Tucson tortoise: Edit for photos

[OP827]

very cool looking hatch and handles!

[noseoil]

Just wanted to say thanks to Brian for suggesting an automotive door bushing to act as a striker & sleeve for the hatch rods. It should be a good fit for the way I'm doing mine. As it turns out, they had a supply at the mechanic's shop at work, so it was easy to find one that worked & the price was right. It's bronze with an O.D. of about 1/2" & an I.D. of about 11/32". The rod is 5/16" so there's about 1/32" (about a mm) of play or slop in the fit. If I add a bit more chamfer to the rod end, it should make a good fit. There will be some play, but the gasket material should spring back just a bit & still make a nice seal on the edges once the latch is set. Once the hole is located in the side, I'll pot the insert in epoxy so it stays put and can't work its way out.

Nice to find solutions to small things which will make the whole build better in general. Here's a detail shot of the rod & bushing.

[lfhoward]

Your rear hatch is looking really good! I'm always impressed by those curved hatches. Super detailed craftsmanship there. I think I agree with the bunch that I would wait to drill the holes for the latch striker and rods until after the gasket and hinges are on for good. I like the automotive door rod bushing-- looks clean. That is a nice touch.

[noseoil]

Yep, best wait to drill the holes & Dale had a good idea about a slight taper to the rod end for a better pull against the gasket, so I'll wait until it's time and everything is in place for good.

Still working on the hatch stuff today & I did some insulation & wiring, here's how it looks so far. Finally seeing a light at the end of the hatch tunnel. Man this thing has taken some time to put together. I made a small trim panel out of 1/8" birch which will be placed along the bottom spar of the hatch, to cover the screw heads & so it looks a bit more finished when the hatch is open. I didn't allow for this thickness with the gasket layout, so the gasket will rest on the spar & the trim will butt into the gasket. Should form a good seal & look OK.

Starting the insulation on the inside at the top.


With the wires roughed in and just bundled together temporarily. There are runs for the license plate light, back-up lights, 3rd brake light, galley light in the hatch, left & right channel speakers & the alarm system switch wires. At this point I'm glad I have two springs for the conduit instead of just one. There are a lot of wires inside. I also made up a ground plate out of copper, which is fastened in the center, in case I need to pull another ground in the hatch at some point. I'll probably just run a common ground wire for all the lighting, since it's all LED stuff & draws so little current.


Looks like it's about 5 weekends of work on the hatch, but soon I'll be getting on to other things. As always, thanks for looking. tim

[lfhoward]

Your persistence paid off. That's a complicated object you just fabricated over the last 5 weekends! It really does look solid. Congrats.

[noseoil]

Sealing things up finally. Did some urethane this morning, just some cheap floor finish stuff, thinned about 10% & used a roller & a small brush for the edges. The stink should be gone by next weekend, maybe... Side view.


Booty view.


Getting ready for some skins next. Need to order the aluminum, trim, screws & adhesive. Starting to feel like I may someday finish this thing, but still plodding along. Nice having some cooler mornings to work in now. Lows are back down into the 70's instead of the 80's & muggy. Fall is just 6 weeks away, hopefully!

[dales133]

Looking good bud ,i can see and apreciate all tbe work in your hatch.
Mine took alot of sanding ect but is no where near as complex as ive only got 1 light and a lock in it....youve got tons going on.
Youve made huge progress in the last month or so

[noseoil]

Delivery of the side skins yesterday! I'm starting on them this morning. Still lots left to do, but thankfully it's taking me away from my job in the evenings with planning & thinking (a very long week this time at work). Will post progress as it's made today. Looking forward to seeing how this thing really looks.

Here's what I worked on this week, something different for a change of pace. It seems I can't keep from working on something when I'm not on the build. This is an "Enzo Elver" knife made in Finland. I bought it as a "blank" which comes with the basic full flat grind already set, it's sharpened & has some holes drilled in the tang, but that's about it, just a slab of steel that looks like a knife. It's D2 tool steel (a WWII vintage alloy, high carbon, large carbides, about a 60-61 in hardness) & holds an edge pretty well. The steel is hard enough that it needs a good diamond hone to re-profile it, but once the angle is established, it will keep the edge a long time. Sharpening takes some time, but what else is there to do when you have to work during the week & it's still too hot outside in the afternoon? I've re-profiled at 19 degrees per side.

