuring out, you know? Then our BIL was over watching me work, and he said, "Well, why don't you just put all the stuff on the dead panel?" What stuff you ask?



All that stuff. Remember? Probably not. That's okay. It's mostly been bundled up sitting on the floor waiting for its home. We've got an inverter remote display/control panel, ceiling light switches and dimmer, Eberspacher furnace controller, Webasto hot air blower control, and a heating system thermostat. That's from left to right. Same as you just read it. Obviously before I actually installed them all. You already knew that. Wait, you thought I was going to leave it like that? Shame.

I cut the holes for the things after some rearranging, and Mandy painted it all up. Not all of it. Just all of the spots we wanted to put paint. And none of the spots we don't want paint.



And so that's pretty much where I'm at now. The toe kick is sized such that the hot air blower fits underneath it. So we can have warm toesies when we do dishes. And we don't have to see the unit. Not that it's ugly. I just like to hide the things that we don't have to interact with. The cabinet floor panel just sits on blocks around its edges, but isn't fastened down. So, if we need to access our utilities, we can just lift out the floor panel. I've got basic angle steel bolted through the wall panels into T-nuts, with lags that go into the floor panel. And there are nutserts installed in the van wall aligned with bolt holes through the back wall. So it should be pretty secure to the van. I'll make sure the counter is as secure, too. The counter is going to be sort of a structural member again, same as the passenger's side.

I've only just started to work out a set of drawers that will install next to this cabinet towards the rear. I set the shell into approximate place just to get a feel for the size of it. I guess this is a little bit of background that you guys don't typically see:

 

[rob cote]

I haven't ever done an undermount sink before. Have you? Too late now, I guess. It was a little nerve-wracking because in an undermount configuration you can't hide the cut! So, it's gotta be perfect. Good thing we have already established that I am.

We had leftover counter from the passenger's side. I think the piece we bought was 10ft long. Way back when we got it, I cut it approximately in half (the hot dog way, not the hamburger way) to make it more manageable to work and move around my workspace. So, I was finally able to cut it down to the actual dimensions and now we just have a handful of scraps kicking around. This was just a test fit to get some preliminary marks on the wood (IT'S GRASS, BOZO. NOT WOOD) before I cut it to size:



So meanwhile I had that going on, Mandy was working on another tweed-wrapped wall panel to match the others. I have zero pictures of the process. Just take my word for it. You'll see it finished in a moment. You already have if you're dyslexic. Just kidding; that's not how dyslexia works. So, I did my whole layout and then got to cutting. I tried to be as careful as I could. For the most part, as this build progresses, cutting stuff up gets easier and easier. You build confidence, and that allows you to just blast holes into things without the fear. But I was feeling hesitant to cut into the counter. I didn't want a wonky sinkhole, you know? But eventually you have to just trust the process and execute, so I did. It came out dang near perfect. I know the camera can hide a lot of shiz. Like you might not have noticed the gouge around the shower valve hole (the forstner bit jumped out of the hole on me...TWICE!). Now you see it though. Anyway, the camera's not really doing any of the hiding here:



You can see the panel voids though. I knew that was going to happen. If you're trying to do this, maybe don't buy the countertop from Lowes, I dunno. Maybe it's industry standard. The other options were over $1000 from other sources, and would have left us with way more scraps because of the overall dimensions. So whatever. I filled the holes with clear epoxy - we'll see how it lasts [so far, no issues!]. I also coated the whole counter with teak oil. When you say it, it sounds like T coil. Same as the other counter, which now probably needs a fresh coat so it's more matchy.

After that, it was pretty straightforward to install. I had to counterbore the hole for the filtered water tap because the hardware isn't long enough for 1-1/2" thick counter which I found odd because isn't that a pretty common thickness? I had to splice the wires for the tap also since they go through the counter. Normally, it plugs into the unit that lives inside the cabinet, but ours is much further away. I should have put a 4-pin connector inline, in case we ever have to remove it but...next time. We had to tag-team finding the best location for the drain plumbing; me downstairs, Mandy upstairs, yelling at each other through the floor. We found a spot but there was not a lot of tolerance so I carefully blasted a 2" hole through all the floors (plywood and steel). I also threw away (2) 2" hole saws because they were smoked. The fresh one cut so much better!

Then, for a moment, my work was easy. I just had to take pictures of it!





