The Poet Creek Express - Foamie Hybrid

[GPW]

Thanks Mom !!! Wish we could have been there! Everything looked Deeeelicious !!!

Is that a tool to take the hot lids off old cast iron pots ... ? Just a best guess...

[RandyG]

I think it's a letter opener, some letter openers are straight, some have a hook, this one has both. Seems very rare.

[KC's Mom]

I think the pot lid lifter idea might be correct or at least a good guess. I thought it might be a tool to pull an oven rack out, but I've found nothing online to determine just what it is/was. I haven't pursued it very far. I ought to send a picture to Yankee Magazine, but haven't done that either. Will try to pursue that.

[RandyG]

I found this letter opener with a very similar handle.

[GPW]

Could be like on the Beverly Hillbillies ... a meat sticker, and pot passer...

[KCStudly]

Despite still working a bunch of OT at the daily grind, I did manage to take a few minutes on Monday to run the locker divider piece thru the planer at work. Got the rough side cleaned up and brought the thickness to 3/4 inch (well… just a little under at 0.742).

I only put in an extra hour today (Thursday), so I was able to get out to Mecca for some therapeutic/recuperative wood working on the locker. Ended up staying for about 2-1/2 hrs, til 8pm.

First, I had a better idea for the ledgers for the divider shelf. Rather than support the shelf all the way around three sides and have to find an unobtrusive way to lift the shelf up to get underneath it, I figured if I left out the side ledger on one side and a bit of the front one on the same side (front of trailer, “back” of locker facing forward) I should be able to press down on the corner of the shelf and get the other end to pop up for easy removal.

Here I am testing the theory and deciding where the end of the ledger would need to be to make this happen, but still have the shelf be stable when in place. The vertical stick is just a temporary piece I cut to suit to act like a pivot point. By moving this along the “back” of the locker under the divider shelf I was able to decide how far away from the sides of the locker to end the ledger.


Not the best pictures, but you can kind of see how when I push down in the “rear” corner of the divider shelf, the opposite side pops up.



Simplifying the design on the fly, I decided that I didn’t need the side ledgers at all, and I could replace the long “rear” ledger with 3 smaller blocks; one in the middle and one to each side ending at the location of my pivot point.

Decided to recycle the Red Grandis galley side ledgers that I didn’t use and cut a couple of those down to get these.



Rather than fuss with a router setup and have to deal with these short pieces so close to whirling cutter blades, I just whacked the corners off with the small Surform and sanding block.


Pairing these up back-to-back helped keep from rolling the wrong edge, and made it a little easier to match them.


Clamped the small pieces overhanging the bench to drill out the holes; more accurate and safer.


I used the quick square to position the divider shelf flush and true to the locker sill, butted the ledger cleats up against the bottom, and screwed them in (I’ll wait to glue them until after I have decided on the locker liner material and whether I have to trim the divider or lower them to accommodate that.





Had to sharpen the blade in the little matchbox plane. I found that, after removing my leather belt, if I slipped the buckle between the edge of the table saw and the rip fence rail, it made the perfect strop to put the final hone on the blade edge.

From there I clamped the locker to the bench in several different configurations and worked all of the corners and sides to fair down all of the joints. Mostly used the matchbox plane on the end grain and along the edges, but switched to the No. 8 plane to shave some of the waviness out of the front of the big panel. That’s where the “therapy” came in. There is just something about making wood curlicues and taking something that is “out” and bringing it “in” by hand.



Next time I will round the outside corners over a tad to help the canvas skin wrap and I might caulk the inside corners.

All for now… I’m falling asleep!

[KCStudly]

Got out of work at a reasonable hour and I don’t have to work this weekend!!! Woohoo!!!

Looking back at the pictures I’ve been taking (including the ones below), it seems that they might not be showing what I’m doing and trying to explain very well, so I will try to do better. It is one of the tricky parts of giving regular updates in a diary fashion, rather than producing start-to-finish “instructionals”. Hopefully I am “zooming out” to the big picture enough for things to fall into place for the viewer (that’s you). So let me know if this is all too tedious, or if something doesn’t make sense, and I will try to do better.

