Glue - My opinion

I've become a glue snob. I've been using Gorilla glue for the last year but have not been pleased with the tub or the ability to keep the glue for longer periods of time without it hardening up inside the tube. I have started using Elmers Ultimate glue and for the last two projects I think the product is better than Gorilla. Just my opinion.

Progress of Steam Bending.

So my prototype upper cabinet is is about half way done. So I steamed the 1/8th russian birch (very important to use russian birch vs. just birch ply) and bent it grain horizontal on the form. I left it there 24 hours and while it cooled I made the end caps out of 1/2" glued onto 1/8 birch to get the orig thickness on the ends. I used a flush cutting bit and parts of the orig cabinet to make these end caps. These bits are awesome for replicating.

I popped the skin, glue it on the end caps and nailed it with aluminum nails. That went okay, could of used a second pair of hands. Once I got it nailed the middle was still a bit bowed, so I glued a middle rib in so to keep the form. One lesson learned is that the orig ply was 3/16th versus 1/8th. That probably made it a little stiffer.

So at this point I have my end caps and the skin formed up. The next step is to veneer, which you're probably asking why since the exterior is already birch.... Wrong specie, russian is more yellow and domestic birch available is white. Plus, the nails holding the skin can be seen... you cannot use brad nails, the nails have to have a head.

The next steps are:
1. sand
2. coat the blank with sanding sealer or poly.
3. apply psa birch veneer & finish.
4. using either a flush cutting bit or router with collar along with a pattern, cut out door openings
5. transfer sliding track from orig cabinet to new cabinet and install
6. re-make door slides. Depending on material used I might use a psa veneer, fx sheeting or leave it as is, will be the case if I use color tinted lexan.
7. install mounting brackets.

Set aside until the rest of the cabinets are done.


The Form I used:



The Birch Ply Wood on the Form:



The Upper Cabinet Blank:





An Example of the Original Upper Cabinets with Zolatone Coating:

Steam Bending

I have a parallel thread going on airstreamforums.com, but I wanted to post here as well. Although the holiday was a wash out, my wife felt better and we had a very nice weekend plus a huge pot of turkey soup. Nothing is better than home made turkey soup after a day out.







Saturday we went into Boston and walked around China town and Newbury street. We ate at Chio Chows in China town, which if you have not been is a wild place to visit for Dim Sum. I had not been in years and took my daughter to try Dim Sum, which is served in small portions from steam carts. This is authentic Chinese food versus the american version, so not all items looked familiar to my daughter. Both her and my wife tried the dumplings, and soft noodles. The soups were a bit odd but the deserts were even odder, but I liked them anyhow. Red bean sweet rolls went over well with tea.

Sunday I started working on a form to bend 1/8 Russian birch plywood over. This run of bent birch will be used to rebuild the overhead cabinets and I'll repeat the process to built curved sided cabinets, bed frames and under sink cabinets. I'm also going to redo the front cabinet and side four door chest at some point. The first step is to learn how to steam wood and bend it over a form.

I started out with a 6" test piece in a steam box built from a 70s era solar hot air collector. I took out the center panel and placed blocks inside for the plywood to sit on. Then I sealed it back up and placed an insulated moving blanket over it to keep the heat in since the box is very slim and heat loss could turn one end into just water drops. The steam was generated by a big pot of boiling water placed on a propane camp stove. I did this first run outside and it went alright, but on the last run I moved the box into the basement.

The first lesson I learned was that I needed more clamps, so off to HD I went. I also picked up some blue tape and some glue.

After steaming the birch for about 45 minutes, I moved the ply wood over to the form, which bent very easily. All the clamps in place and I'll leave it there for a couple of days. I'm not sure how long I should leave it there, but I am in no rush.

From what I can tell, this is sthe same process that Airstream used back in the 50s. The other one is using a router with a pattern to cut the door opening. I'll have to mess around with my router and a collar to get it right. The other one that I did not mention yet is a flush cutting bit for the router. I used one to create the form and also to make the pattern off of the original cabinet. Very cool bit.