I got the drain plumbing through the floor, but not yet to the grey tank. I wanted to wait until I found a removable slip coupling that I just located last night. Since the drain pipe has to go through the cabinet floor piece, I want to make it removable without having an oversized hole in the van floor. So if we ever have to service the utilities underneath there, it should be doable. [Update: future-me is so pleased with past-me's foresight here] Also, I don't have to make the floor piece two separate pieces. But with the drain through the floor, I could test everything and make sure there were no leaks. Obviously there were not, what do you take me for, an amateur?

I'll finish the drain assembly that once the ground is dry, maybe today or tomorrow. But for now, I just need to finish up the driver's side bench. I got it to where you guys can see that it looks like something at least. It just needs fasteners to replace the clamps, and the lower wall-leg piece, same as the other side. That piece just needs final trimming and a coat of paint. Some small blocks of apple wood cut up to make corner braces. And so on and so on.



It'll certainly be cozy sitting on the benches. They're close, but I don't think it's too close. At this point, it might be a minute until the next post. I have a checklist on the whiteboard that I want to try to crush as much of as possible before next Tuesday. We're gonna do a little road trip for about a week, down to North Carolina to visit some friends and check out their new home and try living in this thing for more than a weekend. I just want to try to get as far along as I can before departure, so we can be as comfortable as possible. So I might skip posting, I dunno.[I'm leaving in that note, I guess, even though it was nearly a year ago, so not really applicable anymore.] Bye.

 

[rob cote]

I've taken care of a crap-ton more little projects than just this, but here's what I have pictures of right now.

I made this little door:



It goes here:



I did actually complete the install with hinges and whatnot. I hate how it came out, so it'll ultimately get burnt in a bonfire. But for now, for this trip we're about to embark, it'll prevent the grapeseed oil from falling out, so it stays.

I made up our water filler panel deal. Not shown in this picture are the hoses for water in and air venting. But I assure you, they're totally there now.



I think it'll get painted once we're home. Probably white to match the bench? The gauge is wonky ******, I need to contact the manufacturer. If you press 1 or 2, it's supposed to display the tank level for freshwater or grey water, respectively. If I check either tank twice within a few minutes, without changing anything at all, it will display up to a half tank difference. Seems like something is off.

Lastly, here's a new angle of nothing in particular, I just think you guys haven't seen it.



I'm not really great at self-promoting. But I'm gonna try, so bear with me. If YouTube is your thing - I know it's not for everyone - you can check us out here: https://www.youtube.com/c/OutofIpswich

I think that's the right link. You can probably get more info through our videos. Or at least somewhat different info. But probably less timely, since we only try to post a video per week.

If you don't care to watch them then that's fine too. I just know different media are preferred by different people, so wanted to put that out there. K bye.

 

[rob cote]

We kept getting the tweed wet, so I polished some stainless and made a backsplash.

So the last major component, the shower, is half done. This has certainly been the more difficult half. It's a learning experience. And it was partially outsourced, in a sense. Which has been part of the learning curve. Everything we've subbed out has turned out to be more difficult. Next time (HA! not gonna happen) I'll just do everything myself. Frustrating. Anyways. I'm not trying to trash anyone by name or anything. But the short of it is, a family friend offered to build it with his set of skills for only the cost of materials. He got it half done then frigged off never to be heard from again. Said he'd finish what he started for a lot of money. About double what we budgeted for. We asked for the price up front, not "Will you do it for free?" We'd have gone a different route if we knew how it would play out. But now here we are, making the best of it. I'm gonna finish it myself a bit differently but hopefully it's not very noticeable.

So this person's set of skills are TIG welding. Specifically stainless. Here's what we started with:



Just a basic picture frame kinda thing. We built it 36"x26". 24 wide is pretty typical, but we felt the extra 2" inside would be very beneficial, while still giving us plenty of room to walk by. Off-camera, we put up vertical supports. This allowed me to measure each face and cut panels. Here's a test fit:



The next picture looks nearly the same, but there are a few dozen feet of welding added.



Remember I mentioned about a learning experience? I mean, I knew that heat distorts metal when you weld stuff. I told you before (and I wasn't lying, I swear) that I can weld. But it seemed to me like this welder didn't know? Or didn't care? Or had some plan to rectify it? I felt like who was I to question the professional, you know? I just kind of watched it lose shape, but held onto hope that he'd finish the job. Anyway, after the way the floor went in, I cut the wall panels small because there was plenty of wiggle room to land them on the flanges of the angle. This helped alleviate some of the distortion. All this to say what I've been saying throughout this build - It's not perfect, none of it is.