Onward, still working on the locker and how it interfaces with the front wall panel. I had originally modelled the front toe kick spar as a 1x2 lying flat on the front edge of the floor; something to attach the lower edge of the inner wall skin to giving a straight backer and a hard point until the foam gets glued on. When I made the decision to use the Wiremold chase system around the inside and front like a toe molding I thought about switching it to a 2x2 because it needed to be a little taller to accept the screws that I added to the Wiremold (…in hindsight, after seeing how well the peel-and-stick adhesive on the Wiremold foam tape holds, the screws probably aren’t needed, but that may not hold true in sunny conditions when the inside temp in the trailer gets high) …where was I? Oh yeah, so I decided that I could save a little more interior space inside of the locker well if I make that portion of the toe kick a 1x2 standing on edge, but I liked the idea of staying with the 2x2 on either side of the locker where the foam will be.

It seems like it is more complicated… because it is, but it gives me a few things: (1) I get a few more cubic inches of storage space in the locker well; (2) the extra space near the bottom of the well, that is fairly narrow front to back, will make it easier to grasp items that are down in the bottom (the space isn’t going to be much bigger than my balled up fist, so a little bit extra will help); (3) I get to use smaller drop pieces of stock, and can save the larger lengths for other things (like the hatch seal frame for the tongue box that I was short on); and (4) it has given me a chance to improve my wood working skills. In fact, at some point this evening it actually felt like I can no longer claim to have little experience with wood working. I’m plenty happy with the joint fits I got, and may even be qualified to someday tackle that pool cue case I mentioned.

After doing some crude mockups and deciding that I did, in fact, have the right combination of scraps, I started by ripping a piece of 2x2plus that still had the mill radius edges on one side. I continue to be impressed with the old table saw! This is the little fin of cedar that I ripped off. It was very uniform and so thin that I could bend it nearly at will.



Next I did some measuring and layout to figure out how I wanted to lap the 1x2 into the 2x2 to get good solid glue joints and a straight piece in the end. It was also important to make sure that the 2x2 portions extend under the sides of the locker where I had already cut the kicked out notch for the 2x2 sized sill I was planning to use previously.

The locker is 45-5/8 wide outside, and I had a piece of 1x4 pine (my long sanding board that didn’t work out too well) that could be ripped down to 1x2 at about 52 inches long. So the plan was to make a half notch in the 2x2’s long enough to split the difference and tuck under the sides of the locker. To do the half lap blind rips I decided to make a rip fence for the band saw. To make the rip fence for the band saw, I decided that I needed a better push stick to work with the auxiliary ‘narrow parts rip fence’ on the table saw. So I made this.


Which helped me make this.


The maple guide piece that fits in the table slot was ripped on two sides using the narrow rip fence and push stick. I got it just a hair under the size of the slot, but the chipboard shim (from the wax paper box) makes it a zero clearance guide, so… no foul.

I used the cross cut miter on the table saw to make the vertical end cuts for the notches, then ripped the length of the notch using the fence on the band saw, thusly.



Very happy with the dry fits.


Here is the bottom of the locker looking up at the curb side with the toe kick dry fit sans inner wall skin. Front of locker is down on the work table. You can see how the 1x2 portion of the 2x2 (dark wood) fits into the notch in the locker flush with the inside edge; how there is a generous overlap between the 1x2 (lighter color piece on top) and the notch in the 2x2; how the 1x frees up a little space in the box; and how the 2x will extend out to the side wall of the camper. The open area “below” the toe kick spar (between the spar and the clamp bar in this pic) will be filled by the front edge of the floor.


Here is the same thing looking from the top street side of the locker down inside the curb side corner of the well (top of locker is near field left, bottom is far field right in pic). The dark area is the end grain of the 2x2 half lap where it ends flush with the inside of the locker.


This one is looking along the bottom of the locker from the street side.


The 2x2’s are left long for now (I will trim them to final length after glue up), so I was able to fine tune the lengths of the notch legs and the 1x to get the cut ends to be nice and flush with the insides of the locker.

