The LT... Thomas' Luxury Tent

[Mstro]

Learning a lot from your build

Keep the picks and info coming

[neal b]

keep up the GREAT work

[2bits]

Wow, thanks guys! I really appreciate the feedback and that it is all good! i was supposed to have the whole day today for teardrop time but I was really tired from the night before so I didn't get much accomplished.

Keith did come by and get to see The Woodyard in person for the first time and I belt sanded and cut the panels for a good fit for installation, and got the outer front cabinets screwed and glued. I tried those #7 1 5/8 trim screws and the ones going in through dadoes from the sides, but the first three of the ones I screwed down through the headliner all split the wood, so I decided that I didn't need to screw them and the end screws with the face frame joining everything was going to be enough and called it night before I did any more damage. Luckily the only blowout I had was on the very bottom below the bed line so it will never be seen.

We have Friday off for the holiday, so since I know I won't have a chance at any overtime, and we are slow, I am going to see if I can take Tuesday off and spent the day finishing up the cabinets and AC. More pics to come and thanks to everyone!

[2bits]

front cabinets are done except for face frames, no pics since it looks the same. rear cabinets are in, and next is installing the electrical/speaker cabinets along the walls. These were fun and hard at the same time.

Pics :

the cabinet section built outside:


A nice smooth joint:


Pic of the partial assembly installed to check to see if flush to the roof, looks good.


They are in! There is one piece I had to redo from scratch, it is done and drying now, and I put the old messed up piece in it's place just to take the pic
:

[peggyearlchris]

Hey it's looking great Thomas. Peggy

[sledge]

Beautiful work...............me and the wife was looking at it................ just Beautiful.

[starleen2]

cool

[2bits]

Installed the electrical cabinet doors, designed and planned out the cut sheets for the face frames for all three cabinets and bought the oak hardwood for it, and I will be prepping it tomorrow. My buddy will be coming over with is trim gun and compressor and they will be attached that way. Here's some pics, I hope you get the idea about the side "closet". I installed those magnetic cabinet door latches where you push in and they pop out slightly that way when they are pushed in, it just looks like a wall

The Door:

Installed and closed, just imagine a face frame with a speaker in it!

Installed and open

Complete except for face frames

Another view, trying a separate post for the latch

From the galley side, door closed

Door opened on the other side

There will be two slider doors, one separating the counter and galley, and one set separating the galley cabinets from the cabin cabinets.

[peggyearlchris]

Hey Thomas, that is looking so cool. Great job. It's going to be a beauty. Peg

[2bits]

Got the galley uprights in place and the A/C up and in place with the exhaust wall. You'll notice that the uprights don't go all the way back to the galley wall, there is open space back there that goes all the way across the tear to draw air in from. There will be a fresh air inlet on the driver's side wall and an inlet going from the cabin to the inlet area using a vent exactly in the middle of the galley wall behind the center shelf. Coming along!

[Classic Finn]

Thomas that is very fine craftsmanship your doing. One sweet looking tear indeed.

Watch out when you get done. There will be lines of people asking for the Tour.

Regards

Classic Finn

[2bits]

Wow Thanks! Craftsman eh! That is a huge compliment!

[Sparksalot]

How wide are you going? Your galley seems huge!

[Classic Finn]

Wow Thanks! Craftsman eh! That is a huge compliment!

Your Welcome..

How thick of plywood are you using for the cabinets ? The reason Im asking is so I dont go too thick and then get a real heavy tear.

Classic Finn

[2bits]

The tear is 61" wide on the inside. In the beginning I wanted a regular home style 60" queen size mattress so I built the width from that and gave myself 1/2" all the way around on the inside which made it 61", that makes it 62 1/2" wide on the outside. I was noticing that it looks really wide too! haha I am using a full size mattress now, and if I had it to do again, I would design around that, but mainly just because then I could keep the exterior width at/under 60" Which is a big savings in time and cost in cut offs from having to buy 8 foot vs 5 and 6 foot wood! It is 1" on each side from tire to tire wider than my 71 Chevy truck, so it is pretty wide and would probably be alot wider behind alot of new cars, but it will look good behind the old truck and stay between the lines pretty easy I think... I hope haha sure is nice when laying down inside though!

The floor, front and rear cabinets, galley wall and and under galley counter uprights are all 1/2" Home Depot cabinet grade Birch plywood. I did this for weight as well, not to mention cost, although 1/2" does want to warp! I ended up cutting a new board, forcing and just dealing with some others, and storing all the cabinet sections in my spare room rather than in the hot garage after I saw them starting to twist... I think it turned out good enough for me, but I am far from a perfectionist. Using 1/2" makes you get a bit more creative with construction, but I think it is well worth it, and I would still go 1/2" on another build, I would take better care of the wood though and always keeping it laid flat at all times.

The walls and galley countertop are 3/4" plywood. I went back and forth on the countertop whether to use 1/2" wood and build a frame underneath or just use 3/4" the "Just use 3/4" won out because it was simple, and reliably strong. Had to remember to compensate in my measurements for the dadoes in the walls and change my router bit from 1/2 to 3/4 when routing!