Here are some pictures.

The Thanksgiving that never was

So picture this, the turkey is on, the house is all set-up, the guests are preparing their contributions and you have that one converation with a doctor who says this word "contagious"..... yes the wife and I have the bug. So rather than risk the family to a biohazard, the entire thing was moved to my cousins house. Everything went into a big box and my cousins showed up to move the tables and chairs and out it went.

So my wife and I are watching the Eureka marathon and siping gingerale.....well I'm having a beer shortly. Turkey is coming shortly ;)

have a good holiday

Marvel from Rob

Rob Baker might have a WORKING marvel which would mean I would not have to convert a non-working unit to 12v. I figure I might be able to include an engel cooler in the cabinet below for boondocking. If you haven't seen these coolers, you should check them out. I saw a pic of a fridge done up online where the owner had it shot with candy apple red color... very cool stuff but I think I'll stick with the stock white.

Looking forward to seeing this fridge of Rob's.

It's 10:30PM and I'm sitting down having a drink and kicking back after putting our house together for 50 party guests. The rough part is that my wife is down the a migrain headache for the day, so I've picked up the lion share of the work. I'm hoping she is better in the AM or we might have to make other arrangements for the holiday.

cross my fingers.

Marvel Fridge

Colin and co. will be completing the work later this year or early next year, but they have to make room for it in the shop. Meanwhile, Vintage Lightning is being worked on. This is Mathew's cruiser, which looks like a killer rig.

In the meantime, I've been sketching ideas and working out scenarios in my head on how this rig will look on the interior. I have the kitchen top/sink done and I'll start working on the sink base after xmas. I've got a couple surprises up my sleeve and I'll wait til I'm done to post some pictures.

I am on the hunt for a Marvel fridge. I have a lead on one down south and am looking forward to seeing pictures. I have plans to convert it to a 12v isotherm compressor, which would allow me to boondock. I know the Isotherm is not P.C. boondocking but I'm not keen on the look of the dometics that are on the market. Colin suggested converting it to LP, but I'm thinking 12v would be better for us. Just my opinion.

Onwards to the big thanksgiving party!

Doug

2 Weeks versus 8 months

Time versus money is always the problem and neither of which I have a ton of these days. But after reading the forums and seeing the gent who is selling off his 50s cruiser because he's burned out on the restore process I am glad to have taken my rig to Colin & co. to do the heavy lifting parts. We'll dip into our savings, but it means I'll have time to camp and canoe next summer with my family.

After seeing the progress Colin & co. have made these past two weeks, I'm very pleased with my decision.

I spoke to Colin yesterday about where we go next and what decisions need to be made. The big decisions are already made and they are waiting for space in the shop to continue the rest of the work. In the meantime, his crew have buttoned up the rig for the winter until they can get to it.

A couple good things have come out so far:
- The frame is complete and was in better condition that original thought.
- The axle is rock solid, but the backer plates, brakes, and drums will be replaced with new.
- The frame was modified to support new grey tanks and a tire carrier under

Below are a couple shots of the work in progress.

cross posting

http://sweetsovereign.blogspot.com/2006/10/couple-pictures.html

A couple pictures of my rig on Rob Bakers site.

Doug

Waiting and interior layouts

I was on vacation last week and received a short email from Colin indicating that his crew were busy working on the frame work. He's already completed the rear section and is actively working on the A Frame, coupler and floor. Rob and Steve sent me a couple teaser pics of my A frame cut off and one of the rear end.

I am still wrestling with the idea of building a completely new interior or re-use the exisiting parts. I'm starting to seriously consider building new with stylized cabinets akin to the original. I did find some very cool options for seating on a site that might find it's way into the rig....

I'll post a couple pictures once Colin sends me his next update.

Doug