It may end up in the galley, but I don't really know at this point. The scales are ebony with purple heart liners & I'm doing a Danish oil finish (wet/dry paper with wet sanding into progressively finer grits, up to 600). Pins are copper & scales are epoxied to the steel, so it should hold up over time. Here's what it looks like. Still need a better picture, but you get the idea. Up to 280 grit now, so not quite there yet.

[tony.latham]

Noseoil:

That's a perfect working-man's blade. Sweeeeet. Nothing Rambo about it. Made to use.

Tony

[noseoil]

Thanks Tony, yep, just something to cook with & do general cutting. Take a look at this type if you need a reasonably priced fixed blade. Some of that stuff is pretty spendy now, but this isn't one of them.

OK, back to work again & have one side in place now. Here's what it will look like when it's finished. Decided on a green pre-finished panel of .040" aluminum.

Things were going well until I tried to fit a door in place. I had ordered trim rings for my 1" thick walls, but the ones from V.T. came for something closer to 1 1/4" or 1 3/8". Rather than try to return them & deal with shipping costs & the time etc. I'm just going to make some wood "trim rings" (which will match the port holes fairly closely) and act as spacers to make up the difference and float out the wall thickness. PITA but that's how it goes sometimes. Need to make one for each side. I still have material, so no big deal, only extra time. Too bad, I was making good progress today up to that point. Ah well, guess I'll have to figure on a bit more time than I had originally planned for the doors.

The first panel is set in place. There are two wooden blocks with shallow saw kerfs fastened temporarily to the bottom to support it for now. I used contact cement to act as a "clamp" along the top edge, to hold it in place for the router & flush cut bit. Only left a small amount to trim so no clogging of the bit at all.


Here's the porch light in place, just a detail shot showing the butyl rubber squeezed out from behind the fixture, with the screws tightened down some. I checked the wiring for the light prior to fastening it in place for good. Solder connections & heat shrink tubing to keep things in place while on the road. It should hold up well enough over time. Nice & bright, even in broad daylight.


Still using my little 12 volt AGM battery for testing, but it's down to 12.4 volts again so it's time to run an errand with it & charge it back up. Comes back to 12.7 volts really quickly. Great way to check things as you go!

[Sheddie]

Looking good Tim

[S. Heisley]

Good Job!

[McGuffin]

Hi Tim,

Things are really coming together for you now. I really like the colour of the aluminium too.

By the way - I make up a piece of wood with sandpaper on it to sand down the curve of my foam insulated roof as you suggested - it worked a treat thanks

Larry

[noseoil]

Thanks again guys. Big steps now & nice to see some green in the yard, even if it isn't in the scenery where I live. The rains are pretty much over now & things are turning brown again for the winter.

Glad my suggestion about the foam worked out for you Larry. Sounds like you're moving along on your build as well. Looking forward to more pictures of the work.

Well, chalk this one up to a complete lack of experience! I was too hot when I got around to trying the the door & trim ring. Basically, I couldn't get the trim ring to fit properly on the door, no matter what I did. With a complete lack of logic, I figured I must have had it on backwards. After getting away from it, sitting in the cool for a while, taking a nap & looking at things again, I realized what the problem was. The trim ring is too tight to fit the way it came (my bad) because of the "clamp" which joins the two sections together to form the seam at the bottom. It's riveted with a punch & the fit is too small with the clamp fastened in place.

Here's a picture showing the magic marker line, where it won't go around the 4th corner of the door frame. It's about an 1/8" too small to fit & I thought the only way to get it to go was to turn the ring around (or do it bass-ackwards?) which would then make the wall too thin to clamp properly. No matter what I did, I couldn't make it fit. Glad I left it alone for a while.


Took the ring out to the shop & drill press this evening, drilled out the center clamp, threw it away & let the trim relax, so now it'll wrap around the edge & make a better fit. It will probably have about a 1/4" gap at the bottom (in the center) when it's set in place & working, but that's better than spending all that time making trim rings in the shop for no real reason. I guess it would be good practice.


Has anyone else done the same thing or is this just one of the things everyone else does to make it work and never mentions it on-line? I feel so stupid not to see this right away, so I'm going to blame it on the heat & being inside the cabin at noon after working on the skin all morning. When it's too hot, I just stumble from task to task and don't think much about anything.


I'll try again tomorrow morning when it's light out and a bit cooler to put in the door. If things go well, I may get the second panel in place on the passenger side & have a picture with a door in place & working.

Frank, I'm looking forward to finally being able to use the door holders you sent!

[Sheddie]

Can't really see what you are doing there, can you show us a wider shot. My doors didn't come with trim rings, they just fasten from the outside.