The floor suffered the worst of the distortion since that was the first piece to go in. It's weird though, I assumed that the sheets would shrink more than the angle because they are thinner and larger. But it seems like the opposite occurred. The panels have too much material, so they have a decent bend. To take up some of that excess in the floor where it's most important for drainage, I formed the sheet around the angle. I figured forming it into a corner would help pull the material a bit tighter. Which, it did, to an extent. Not the extent I hoped for, but it was certainly an improvement. I also was given the impression that the dimple for the drain would be done; "That's no problem" or whatever he said. So I made my own die and punch the other day out of countertop scraps. It actually went a hell of a lot smoother than I expected it to. Of course, I tested it on a piece of scrap first. Here's a look at how the floor ended up:



And for (what feels like) the fiftieth time, we installed this thing. I think it's finally installed for good. It's not an easy feat, because it has to start upside down, go in the sliding door rotating in a backflip over the cooktop and then lowering down into position to land on its feet. But we're getting better at it. I secured it to the floor with a bunch of silicone caulking. It seems to have enough adhesion and flex that it holds itself in place, but also can be removed if needed. I. KNOW. FROM. EXPERIENCE. Anyway, I still have a long way to go, but I feel like I'm finally on the back half of the hump on this one.



You can see ice and water shield on the outside - that's not doing any sealing, it's just sound deadener. Unsupported panels that large are l o u d. Adding that mass helps a ton. I lost a screw for the shower valve handle because it's been kicking around for so long, but otherwise it seems to work fine. I've still got the supply line plugged so it's hard to say for sure. The shower head is going to take some customization of course because why would it just simply install, nothing else has.

For the top half, I'm skipping the welding. I realized after it was too late that it's totally unnecessary. And honestly probably more problematic (because of the heat distortion) than beneficial. I'll do the frame the same, and then basically glue on the panels since they're not structural. Then I can just caulk all of the seams, and caulk the bottom ones as well so they match-ish (and just in case). It should go much faster that way. I'm hoping to wrap it up this week or next. It's getting frickin' cold here and working outside is starting to suck again.

 

[rob cote]

I also applied some sound deadener to the floor. Note: 36 sq. ft. is WAY more than enough to do the floor of the cockpit. I used a little less than half the amount I ordered. I used Siless 80 mil butyl. I don't think I've applied this stuff to a car before, but it was pretty easy. It was only about 50F outside, so the heat gun got a workout. If you can keep it warm-ish to the touch, it's much more malleable. I'm sure the roller I used was not right, but it worked good enough. Left some lines, but whatever. It's not perfect, per usual.

I got in the zone and forgot to get a finished picture. I got 2 in-progress pictures:





I did the whole floor (both sides) forward of the cargo area. It's mainly for the dog. Our thinking is that the noise level is part of why he doesn't like riding. And our hope is that this helps cut some of the noise down. We'll see. I'm about to go for a ride and see if it makes any difference. We'll use up the excess material on the roof and/or the top half of the shower.
---------------
It seems a bit quieter. It's hard to say because the loose utensils and stuff make a fair bit of noise still.

Anyway, I hooked up the shower drain to the grey tank:



I made up a dining table from the hardwood pile. I used walnut, apple, maple, and purpleheart. My favorites. This is an in-process shot as I was trying to figure out the arrangement. Obviously, the long pieces got cut down.



And I made up a cabinet door for beneath the sink. This one came out way better than the previous one. That one's ultimately destined for the fire pit, but for now it holds stuff in the cabinet, so it stays till I make a replacement.

 

[rob cote]

Honestly, if you ever get that thought creeping in "Well, I could just build that cabinet myself..." Just ignore it. You guys, the @$#&ING DOORS. I just spent 2 nearly-full days making doors. They're like 95% but I need to just appreciate it for a minute first. And share.

Remaining work is to sand and polyurestain (polyureTHANE, but I like to intentionally mispronounce stuff to mess with you) two of them (one is already done, you'll be able to tell in a moment), and make a catch for the latches under the sink. The other catch needs slight adjustment. And Mandy needs to paint the centers. The hard part is over, finally.





There's so much work in fitting the hardware. I use a forstner bit to remove most of the material for the hinges, but it has a point that would blow through the door face, so I have to finish them off with a bowl gouge. Remove material, then check if it's enough. Remove and check remove and check. Then, the latches are a half-blind hole. So it's a 2" round hole through most of it, then a rectagonal through-hole in the center that I have to hand saw, then chisel out the remaining chunks of the round hole and then locate the screw holes. I THOUGHT they were just a round hole and done, install with the included hardware. But there was no way to make that work with this panel thickness.

