Now the fun starts

[MickinOz]

...but I can't help building for nuclear Armageddon proof.

Is this a really wise guy or just a wiseguy? Some days it's hard to tell.

Is one a smart bastard or a smart arse? One doesn't always know for sure oneself.

[MickinOz]

Number 2 is looking good. Will you want to part with it? Might be number 1 that gets sold?

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

One supposes one opens oneself to accusations of bias, but one does feel that one's first attempt at homemade doors came out alright.

And the One that supposes the accusations of bias, should and can own that. Those doors are amazing.
Everything about them looks right.

Thank you chaps. I do feel they look OK, but like a lot of things they improve with 20/20 vision.
You know, a quick look at 20 feet and 20 mph.
The main thing is, a potential buyer is going to think them interesting, I reckon.

[Capebuild]

In the top door photo (the one with the door closed) the way the grain is lined up (perfectly, I'd say) it seems the door was cut from the same piece that makes up the siding.
I'm assuming you used a jig saw? That's a question. Nice.

[MickinOz]

Yes, I drew them in, then very carefully jig sawed them.
The hole is exactly right, 622 x 900mm, for Aussie Camper doors. Should anyone want the commercial doors, they'd only have to run the router trimmer bit around the collar/door jamb to match it to the hole in the side wall, and a door would drop straight in.

I did do two very important things, though.
One, I bought a brand new jigsaw. New blade, no play in the mechanism.
Two, I put a bit of thought into how to steer it. I used to get bevelled cuts, run off straight lines, all sorts of crap that drove me nuts.

Then I realised why:
The instinctive thing to do, for me anyway, is to try to push the blade back toward the line when I run off. This flexes the blade and results in a "bevelled" cut.
The way that works for me is to "steer it like a forklift truck". If I want the blade to go left, I swing the back of the jigsaw out to the right. Then go very slow, I want a good cut, not first place in the race.
It was bloody nerve wracking though.

Sanding the edges nice and straight got me about the right amount of clearance. I fitted the collar/door jamb, then I set the wall on the table, put the door in it, lined everything up and with shims and then fitted the hinges.

It was fingers crossed all the way, but it worked.
There is no rubber seal. Edge says not needed, but I have a plan f I decide to fit a seal after all.
2mm thick self adhesive EDPM, 20mm wide, is not very expensive.
I could put that in, fit a 1mm shim under each hinge where it meets the wall, and have 50% compression. Thinking about it.

[MickinOz]

So, I checked my measurements. The door jamb comes up 85mm from the floor.
The mattress is 150mm. So I have 65mm (2.5 inches) of mattress compression before the backs of my legs hit the door jamb.
Shouldn't be too uncomfortable.
I was aiming for about 70mm from the floor with 80mm from there to the top of the mattress, but I screwed up. I basically drew in the opening where I wanted the door jamb to land.
There is a cause of these little errors.
I really only draw a profile on graph paper and start marking an cutting, with occasional reference to the Benroy plans.
Professionals would run a lot more detailed plans, I think.

[Staryder61]

It was fingers crossed all the way, but it worked.
There is no rubber seal. Edge says not needed, but I have a plan f I decide to fit a seal after all.
2mm thick self adhesive EDPM, 20mm wide, is not very expensive.

Here in the states, the humidity, rain, sun, weather in general can change the plywood, adding warping, which makes for a bad seal. No seal at 60 kph with a hard rain. You may find that seal to be really handy. And vents in the trailer can cause a vacuum that will bring in the rain around the doors.
Just a thought...

So, I checked my measurements. The door jamb comes up 85mm from the floor.
The mattress is 150mm. So I have 65mm (2.5 inches) of mattress compression before the backs of my legs hit the door jamb.
Shouldn't be too uncomfortable.
I was aiming for about 70mm from the floor with 80mm from there to the top of the mattress, but I screwed up. I basically drew in the opening where I wanted the door jamb to land.
There is a cause of these little errors.
I really only draw a profile on graph paper and start marking an cutting, with occasional reference to the Benroy plans.
Professionals would run a lot more detailed plans, I think.

Plans, plans, we don't need no stinking plans...
So, you're going to sell this one when finished?
And then start number 3, right?

[MickinOz]

Yeah the plan is to sell this one. I only hope I get it finished while the market is still there for it. #3 will depend on the success of this venture.
Pondering real old school for #3 if it eventuates. Classic 8 x 4, one door, single skinned, Kit Kamper profile.

Took time out to go to the speedway last night. There's a little track in Adelaide (the state capital) that is only 300m long, but dang it provides some awesome racing.

Gillman Speedway. It would be my favourite track, I think.
It's lovely, its got grass covered mounds to sit on, the pits are open to the public until racing starts, excellent public address system, the bikes are surprisingly quiet these days, and the food has lots of variety and cheap.
You'd think you were at a classic scrambles meeting at a little country track somewhere. No way it feels like you are in a city of 1.4 million people.

