Curtains and Valences

Just a few finishing touches on the teardrop tonight. My colleague finished the curtains ...

I also had enough fabric left to upholster the valences. Each included two sheets of 1" batting glued to the valence face. I stapled and glued the fabric to the back, then attached them to the angle brackets on the wall. I'm really happy with how the valences turned out.

Just About Ready for the First Outing

It's been two weeks since the last post and I've made some great progress on the Compass Rose:

I finished putting the stain and poly on the bunk board, fabbed the bunk ladder (also treated with poly - no stain since it's oak), installed tie downs for the under-bunk storage bin and AC, and strapped them in. Installed the TV and mount, and fabbed a little shelf for the media player - it's made out of a sheet of aluminum, some angle brackets and a few zip ties. It's suspended below the TV and uses the same mount. I ended up modifying the ladder a bit because it wasn't holding well to the railing. The second picture above shows the angle brackets holding it in place.

Also shown installed is the bike fork mount, attached to the floor on the far side of the trailer. Not only is on the far wall out of traffic, it should keep us from stubbing our toes on the carriage bolt located behind it. Fortunately, all the other carriage bolts are fairly well out of the way. 

I had looked at different ways of bringing bikes along - various hitches and such - but the simplest, most secure way of transporting my bike was inside the camper, plain and simple. I just need to bungee the front wheel and Nate's bike to my own and I'm ready to travel.

I also installed the curtain tracks under the bunk. The curtains should arrive Monday.They are of different heights and are staggered a bit, due to needing clearance for the pull out table.

I installed two Levolor roller shades above the windows. My apologies for the blurry picture. The shade are behind two valence boxes that I made. These will be padded and covered with the same material the curtains are made of. The boxes are made of 1/4" Oak Luan, a couple 1/2" by 1/2" wooden stiffeners. They're very lightweight and somewhat delicate - I hope they will hold up.

Mounting them was a challenge. I had to come up with a way to align and level the boxes without having direct access to the angle brackets. After mounting them to the stiffeners on the inside of the boxes, I drilled holes in the front box face. You can see them along the vertical outer edge of the box face in the picture above. These holes are directly across from those in the angle bracket sections that mount to the wall. I positioned the box on the wall, then passed a pencil through each hole; passing it through the bracket and marking the drill point on the wall. I then removed the brackets from the valences and mounted them on the wall. The holes will be covered up when the valence is upholstered, but then all I'll need to do is position the boxes on top of the brackets already on the walls, and reattach the boxes to the brackets from below.

And at last, here's a first look at 'Mr. Stinky' - the camp toilet. Not all that much to it - it's a frame constructed from 1/2" treated plywood, a 3 1/2 gallon bucket, and a cheap toilet seat. You can also just make out the black trash bag 'dispenser' on the left side. The basics of operation are that the trash bag goes into the bucket and around the top of the frame, and the seat goes down. As to the other 'basics of operation,' there's no need to elaborate - except that the other 'ingredient' is in the box to the right. In reality, this may not live up to its name. I chose to build a camp toilet over a porta-potty not only due to cost (you're looking at less than $20 in materials compared to a $100 portapotty), it is far more sanitary: No tank dump or maintain - just a bag to toss.

There's just a little more work to be done. I need to add a couple cross-braces in the back, then treat the wood with poly. I'm putting some felt discs on the bottom to protect the floor from scratches, and I'd like to mount a small plastic container behind the seat to store the kitty litter, but we'll see if I get to that point. It will be stowed under the bunk next to the door and the fire extinguisher.

Obviously there's been a few smirks about Mr. Stinky, but I'm sure we will like having him close by when the need arises in the middle of the night and it's a long walk to the bathouse!

It's been just over two months since I had her out of the garage. In getting ready for the upcoming trip I gave her a good washdown and she sure does shine in the sun! Thinking back on all the work to get her ready, I am really happy how things came together, and I'm looking forward to getting her in her element and see how she does!

Work Done on the Bunk

So as of Friday I had all kinds of ideas floating around in my head on how I was going to build out the forward bunk. After Googling 'bunk design' and looking through dozens of pictures of all kinds of bunk beds, I came across one used in a yacht. As I was waiting for a meeting to get started, a flipped over a sheet of paper and sketched out my idea ...

