Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I am approaching the finish line on my NOMAD Adventure Trailer build and am somewhat stumped as to how to do something... I have a bit of an unusual rear hatch/door design. The top hatch swings up and then there are two lower doors that are side-hinged and open out. The bottom edge of my hatch (A in the photo) is not exactly perpendicular to the ground - it does not match up with the top flats of the lower doors (B in the photo)... This needs fixed.





My options are either to cut the hatch to match the doors or cut the doors to match the hatch. I would prefer to cut the doors since the idea of messing up the hatch and rebuilding it is NOT something I want to consider. (I could rebuild the doors in a day).

So how would you suggest doing this? I have been told that I should mount a guide rail on my hatch and slide a circular saw along that lower edge and let it cut a matching angle in the top of the lower doors? Does this sound like it would work?

I will need to remove a bit of material from either the hatch or lower doors. I plan to modify the lower doors. My question is - does anyone have any clever ways to match the angle that the bottom edge of the hatch lays at to the top edge of the lower doors. I am thinking that I will only need to remove a small bit of wood (<10degrees?) from the lower doors but wondered how best to do this?

What it amounts to is maybe 3/8" that I would need to remove from the back side of the lower galley doors. I could sand this but across 6' that is a lot of sanding and wouldn't be as precise as a cut. I was told I could mount a saw to the hatch door running the blade just along the lower edge - then allow it to cut where the lower doors would hit. I also need to make enough clearance for the rubber seal so I could adjust accordingly.

Any insights on how to do this?

What you suggest can be done to make a straight cut. But are you sure that a set of draw catches will not pull out any slight twist that came from installing the skin. Cutting is a last resort in my opinion. Check if the hatch closes good without the doors on the bottom, be sure the problem is not down there first..

I like to say that I can screw up much faster and more dramatically with power tools than I can with hand tools.

Woodbutcher is correct, find the problem first before deciding on a solution. Does it even have to be fixed? A gasket won't care if it is pinched between slightly out of parallel surfaces, so long as it is pinched.

That being said, if you are just shaving a little off the tops of the lower doors, consider scribing a line and using a hand plane to work to the line. It's as easy as it looks and you can creep up on it slowly.

If I recall you used PMF to cover this beauty. If there is a gap, can you add PMF to bring the two pieces closer together? I saw another thread a while back where a builder using fiberglass used this method to eliminate a gap. Weatherstripping is the other consideration; I bought some from an auto parts store that has done a great job. If the pieces are too close, I like KC's idea about a plane. He made that suggestion for me at one point in my build and it worked perfectly. Good luck!

I think I confused the question... I will need to remove a bit of material from either the hatch or lower doors. I plan to modify the lower doors. My question is - does anyone have any clever ways to match the angle that the bottom edge of the hatch lays at to the top edge of the lower doors. I am thinking that I will only need to remove a small bit of wood (<10degrees?) from the lower doors but wondered how best to do this?

What it amounts to is maybe 3/8" that I would need to remove from the back side of the lower galley doors. I could sand this but across 6' that is a lot of sanding and wouldn't be as precise as a cut. I was told I could mount a saw to the hatch door running the blade just along the lower edge - then allow it to cut where the lower doors would hit. I also need to make enough clearance for the rubber seal so I could adjust accordingly.

Any insights on how to do this?

Same answer as before, except to add that if you pitch the angle so that water runs away from the seal outward you will be better off.

Hand planing or sanding with the proper grit paper (... really, you end up sanding after planing...) really doesn't take that long when you factor in the effort that it takes to set up a tool guide and fiddle with the extension cord on a power tool. I did both of my cabinet face frames to match the roof profile in a matter of a few minutes. Okay, maybe it was longer than that, but they came out great and the work was very therapeutic.

Once you get the faces parallel, then perhaps a trim router would be good for rabbeting a step for the seal to land on (seal adhered to bottom edge of upper hatch so that it is up and out of the way of "traffic" when open).

Id definatly be planing it as said above or adding a wedge, whatever works best

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I'd take a door off, line it up with the side of the hatch, mark a line where you need to cut, and line the whole thing up on my table saw and cut it that way. It will be straight and the same angle all the way through.

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You need to first figure out the angle to cut it. I would just take a piece of scrap plywood and cut out the profile of the sidewall or of the door. You can then use that as a template to trim with a saw until it fits flat as you want it. You'll then have a piece that gives you the correct angle to cut either the hatch or door.
I would use a straight edge as a guide and saw.

Instead of a saw I would use a router and a trim bit...use the hatch as the guide and trim the doors.