To top it off, the booth selling alcohol never seems to be exactly over run with customers. It's a very sober crowd by Oz standards, and they even stand and remove their hats for the National Anthem. Which makes the crowd pretty darn special in modern Australia.

But the best bit was that they have added a class.
Despite being only 300m long, which suits the solos and the sidecars OK, they've added a class for American style flat trackers.
An acquaintance from my home town has a beautiful 600 Rotax powered hot shoe weapon. It was imported from the US a few years ago.
Way overpowered for the track and his skill level, he's only just got into this sort of racing and he really could only apply throttle on the tiny little straights, but he gave a good enough account of himself to make the final. The thing was awesome. All my bikes are big single thumpers. I love 'em, but that Rotax must have 50% more power than my massaged DR650.

But, didn't get home until after 2 am. No working on anything today.

[Staryder61]

Sounds like a blast mick, I never got into the bikes much. My favorites are drag races, and of course 1/4 mile dirt track. Drag racing always a favorite, modified, anything you can run down a 1/4 mile track.
The dirt track comes from my past. Among one, I raced a 1956 Ford dirt tracker. Called the pink lady. Never pulled a first place, but oh hell what fun it was. And always finished the races.
Our last drag race adventure was right before the covid crap set in. Another adventure bites the dust here..

[MickinOz]

100 degrees and 60% humidity under my grapevine in the shade.
Feeling it.

[MickinOz]

Progress is slow.
I find myself held up by materials issues.
I spent some time this week on the front shelf. Somewhere to mount the reading lights and charging outlet, and to toss all that stuff you can't seem to do without these days - phone, keys, wallet, glasses, etc.

On Ol' #1, this shelf is about 140mm/5.5 inches wide and sits about 760mm/30 inches off the floor. It's a little narrow for my likings.

The internal front radius on #2 is smaller than Ol' #1. 40mm/ 1.6 inches smaller, to be exact.
So a little less volume is lost at the front.
It's subtle, but it made me feel comfortable making the shelf a little wider, nearly 200mm, and a little higher above the floor, 800mm.
I have machined and glued and screwed two cleats to the sidewalls for the shelf to sit on.
It will be glued and screwed to these cleats via pre-drilled and counter sunk holes.
I expect this to contribute some rigidity to the door hinge area.
I suppose I'm a bit OCD about it, but I do try to make every single piece that goes in contribute to the structural integrity of the whole.

Way back at the start of this build, I bought some surface mount 6 led lights. I figured that they'd be the reading lights.
Nope, they are as dim as the dimmest bloke I know. I paralleled 4 of these together, totaling 24 LEDs, and still they left me doubting they'd be bright enough. 4 of them still didn't draw 1W of electricity. So, I've consigned them to the parts bin and ordered some new ones.
Hence the shelf is not yet wired and installed.

I've also constructed a "shelf" for the rear of the cabin. It will form the base of the internal cabinet, and again tie the side walls together, this time aft of the door openings.

As stated, materials are an issue. The range of plywood at the local store is limited somewhat, and a bit spendy.
Plus I have off-cuts from two builds now. So, these shelves are 6.5mm plywood over 42 x 19mm pine frames.

I had a few doubts as to the strength of this for the floor of the internal cabinet. To top it off, I did a poor job of the first one I made.
Since I decided I wouldn't use it, I laid it on the floor and stepped on the plywood in between framing members.

I'm a tad over 6 feet tall, and I weigh about 115 kg. I can tell you that when you take a piece of plywood 300mm wide, and put a longitudinal down each edge, a fat bastard like me can stand on it without even a creaking noise. We do build these things overly strong.

[edgeau]

It is amazing the extra strength little additions can make

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

[MickinOz]

My substitute reading lights turned up. They are fantastic. $17 a pair, and absolutely tiny.
No bigger than my thumb. Very bright. I measure the current draw at ~80 mA for one.

new reading lights.JPG (26.23 KiB) Viewed 380 times

[MickinOz]

Dunno how it happened, but my back went out yesterday morning, and it was all I could do to screw a couple of lights in and solder the wires to the light switches.
It's currently 7 am, and I'm rocking an OxyContin hangover. (2 x 5 mg tabs, per the instructions on the box.)
Its horrible. People must have serious chronic pain to actually take enough of this crap to get addicted.
Sure got a good night's sleep, though.

Still, those little reading lights are mounted to the front shelf, along with a double 12v outlet.
I haven't been outside to view the job yet.
Last I saw of it last night, it was "Screw it, that'll have to do, pass those two walking canes son, I'm going to bed."
Hopefully it won't look too rough in the cold light of day.

[TimC]

My substitute reading lights turned up. They are fantastic. $17 a pair, and absolutely tiny.
No bigger than my thumb. Very bright. I measure the current draw at ~80 mA for one.

new reading lights.JPG

Hope your back side improves quick! Do some light stretching when you can to help.

Do you have a source for these lights? They look pretty nice!

[MickinOz]

Ebay buy, Tim.
So small - base is about 32mm in diameter.
I'm assuming the US has access to the same stuff we do?

downlight.JPG (83.72 KiB) Viewed 332 times