The design called for a single solid board that rose up just above the height of the mattress. At one end of the bunk the edge drops down low, allowing for the occupant to climb in and out. Here I've set the access on the left side. I've sketched a short, two step ladder leading up to the bunk. It's located in front of the A/C. This seemed like the best place to put the ladder. In the center at the bottom, the board has a lower section - the two small boxes next to the ladder are the power receptacles, and the long slot is for a small pull-out table. The idea for the table is that it will stick out just a bit when 'retracted' - creating a small shelf to put drinks or a cell phone, but can be pulled out to serve as a small dining table. This left the entire space below the bunk open for storage.

Saturday it was back to Lowes for materials. I finished the 'lifting strap' and attached it to the futon seat back. It works well, although there is a bit of technique to raising the seat back that requires some muscle. I also installed a couple D-Rings in the floor as anchor points for the A/C. I had purchased a bungee that was rated for the length needed to wrap around the A/C, but despite using every bit of my strength to stretch it around the top of the unit, it was about an inch short. I settled on using an old cam buckle tie down, and as a measure intended to cushion the air conditioner, I fashioned some foam suspension out of two lengths of hardwood dowel shrouded in 1" foam pipe insulation, and positioned these under the A/C. With the tie down snug, there is a little give and spring to help with bumps while traveling. I figure that while it was a portable A/C unit, it probably wasn't designed with this purpose in mind.

While at Lowes I picked up the wood and hardware needed to build out the bunk. I first installed some blocking underneath for the table slide rails. I also cut the table from a 2 x 2 section of 5/8" birch plywood - not unlike what is used in the walls. I put a few coats of poly on it in between other tasks. I finished up Saturday with the rails installed, and the power receptacle moved a few inches to the left.

Sunday morning I started back on the table - I wanted to get the extension part right and confirm the dimensions for the slot in the bunk board. I attached the table rails and slid it in - works beautifully and the shelf extension is perfect. Fully extended, one can sit on the futon and use the table without having to lean forward. 

After cutting the bunk board to the correct width, I installed some blocking on the inside edges at the ends. The blocking allowed the board to sit at the correct height when dry fitted to the bunk frame. This made it easier to clamp it in and set my register marks for the slot, receptacles, and lower edges. Then came the jigsaw work, which was tricky given that mine isn't very precise. But I hedged my cuts a bit and was able to clean up the edges with the power sander. I dry fitted the board again and confirmed my cutouts were aligned properly. The last cut was for the bunk access 'drop down'. The blocking on this end was just screwed in (no glue) to provide temporary support. I removed it, made my cut and then sanded down the edges on both sides. One last dry fit check, then I applied the glue, leveled and clamped in the board, then drilled and screwed it to the frame.

Have a look at the results ...

I installed buttons in the screw holes to clean it up a bit. I'll use a light stain on the bunk board to match the color of the walls, followed by several coats of poly.

You can see the cut out for the receptacles and the slot for the table. I'm going to try to trim a plastic cover down so that it fits cleanly in the cutout. Also the table is shown in the 'shelf' position.

Table fully extended. The rails are rated at 75 pounds - plenty of strength for a couple place settings, a coffee pot or laptop.

Judging by that face I believe we have the coveted 'kid's seal of approval'. Snug as a bug in a rug!

Over next week - staining and finishing the bunk board. Next weekend - building the ladder, installing the TV, possibly fabbing the 'bike cleat', and maybe getting around to building 'Mr. Stinky', the camp toilet. I'll save that task for last!

Functioning Futon!

Whew! Turned another big corner with installing the futon this weekend, Here are a few pictures. There are some odds and ends left to do on it, but as you can see it's ready to use.

 

The linkage works well, however the hope that sliding the seat section would be enough to lift the seat back didn't pan out. The seat is just too heavy to go up unassisted. I had thought of deploying a couple heavy duty springs, but for simplicity's sake I'm going to try connecting a lifting strap to the top edge of the seatback. Think ski tow rope, but much shorter and with two attachment points. This should allow me to pull seat back up while facing the futon.

Here is the futon with a new cover, a couple throw pillows, and a happy little camper! It is very comfortable, and the seat height is just perfect. And look at all that room underneath for storage. I'm betting I'll be able to stow an 'easy-up' canopy under there without issue. I also need to cut and install a couple 'tracks' in the gaps between the walls and the futon frame - to keep it sliding straight. There's about 3/4"of space on either side.

While you can't really see it with the futon in the up position, there is a good-sized gap between the back edge of the futon and the back of the camper. At some point I will add a small cabinet back there - a shelf with sliding doors and a ledge above it. I'm also thinking of wiring up a couple built=in speakers for a radio or maybe a tie-in to the TV. But for now I need to finish up a few more critical tasks, like Nate's bunk and installing the TV. I also need to put together the 'camp toilet' - that ought to be interesting!