Then I glued them up. No fasteners, just a few spring clamps to aid with alignment, some clamp blocks and quick clamps to set the joints. I have already cleaned up the excess glue here.



One thing I have noticed with the Melamine bench is that it makes a pretty good release material, and is not hard to scrape excess glue off of with no apparent damage. So now that I am using my own work table instead of Ben’s, I have quit bothering with masking off the table. Have to pop the items off of the bench a bit sometimes, but there usually isn’t much of a serious bond just from squeeze out.

Tomorrow I plan on rounding the outside edges of the locker, doing some smaller filler work on a few spots, and caulking the inside corners with paint compatible caulk. May get to the point where I am fitting the locker to the front wall panel.

[Wolffarmer]

Great work KCS.
Well I finally got that Suzuki fixed and out of the shop last Sunday. So now i have room to drag my motorcycles out. Going to start selling them.



They are my kids. But I have not ridden them in years and I can no longer afford to fix them up so I can ride again. And I can use the money. Oh, only two are for sale. I still have 1.5 left.



Suzuki going back in the shop soon. Transfer case is leaking oil now where I put the front drive shaft in. Have ordered a seal. Should be able to do it at least next Sunday. It is about an hour job so I might get it done in 4.

Then maybe I can get back to my trailer.

Randy

[KCStudly]

Thanks for the nod, Randy. I thought about you the other day when I was giving myself a workout with the plane.

Glad to hear you got thru (almost) the clutch job. I know all too well how some of those projects go. Some things just don't seem to go as quickly or easily as they seem like they should.

Two ways of looking at the motorcycles: if you are not using them, then it is time to let someone else have a go at it, but it is a crying shame to give up on the thought of getting back to them someday. I have many "toys" like that. None of them ever quite live up to the dream, but the memories are always priceless.

I worked on the locker some more today, and started cutting the hole in the front wall skin. More details and pics with my next post.

[tony.latham]

I think it's a letter opener, some letter openers are straight, some have a hook, this one has both. Seems very rare.<br/>

It's an ankus, Randy. You need to get out more.

Tony

[KCStudly]

Yesterday (Saturday) I didn’t get out to Mecca until noon or so, but still put about 5 hrs in. I scrapped down the excess glue from the front wall toe kick spar glue-up and did another test fit on the front edge of the camper floor using a couple of scraps of 5 mm to shim it out from the front ends of the side walls the correct amount.



Trimmed the spar to length.


Switched back to the locker and rounded the outside edges over using the 1/8 inch round over bearing bit in the router.


The front edge is sloped so the cutter wouldn’t follow it properly, so I did this edge by hand using a combination of the matchbox plane and hand sanding block.


I confirmed that the location of the butt seam between the front wall inner skin and the first ceiling panel (where it lands on the ledger for the front cabinet) matched the plan dimension, but with the redesign of the locker and tongue box, for some reason the pre-cut panel was larger. When I looked at the plan just yesterday I thought this was because the inner skin was going to extend down and cover the back of the locker well, but I can’t reconcile that in my mind as I write this. The inner skin was always planned to land on top of the floor and the amount I needed to trim off would not have been large enough to use underneath. No matter. I needed to rip the skin down a little. I still haven’t taken the time to build the extended table on the saw and with the thin ply unsupported it wanted to droop down under the rip fence. My first reaction was that I needed to stop and build the table extension, but then I stopped and said to myself, “self, there might be an easier and quicker way”. Cut an inch or two off of one of the scraps left over from building the work table and clamp it under the rip fence.


This made a shelf under the fence that supported the edge of the ply from drooping down.


Here you can see how the panel would have drooped without the extra piece.


Not too obvious here, but I have clamped the bottom of the front skin and toe kick flush together on the bench.


Next I laid out pencil lines where I thought the cutout needed to be. Then I put the locker on top and aligned it to the center by reaching under and making sure the sides of the notch in the toe kick were flush to the inside of the locker on both sides.


Then I used the tip of the compass to reach in under the rabbet around the locker opening and scribed for the cut out.


