5X9 ORAFT Build

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Re: 5X9 ORAFT Build

Postby Onajourney » Mon Nov 28, 2022 3:37 pm

Decided to build the hatch out of 5/4 clear pine. It is fantastic wood to work with. I did have to reinforce the angled joint with metal brackets I cut.

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I am very pleased with how strong it is. Super rigid.

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Put some expensive graphics on. They look good from a distance but need to be replaced because of the bubbles I can't seem to get out. I will get help with that from the image place I had make the decals. Man, my shop has been a constant disaster and I love it.

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Finished up fabbing and welding the tongue tray and storage boxes on the front. I now concerned about tongue weight.

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With the tongue work done I could finally close up the front wall. I used the same method as the others, no fasteners just PL3. All the joints came out very well so no trim. The only seam will be covered by the bulkhead wall or in the cabinet.

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Hurricane hinge installed and waiting for my last metal order to come in to finish the hatch.

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Looking forward to the cabinet build after spending over $500 in plywood. Prices are simply nuts.

One mild miscue is the custom blind I had made for the stargazer that fit perfectly...without the 1/4-20 hex nuts installed to mount the glass. Could have been plenty of other worst blunders.

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Re: 5X9 ORAFT Build

Postby Onajourney » Mon Dec 19, 2022 9:59 am

Continuing with the hatch which was much more involved than initial thought. First I figured the latches I got needed to be modified to work. The locking arms were way too short. Pretty straight forward fix. I double taped the metal to a larger piece of ply and cut the 3/16 steel with a circular saw with the incredible Diablo Steel Demon blade. The blade is nothing shorter than amazing.

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Finally finished the hatch.

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Moving on to the interior I made a headboard shelf with LED up lights, his and hers reading lights and USB with an extra 12V receptacle for my CPAP machine.

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Now I pray the hatch is a correct fit. About time to start cutting up all the expensive plywood I bought for the interior cabinets.
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Re: 5X9 ORAFT Build

Postby orourkmw » Mon Dec 19, 2022 2:30 pm

I’m sure the hatch will fit fine, after all your preparations. It’s all looking good! And thanks for the tip about the Diablo blade
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Re: 5X9 ORAFT Build

Postby Onajourney » Mon Jan 09, 2023 11:27 am

Been busy over the holidays working on the build. Got the floor installed. I just used peel and stick vinyl. I ordered online and thought it would be much lighter. Oh well, I figure I never going to see it.

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Got the plates and hatch trim pieces back from the powder coater. Great job and was done as a favor which was nice.

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Getting the hatch on was no easy task. Got my neighbor to come over to help slide it in. No go. It's was too tough for the 2 of us and had to get a third neighbor to install it. Turns out to be 120lbs. Geez.

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It fit OK. Not perfect. It apparently is not completely square and the passenger side bottom rear does not completely seal. I think I may need to add an exterior latch to pull it in like the one John and Tony use. Not very happy about that at all.

The roof rack looks factory built. Just the two simple plates cut from 3/16 aluminum and extruded rail from Tnutz. I cut 1/4" rubber that is in between the body and the plate. I works as a spacer to clear the roof trim, a gasket, and a shock absorber.

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Started the rear cabinet and drawers.

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I must say all the designing and triple measuring on paper pays off. Everything fits perfectly without a 1/4 inch to spare. Latest challenge is I bought 12 mm BB to do the cabinet and drawer faces and I can't seem to find any hardware (concealed hinges, push button latches) for 12mm? I may need to go to 3/4".

Getting closer!!
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Re: 5X9 ORAFT Build

Postby Onajourney » Wed Jan 11, 2023 10:30 am

Thought I'd share an embarrassing blunder. Keep in mind I am an project manager in the electrical business for longer than I will admit.

I am in the tail-end of the build and everything has been closed up for a good long bit. I have taken every precaution to prevent any of the wiring getting damaged during the build .I have tested everything along the way countless times. Some may say, a ridiculous amount. For some reason I wanted to see what the exterior lights look light with the hatch installed, so I directly hook them up to the battery and nothing, nada. I total freak. NOOOOOOOO!. I bust out my tester and sure as sh**, a dead short. I'm devastated. I then come up with a plan to see where it is, which will require me cutting a wall open behind the first exterior light closest to the battery and would be inside the cabinet when done. I am hoping that the short is between the battery and the first light that would be an manageable fix. I did have a enough sense to slow down and make a jig to cut a clean hole to patch back later.

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And it's open to inspect.

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Well, the short is not between the battery and the first light, it's down stream somewhere. I am devastated and so perplexed. I am telling myself, "I haven't done anything for weeks in the cabin !" I then hook up the wiring back to the battery and I smell smoke! then I see smoke coming from the hole where the switches will be, and that's when I hear " you are a total dumb-ass" in my head.

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Well...when I wanted to burn the cabin lights without the 3 way switches installed weeks ago, I just twisted all the switch wires together forgetting the positive and negative legs for the exterior lights were also in there. I had not hooked up power to the exterior lights since then and totally for got that a ran the feed to the switch first and not the light. Felt pretty much like an idiot. Wife says "See, I knew it would be something simple. You're an electrician".

Pretty good patch job that nobody will ever see in the cabin cabinet or hear about again.

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Last edited by Onajourney on Mon Feb 06, 2023 11:41 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: 5X9 ORAFT Build

Postby Onajourney » Mon Feb 06, 2023 11:29 am

I went to Gasspringsshop.com and used their online calculator which is pretty slick. I highly recommend it and their springs. The calculator gives you a drawing on where to mount it and it was 100% correct. The spring was a bit too strong but it is very easy to adjust. 2 springs and hardware came to $80 which I considered a bargain.

