the Wiley Window and a simple DIY "leak proof" door

[daveesl77]

For my window glass I'm using some 1/4" acrylic I have laying around. I have a fair amount of it, and it isn't scratched (amazingly). My "cloud" windows will be 14x12 on the plate side, still haven't finalized the door window look yet, but probably somewhere in the 12x18 range, since my doors are pretty tall at 42".

This is the cloud window, same on both sides



Here is the door blank I built. Both sides are similar, but not exact, the curb side door will be 2 inches shorter and 2 inches wider, but same basic shape.



dave

[KCStudly]

Both sides are similar, but not exact, the curb side door will be 2 inches shorter and 2 inches wider, but same basic shape.

Okay, I'll bite. Why? Why are they different?

[daveesl77]

Well, originally I was going to have my galley come out the port side, in front of the door. I have a 3" wide support between what would have been the galley and door. I didn't want to reduce the width of this in the belief I would be cutting out an identical opening for both the galley "door" and the real door. After I cut out the real door is when I came to the epiphany of doing the galley as a slide out in the rear of the trailer, coming from under the bed. So, no galley door was cut. The existing cut is 42" tall and 23" wide. I decided I wanted to increase the width of the curbside door a bit and reduce the height, so 40" x 25". However, I haven't cut the second side door yet, so by morning I may go back to matching the door sizes.

It is kind of like the guy on Sons of Anarchy - he always has a plan and is always going to "fix" it. I have a plan, but it is located on the third floor of my brain.

dave

[rowerwet]

I went to home depot and looked at what they had for precut plexiglass. 18x24" and almost 1/4" thick was the size they had ready made.
I don't want glass that could shatter, and wanted to be able to just pick up another pane anytime I needed.
Anything you want could close the window, foam for winter camping, wood for complete light blocking, tinted or frosted for glare, or completely removed for window a/c mount.

[Ron Dickey]

I was looking to see if I could find new things on the Wiley window. I soon went to google images and entered in Wiley Port and found this blog on wooden boat site.

http://forum.woodenboat.com/showthread. ... portlights

Not at the bottom is a you tube on a place that offers a historical belt driven frame making shop includes how to make a oval frame!! amazing do not try this at home ... go there.
http://youtu.be/9BRl2Sm5p_4

Ron

[dogscats]

How much weight do you save over RV windows.

[daveesl77]

I cannot say how much weight is saved, but what I can say that if done correctly they can withstand essentially hurricane force wind/rain in the open position. Since we got back from our June trip my trailer has been sitting next to the house waiting on the temps to drop a bit so I can finish it up. There was a cover over it for a while, but I removed it about a month ago, just to see how it handles full blown weather conditions. We have had almost daily rain storms, we have had winds over 60 mph with rain. I left 3 of the windows open just to allow airflow during this entire time and not a single drop of water has gotten inside the camper, not one. It is pretty darn impressive!

dave

[rowerwet]

How much weight do you save over RV windows.

Since the window is plastic instead of glass it weighs almost half, however most builders make a heavy wood bracket so no weight is saved.
If yo look at the line drawing for the sailboat, the bracket is much lighter. My bracket design is meant to be light weight and strong, something I believe worked out very well.

[KennethW]

I used Wiley windows. Love them. I used twin wall polycarbonate (green house sheeting)for the panels. For screens I made screen the same size as the window panels so that they are removable(wall,screen panel,window panel,wedges)I used 2x6 for the side blocks cut so that they have a 1/4 web with 5/8 nail & window flange and able to hold both the window and screen panel. Then I used 2 of the 4 cut-out pieces for the wedges.

[hpuckett4]

Hey guys, I was wondering if someone could explain/show the drain holes a bit, I've read through this post and I know I should understand them by now, but I don't have a good mental picture of what they are exactly

Also, for my build I made the walls out of 1/2 inch plywood and am putting an outer skin on the outside of the walls just for aesthetic appeal. Would I be able to just sandwich the screen in between the wall and the outer skin as long as I had the drain holes go all the way through?

[daveesl77]

My window shapes (exterior) are kind of weird. The rear ones look like little clouds. The door windows look like large scallop shells. When I cut out the openings I drilled through below the bottom line of where the designs would be at an angle downwards from the interior. You can barely see the groove. On my windows I built them so that they angle both downward (inside to outside) and angled downward from outside corners to center. Thus, all water flows out to a central drain. The entire structure is coated with epoxy, the spar varnish. Our screens are hot glued to the poly on the inside, so if we need to replace them it is easy. They work great.

dave

[KCStudly]

Better to have the screens be accessible for removal and/or replacement, just in case one gets torn or you want to clean them.

[rowerwet]

Just make sure the water is channelled all the way out and the drain holes are fully sealed where they pass through wood.
Drilling the drain holes oversized, filling them with epoxy, then drilling the epoxy to the size you want works best.
More than one hole helps keep the water drained at any angle.

[Nobes]

would the basic design work on a foamy wall? does anyone see a problem with building the thing with foam? has anyone tried this?
Nobes

[rowerwet]

If you go to my mercury build album you can find how I made these same doors on my foamie. If I didn't post them there yet, the link to my Facebook page Rowerwet has a build album for them.
I used the door cut out, but found I needed to add a 1/4" plywood skin to the outside to make a rigid enough door.
I tried coroplast, and plexiglass for rot proof, but coroplast isn't strong enough, and needs expensive adhesive. Plexiglas is expensive and heavy in that size.
https://m.facebook.com/Rowerwet/photos/ ... &source=42 link to fb album