Anyway. I'm stoked on them but, man, it was a ton of work for so little to show. I mean, once you have the doors made up, that's only half the work really. And I've been starting with logs basically, to make the boards to make the frames. No one sees all that shiz.

I spent a long time sanding this tabletop out because I wanted it to be really flat. When you have this sort of panel, it never glues perfectly flat. And when you sand it, it's easy to focus on the transitions only, and then your panel ends up all wavy. I did my best to not do that and I think I did pretty well. You can feel a slight wave in one or two spots, but barely. Then I applied teak oil, same as the counters. That will simplify maintenance.



We got the table support arm from Cass Hudson. I think it's their answer to the Lagun products. I think Cass Hudson has the advantage though, because theirs has a tilt feature which is pretty slick:



I mounted it such that we can bring it up snug to the rear edge of the driver's side counter for more work space, and as a bonus I realized it will come up the aisle a fair bit, too. It should be super helpful, but even if it's not it looks dope.



I had to lop off 2 inches from the bottom of the table leg in order to get it to fit under our bed when it's in its lowest position. Not a big deal really. There's still plenty of height adjustment that we can bring it up to a spot that's really too high when we're sitting at it, so it's all good.

Bye.

 

[plh]

I've made doors & drawer fronts a few time for projects. I just buy them complete now. CabinetNow.com

 

[rob cote]

I've made doors & drawer fronts a few time for projects. I just buy them complete now. CabinetNow.com

It's SO much work. But the flip side is for someone who's setup for that work with jigs and fixtures and such, it's actually probably pretty easy. It's not worth it to create the tooling to make 3 cabinet doors. But if that's all you're doing it probably gets easier to the point of being almost mundane.

 

[rob cote]

A few small, somewhat unrelated projects here. I put some polyurethane onto the "table leg" if you wanna call it that. I sanded through the remnants of the bark first, so the color is more uniform. It's reinstalled now and no one's ever going to notice it. But. Whatev.



I cut out this weird plywood panel for the other AC outlet. I just used some 1"x1" hardwood scraps to secure it in place. Threw on a layer of paint. It's hard to take a picture of, because it's fairly narrow there. But here you go:



I made up a couple drawers to fill in the space right above that panel. I'm not exactly sure what will go in each yet. But I basically divided the cabinet into 1/3 and 2/3, so we've got a 6" and a 11" deep drawer. We'll figure it out.



So, I started working on the faces for the drawers. They're somewhere in this tree trunk.



After a bit of planing you can start to see one of them:

 

[rob cote]

I did the whole process over again to make a second drawer face. It's really time-consuming work. Especially because the planer blades are getting dull.

So, once I got two flat boards 3/4" thick, I had to cut them to the right size. It sounds straightforward right? But there were no straight edges at this point, and definitely none that were oriented parallel or perpendicular to the grain. I wanted it to look right, not be all crooked, obviously. Imagine if I just started phoning it in at this stage? LOL

Here's approximately how they'll look in the van:



It would have been rad if the grain could have been continuous across both panels but that would have been a much larger tree than I had access to. The live edge on the top piece might give me enough clearance around the Webasto temperature sensor, we'll see. I remain hopeful.

Then I had to spend forever chiseling out a pocket in the back of each panel for the drawers to fit into.



That allowed me to glue them together. Next is sanding and finishing. I also have to make a couple sticks for the latches to catch on and for the drawers to close against. Here's what they look like all together:



Honestly these drawers took forever. The other stuff went so much faster.

I cut in the latch into both drawer fronts. And I made up a couple sticks for the latches to catch onto. Then I had to locate the height of the drawer slides inside the cabinet

ET VIOLA



And if you want to see them closed stay tuned



So once everything fit properly, I took it all apart and finished it all. It looks rad.

 

[rob cote]

It's not much but it was a pain in the butt.

I got all 5 latches to work properly so the doors and drawers close where they're supposed to. It looks pretty good but I'll probably adjust the drawers so the gaps are better eventually. It's low priority right now.





And I made up this trim stick to prevent the oven from sliding out of its cubby:



Next up (heh) is the ceiling!

 

[RVflyfish]

That’s a lot of work but man, those are beautiful.