"The X-Cubed" C.T.T.

[absolutsnwbrdr]

Finished the stove last night! The paint isn't perfect and got a little scratched in the one corner where the lid closes, but this stove isn't a shelf queen and will get used quite a bit. Bring on the bacon, eggs, and hash browns!!





Now I can get back to making sawdust! I still have yet to order the Formica for the countertops, but the electrical compartment cover/headboard is next on my list. Fenders may get done eventually. I kinda like the look without them. The sides just get a little dirty.

[KCStudly]

That looks great.

If I were you I would seriously consider taking that to a good old fashioned pinstriper and having him go nuts with the orange color in the white panels. Second choice would be to run some elegant lines around the edges of the white panels ala the early Harley Davidson gas tanks. either would really set it off nicely!

Something along these lines: http://www.thepaintchop.com/

[absolutsnwbrdr]

If this stove were in nicer condition (its not bad, but its far from perfect) the old school pinstripe would be pretty sweet! Think I'll play with the vinyl stuff for now and see if I can at least give it a little more orange.

[absolutsnwbrdr]

Last night I finally got back to sawdust. Not much, but I had to clean up my mess from the stove first.

Decided to wing it for the electrical compartment cover/headboard/shelf. So far I have the main base, and an angled "cover". The angled cover still needs cut in half. The right half will be hinged at the top and open up to expose the controller for the stereo (the display is really bright at night), and also to provide some out-of-sight storage. The left half of the cover will be fixed in place because it sits over the power center. Each end of the headboard/shelf will have enough open area to sit a cup of water, keys, cell phone, etc. There will be powered USB ports at each end for charging cell phones.

The base (still needs trimmed out for the PD4045 ventilation)....




And the angled cover...

[absolutsnwbrdr]

On the last camping trip I noticed some separation at the one joint in the hatch frame. The high force gas struts required to lift the hatch and solar panel were essentially trying to straighten out the hatch and this joint in the soft pine was the weak point. I should have used oak. My fix for this was to reinforce the joint with a piece of 1/8" x 1" aluminum. With tight clearances between the hatch framing and side wall I had to first chisel away the wood where the aluminum goes.

(The joint was a bit bigger than this before I unhooked the gas struts and relieved some tension)



Chiseled out the area



Reinforcing plate installed and first coat of paint.



Its not the prettiest, but it should be good to go!

I also made a cargo rack on the front. Its made from two side pieces that I salvaged from my old roof rack cargo basket. This makes for the perfect place to put my heavy duty canopy frame and camp chairs.

[absolutsnwbrdr]

Last night I also painted the bottom section of the hatch black to match the rest of the paint scheme. Today at lunch the paint was dry so I was able to reinstall the latches and continue the pinstripe.

[capnTelescope]

I should have used oak.

I confess that I didn't go back and try to find where you made this joint, so I'm going on an assumption here. If that's a simple miter joint, as I suspect, you're going to need some better joinery. I suggest what is often referred to as a "saddle joint."

Quick sketch:

This will give you much greater glue area and therefore much greater strength. The two pieces should fit snugly. It'll take some careful table saw work, but that shouldn't be a big problem for a stepper like you.

I just love these after-the-fact suggestions. Don't you?

Here's hoping your fix holds!

[absolutsnwbrdr]

Yup, that's the issue. I figured that joint would take quite a bit of stress, so I backed it up using an over-sized 2-layer laminated cross member, but it just wasn't enough. The pocket screws just didnt have the holding power in the endgrain on the soft pine. If it weren't for my oversized cross member, this joint would have failed much sooner, and much worse.

Hopefully my patch job will at least get me through this camping season. At the end of the season if it still looking like a weak point then I'll just build a new hatch and attempt what you've sketched. Maybe even a simpler lap joint could suffice if I can't get your method quite right.

Live, learn, and enjoy!

[capnTelescope]

A lap joint ought to work. Better than what you got now.

[KCStudly]

Zach, have you seen the aluminum inserts that capnT has let into his hatch ribs, similar to Grants sandwich ribs? Instead of starting over, if your short fix isn't working you might want to think about something along those lines. Kind of what you already added, except much longer. You could do a dog legged shaped insert that ties back into the rib segments further away from the joint.

[capnTelescope]

I know where there's some open CNC time to get that done!

[Kharn]

I'd go with a dog leg on the inside face of each vertical rib, cut to clear the horizontal rib and with a radiused turn (if the rib can't be relieved), and extending completely from the hinge to the gas strut's attachment point.

[absolutsnwbrdr]

Zach, have you seen the aluminum inserts that capnT has let into his hatch ribs, similar to Grants sandwich ribs? Instead of starting over, if your short fix isn't working you might want to think about something along those lines. Kind of what you already added, except much longer. You could do a dog legged shaped insert that ties back into the rib segments further away from the joint.

I was just checking that out. Incredible build! The dog-legged insert would certainly distribute the forces over a much larger distance compared to my little "bandaid". Would require lots of chiseling!

I know where there's some open CNC time to get that done!

I'd go with a dog leg on the inside face of each vertical rib, cut to clear the horizontal rib and with a radiused turn (if the rib can't be relieved), and extending completely from the hinge to the gas strut's attachment point.

I don't know how much of a radius it would require to miss the horizontal member, but unfortunately I have my wiring run right up along the inside face of that rib, and some of the wiring holes needed to be drilled before the skin was attached because of the angles.

[absolutsnwbrdr]

I still may play around with a new hatch framing design just for the heck of it.

I'm taking the X-Cubed and going camping for 3 days this weekend. That should at least break in my repairs and give me an idea if they'll hold or not.

[Kharn]

For the dog leg, I mean for the radius to be further away from the horizontal rib, basically, in space.

Or what about attaching a reinforcing strip to the face of the ribs? You would just need to figure out a way to bend the strip at the right angle and with a small enough radius to look good (plus be able to repeat the bend for the other side). Lag bolts would probably be the way to go for strength, but they're not very pretty. A piece of angle could then connect the strip to the strut's anchor point.