The scribe marks and pencil marks did not match so I made numerous measurements again and again trying to find the disparity. The spar was centered on the panel and the layout matched the size of the locker and the math, but the scribe line was closer to being symmetrical. I figured if I cut the smaller opening I could always open it up more, whereas if I cut the bigger mark there would be no putting it back.

I used a piece of pine as a cutting guide, measuring and physically checking against the saw several times before plunging thru and making the first end cut.


Even with all of the checks and guide I still managed to part the line towards the end of the cut, so for the next adjacent long cut I got brave and decided to free hand it. It seemed to go even better just cutting slowly and watching the leading edge of the blade following the line.

At this point I decided to see how I was doing. I used the utility knife to complete the corner cut and laid the panel over the locker. The two sides of the cut allowed the center part of the panel to flex up and the outer “frame” part of the panel to drop down and align to the locker opening rabbet. It seemed that the cuts were wider than perpendicular and I got nervous that I had screwed up (and I don’t have any more big pieces of the ply). Slow down. Find another way to check your work while you can still do something to fix it.

I looked around and found some heavy paper stock that I could use to make a template of the locker opening. I taped it onto the locker and did a rubbing to find the hard edges of the rabbets.



Once I laid the panel flat again and laid the template over the top, I found that I wasn’t very far off at all. The edge I thought was off was pretty well on and the side where the scribe didn’t match the pencil layout kind of split the difference. I decided to sleep on this and went home to watch the drags.

Sunday I got going a bunch earlier and got a full 8 hrs in. I finished the cuts on the front wall skins and got it fitting half way decent.

To complete the plunge cuts at the corners was a three step process. First I would extend the cut line on the good face using a straight edge and pencil. Then I would score the pencil line with the utility knife. And finally I would use the utility knife as a chisel and tap it along the score to complete the cut.


By laying the panel over the locker and getting parts of the cuts to line up at least partially, I was able to use the compass to gauge off of the inside of the opening and trace where I would need to fine tune the panel to fit better. (Sorry for the blurry pic.)

In hindsight I should have made the first cuts undersize and used this technique to make the final fit even better, just sanding up to the lines and taking blade wander out of the equation.

Still I was able to get it pretty good most everywhere. Where there are some slight gaps they aren’t too bad and I should be able to make them disappear with a little putty and dark trim paint around the locker opening.


Lower left.

Lower right.

Upper right.

Upper left.


Here it is standing up against the side of the cabin.


Here I am starting to do a dry fit of the whole assembly on the front of the cabin. The panel is clamped to the cabinet ledger and the toe kick spar is clamped to the floor.


Here I have clamped some temporary perch blocks under the floor to support the bottom of the locker while fitting.


Curb side.


Street side fit at floor.


Looking along top of locker from the street side.


Inside.



So I was pretty happy with this little mini milestone, even if it was just dry fitting. After studying things for a while, I more or less decided that this whole thing needs to be assembled and installed as a unit. Then the two remaining ceiling panels can be installed as a separate assembly.

The sides of the toe kick weren’t quite fair to the front of the floor by about the thickness of a pencil line, so I shaved and sanded them until they were. The Millers Falls No. 8 plane could take a tissue paper thin ribbon of wood.



Other than the panel and wall foam the only hard point that the locker will attach to will be the front edge of the floor, so I wanted a good solid connection there. This row of pocket screws in the underside of the locker will run into the front face of the perimeter frame of the floor; a cedar 2x2.


To help hold the Kregg jig in position while drilling, I clamped the quick square next to it for each hole. There is a screw hole in the jig, or I could have used two clamps, but this worked well and there weren’t any extra screw holes to fill. With two clamps it would have blocked the chip chute on the jig.


To make sure that the first couple of screws clamp the locker tightly to the floor I ran a pilot drill thru to complete what the Kregg drill didn’t, clearing the threads so they can’t bind. I also labelled these holes so that I know to shoot those screws first while I am lying down under the nose of the camper later.


I used this clamp block and wedge technique to hold the toe kick spar into the notch of the locker while toeing a long deck screw down into the side, with the angle of the screws helping to hold the spar tight into the notch on each side (curb side shown).