I am following my design fairly closely on the cabinet layout to what I posted in my first post here.

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The hatch does not close all the way on the passenger side and probably need an external latch that I can't figure out why. The drivers side is perfect. I may ask about this later. The cabinets are plenty big enough. Both the rear uppers and cabin cabinets are 12.75" deep.

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I bought a large stainless steel counter top on Craigslist about a year ago because it was a steal and knew I wanted the trailer to have one. I have been dreading cutting it. The Diablo Steel Demo cut it pretty easily! I bought a new one just for the counter top and after about 160" of cuts, it's beat.

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Fridge and stove nicely fit with .25" play.

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Just need to make a couple more drawers and cabinet faces and rear will be complete.
Last edited by Onajourney on Mon Feb 06, 2023 12:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: 5X9 ORAFT Build

Postby tony.latham » Mon Feb 06, 2023 12:07 pm

It's really turning out nicely! :thumbsup:

Got my neighbor to come over to help slide it in.


That's why I attach the hinge to the hatch, set it in place and screw it on.

What weight struts are you using?

Tony
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Re: 5X9 ORAFT Build

Postby Onajourney » Mon Feb 06, 2023 12:13 pm

[/quote] That's why I attach the hinge to the hatch, set it in place and screw it on.

What weight struts are you using?

Tony[/quote]

Gas spring 10-23 Stroke 300
• Force:
1040 Newton

The hatch was 120lbs.
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Re: 5X9 ORAFT Build

Postby Onajourney » Tue Feb 21, 2023 4:47 pm

Continuing on with the cabinets. I decided to go with inset doors which turned out to be difficult. I want just a 1/16" gap and the back is out of square almost an 1/8". I am pleased on how they are coming but man it's going slow. The squaredrop really gives so much more storage space than a traditional teardrop.

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I used playing cards for door spacers and PlayDo to measure the the space between the closed hatch and the drawer handle. Lucky it was 1/8". Better lucky than good. I will use the PlayDo also to mark the floor where the latch arms go through the floor.
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Re: 5X9 ORAFT Build

Postby Onajourney » Mon Feb 27, 2023 3:04 pm

Got the galley cabinets done just waiting on a 26mm fostner bit for the door latches. Plenty of storage.

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On to finishing the interior cabinets which are much less complicated. Started to make floor plates for the where the hatch latches that I so cleverly extended go into the floor and now think are too long. It's always something going on with this build. If I am not fixing a screw up, I'm getting ready to.
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Re: 5X9 ORAFT Build

Postby Onajourney » Mon Mar 06, 2023 10:36 am

Finally got all the hardware on the galley cabinets to be 100% done. Came out better than I had initially thought which is always a good thing.

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The cabin cabinets are basically three door cabinet. Ezy pzy although I ran out of BB. Headed to Elon, NC where there is an amazing hardwood store with great prices for the last sheet I need. I really have enjoyed working with BB. This is the first time using it. It is expensive but very much worth it. FYI It's $132 for a 5x5 18mm sheet. The initial design was more elaborate but after my wife and I discussed how we were going to use it, this is what we decided was the best design.

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One of the few things I did overlook in the planning is where to put the heater control panel. It's the size of a playing card but I'm not sure where I can put it at this point. I am all ears if anyone has an idea.

I am so close I even started cleaning up the shop!
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Re: 5X9 ORAFT Build

Postby tony.latham » Mon Mar 06, 2023 11:24 am

is where to put the heater control panel.


Our Propex thermostat is right above the headboard where we can both reach it. :thumbs-up:

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Re: 5X9 ORAFT Build

Postby Onajourney » Mon Mar 06, 2023 2:03 pm

tony.latham wrote:
is where to put the heater control panel.


Our Propex thermostat is right above the headboard where we can both reach it. :thumbs-up:

Tony


The problem is that everything is now closed up. It may need to just go on the bulkhead wall above my feet. It has a remote so maybe it not a big deal.
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Re: 5X9 ORAFT Build

Postby Onajourney » Tue Mar 21, 2023 11:45 am

I decided I don't want to leave the AC in the wall all year and will only install in the hot months. I figured I'd make a removable shelf insert. I had some wormy maple for years so I milled some molding to make a nice looking frame. Its the same wood as what I used on the front of the shelf.

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It can easily be installed or removed.

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I finally finished the cabinets and hardware. There is plenty of storage for the two us.

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This completes the cabin 100% ! Just need to wrap up wiring in the galley. So close!
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Re: 5X9 ORAFT Build

Postby Onajourney » Mon Apr 17, 2023 1:33 pm

Well ladies and gentleman, boys and girls...I'm done!! Here is all the electrics that are behind the 53 Qt fridge. Solar panels are portable foldups. Battery, 10Gallon water tank, and water pump underneath. I will get some pix of that that stuff.

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I have a few trim areas that need sealant but the water test went great. No leaks anywhere. The 8" port holes in the lower truck box are for running the generator when in the box if needed. The thought was to run it while driving to recharge the 100A lith battery while driving.

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Drives great and even took it on a short off road tail.

After 8 months I can get my shop back in order. What a project. It was really a rewarding experience. I always have something in the works but I am going to take a break for a bit after this one. I worked on this every night after work and on weekends for 8 months. I did not keep track of the hours or the cost but I think the cost was around $9K for everything with one broken finger, numerous splinters and cuts to boot and I am pretty sure I will be finding little aluminum shavings till the day I die. What a BLAST! Would I do it again? Hell Fu^&*($ NO. LOL

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Next stop. ....State Inspection office.
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