First round of filler for the pocket holes inside of the locker. Some of these will get covered in vinyl Naugahyde, and others will just get primer and paint.




I spent more time getting the locker divider to fit better, as it seems as though something had shrunk or swollen and it was fitting too tightly again. So I ripped a 5 degree angle most of the way up the “back” edge (a back bevel to add clearance while not effecting the fit), and planed the rest until she dropped in easily again.

At some point I accidently dropped the divider down into the well and it wedged itself in there pretty good. Even though I was able to cheat and reach under to push it up and out, once the locker is attached to the inner skin panel I will no longer have that luxury. Here is a recreation of the divider wedged into the bottom of the well.



The solution was to add a center bar that would prevent the divider from falling into the hole.


Chiseled a pocket…


… fit the bar…


… and drove a screw through to test fit.



Now I just need to decide how it is all going to be finished (paint, vinyl, door hardware, etc.) and get on with it.

[SLUG36]

Maybe one of these days, when I learn the "measure twice, cut once" rule. I may be able to have the Jedi Master wood working skills you have. looking at your post make me feel like a hack with power tools.

[KCStudly]

Thanks for the compliment, Slug. I've been watching the progress on your build, too, and you are doing a great job.

The two most important pieces of power equipment that have made the biggest difference in the wood working on my build are having a good table saw and a good power miter saw. My routers aren't anything special, but have come into play a lot, as well. In the end the thing that has made the nice stuff come out nice, I am proud to say, seems to be the hand work and the attention to the details (...which take a lot of time ). I have gotten to know my hand planes much better, and that small oak block with the 1/4 sheet of sand paper is my constant companion. When something doesn't fit great straight off the saw, I take the time to whittle and sand until it fits better. Then I work on perfecting the set-up and technique so that there is less whittling and sanding the next time. Usually I spend more time on set-up than I do actually using the power tools, and again more time with hand tools after the fact to get things to where I want them to be. It does take time, though.

Another thing that I have learned doing this project is how to take complimentary photographs, at least to some extent. For example the hand chiseled notch in the little cleat for that maple bar, well, it was a little loose on fit. I could make the piece over again, or consider that gravity will work in my favor and it will never fall out, so move on. Our little secret, the pic was taken with the gap on the far side!

[KCStudly]

So, I ask you what good is a locker if you can’t lock it?

Seems like a good time to build a door for the locker and get the hardware all sorted out now, instead of after the finishes are on and the whole thing is tucked in under the key catcher shelf.

Stopped at big orange on way to Mecca and got these. The spring loaded hinge is shown in the open position mocked up on a couple of scraps of 1x.


Same stuff with the hinge closed.


I chose the handle because I thought the brushed nickel finish would match the stainless steel light switch plates and the coat hooks. The rounded shape fits in with the round over treatments I used on the cabinets, too.

I made this little drill stop block to prevent drilling thru the locker when pilot drilling for the hinge mounting screws.


I used a scrap of 1x to set a uniform spacing from the inside surface of the locker sides. The lid will flip up, so these pics are shown with the locker sitting on its top.


Here is the other hinge in the closed position.


The proverbial napkin sketch of the locker door frame.


I got as far as cutting the 1x3 maple rails and stiles, and a pair of 1x2 mullions to match the theme of the rest of the cabinets.


The openings will be filled with Okoume panels made from the cut out from the front wall skin. I think I will be able to cut the plug into three pieces and turn them so that the grain runs vertical (preferred), or maybe it would look better if the grain matches the wall(?).

The plan is to round the corners off just a bit, and radius the edges like the others. I’m trying to decide if I want to radius the back face of the frame, too, so that there are no sharp edges to whack my noggin on when the door is open. Might look funny with a shadow line around it in the closed position. Maybe use the 1/4 inch round over on the “front” and the 1/8 inch round over on the inside.

[Ned B]

KC, great progress as always!

fyi, if you're using kreg brand screws, they'll punch right through the little bit of wood left after you drill using the jig. They're self tapping. Your pilot hole won't hurt, but you'd have been fine with out.