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air19 · 06-29-2009, 07:23 AM

Thanks Everyone.

Steve (Soldier medic) - I am a constant watcher of your thread(s) also.

Steve (Pbear) - Definitely run with the sleeve idea. I really like how snuggly the platters fit in mine with the 1/2 inch ply.

Mark (3Ms) and Steve (Pbear) - I lived on the east side of the Seattle area for many years and look forward to traveling back there at some point.

MarkR - most of the fixtures in the trailer - sinks and faucets were purchased at Ikea. The special shower hose and plug that goes into the bathroom sink was picked up by Colin Hyde so I'll check in with him or if you know him feel free to mention the 53 Flying Cloud from Vermont. The furnace is nothing special, just a regular one. I'll look at my paperwork. It has no ducting. The bathroom my get cold in the fall, and our grey tank. But the black tank, the fresh tank, and the batteries are all above the floor in the main part of the trailer.

air19 · 07-11-2009, 08:41 PM

It took longer than I expected, like everything else so far, but I finished the kitchen cabinet this weekend.

I started with a framed cabinet skeleton and went about half way toward converting it to a frameless design, which I have used on the other cabinets I've built so far in the Flying Cloud. By half way, I made all the doors inset. The front has that flush look, but it's missing the cherry trim I have used on the other cabinets.

It took a while because the cabinet I started with was not square so getting some of the doors to look flush was a challenge. The hinges I'm using are reasonable quick to install and I've done enough now that I have a sequence I go through each time to get them evenly set in the opening. The magnets that I'm using everywhere to keep the doors and drawers closed take a lot of time to get set right.

Here's a long photo shot through the front window of the work done to date, and then a kitchen cabinet shot through the door.

air19 · 07-11-2009, 08:50 PM

I have some sections of the cabinet set up with built-ins to hold specific items like the appliances, the microwave platters, and the trash can. The latest sections I finished, I put doors on and will rely on my wife to find the perfect combination of bins to store what she wants in this area.

Compared to the applicances where we are able to agree on what we would take traveling, the rest of the kitchen supplies are in flux so we will just rely on bins to corral them.

Here's a photo shot of all the sections of the kitchen cabinet opened up. Actually quite a bit of usable storage when you consider what it is built around. And some detailed shots of the last section under the sink with the doors added and my use of magnets for door closure.

air19 · 07-11-2009, 09:01 PM

Now it's time to face my biggest challenge - getting the dinette design right.

In this small trailer everything has to serve double duty. We want to use our dinette to sit at a table AND we want to lounge back on each side of the dinette facing the rest of the trailer and maybe watching a TV. So the seating has to work in both directions.

I want the table to function as a place to eat of course, and I want to do computer work on my laptop. Usually I've found a lower table height for the laptop to be more comfortable for me. So I'm thinking adjustable table height by maybe starting with a boat chair with a lever to raise and lower it.

And then there is our Newfoundland dog who really likes to get underneath whatever table we are eating at where she is most comfortable.

Here are a couple shots of the space which just has the 20 gallon fresh tank and two battery boxes. There is an extension of the kitchen cabinet and countertop that runs out into this area and the dinette will be built at a slight angle, which makes access easier and will help getting both benches oriented toward the TV.

Could be a while before I make progress on this, but I'll post updates in stages.

bolerama · 07-11-2009, 11:33 PM

Impressive use of space and craftsmanship. Thanks for sharing!

air19 · 07-12-2009, 07:40 PM

It took a while to decide how we were going to use the last storage space under the street side bed. It has a pipe right in the middle going down into the grey tank, so not that much space.

I thought about really custom drawers with a buildout around the pipe. In the end my wife found a couple of bins she wanted to use and talked about extra toilet supplies that would work in there. So it was simplified to one shelf and a door. A good Sunday afternoon project.

I had to make one decision on the appearance and chose function over asthetics. The question was how many finger holes and where to put them. There is only one door, but what would be the best way to match it's appearance with the line of drawers that already existed under this bed.

I decided to make the front look like two drawers with two finger holes on the same horizontal line as all the others. But I put the finger holes on the left side of the door to make it easier to open the door. I'm using rare earth magnets everywhere for my door latches/holders. And it's a balancing act trying to use the right size and number of magnets to have enough holding strength, while still being able to open the doors. I started with my usual magnet for strength and couldn't open it with a center finger hole. So I had to move it to the left side for more leverage. It works now, but I wish I had been able to mirror the look of all the other drawers in every aspect.

Oh well, time to move on to the dinette.

BarryIowa · 07-12-2009, 07:56 PM

All I can say is "WOW!"

RankAm · 10-16-2009, 04:14 PM

I have spent some time yesterday and today reviewing this thread, and I am ever impressed with the appearance and sturdiness of your work! Would you consider posting some close-up shots of the structural elements of your cabinets showing how the framing is built, and how the cabinets attach to the side wall, ceiling, floor, other cabinets, etc.? Also some shots of your framing for the beds?

I do not want to be a pest, but for those of us who are designing floor plans and cabinets, some structural photos would be great.

Thanks again for sharing your photos and descriptions. I look forward to seeing photos of your dinette.

Hank

byamcaravanner · 10-17-2009, 06:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hjlairf

Would you consider posting some close-up shots of the structural elements of your cabinets showing how the framing is built

Hank,

Look back to some of the early posts... there are LOTS of structural pictures. If you would like to see them closer up you can click on the thumbnails... if you would like to get even closer, try right clicking on the enlarged photo and select "save as" from the menu. This will allow you to use you photo viewer to zoom in as far as you like.

Make sure when you get to doing yours you post a lot of photos. Threads like this are invaluable to all of us.

Happycampers · 10-17-2009, 07:15 AM

Absoluutley some of the most beautiful interior work I have seen....

SilverHoot · 10-17-2009, 08:26 AM

Not sure how this thread got by me for so long. So, happy that I found it and you are taking the time to share with all of us. Fantastic job you are doing, very inspiring with your great ideas and workmanship. THANK YOU!

RankAm · 10-17-2009, 11:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by byamcaravanner

Hank,

Look back to some of the early posts... there are LOTS of structural pictures. If you would like to see them closer up you can click on the thumbnails... if you would like to get even closer, try right clicking on the enlarged photo and select "save as" from the menu. This will allow you to use you photo viewer to zoom in as far as you like.

Make sure when you get to doing yours you post a lot of photos. Threads like this are invaluable to all of us.

Thanks for the advice, but the download jpg file size is only 128 KB (on the one image I downloaded), and the quality of the zoomed image (to my eyes, at least) isn't all that good.

I do promise to post photos when I have something to show. At this stage, all I have done is gut the interior of my 1956 Flying Cloud!

BarryIowa · 10-18-2009, 06:55 AM

Beautiful work. A lot to look at as I restore my 55 Flying Cloud.

air19 · 10-19-2009, 06:10 AM

Thanks for all the recent compliments everyone.

I haven't had time to do any more work, but this winter will be the big push to finish the dinette. Right now I'm too busy getting next year's firewood in. We burn about 15 cords every year heating the house, the barn, and our hot water year round. No more heating oil!

Takes me a couple of months out of the fall to get that much out of the woods, bucked, split, and stacked. And of course I have to move last year's wood and this year's wood way to many times to think about.

Regarding the structural work, please go through the thread again, the photos are there. I've tried to show structural shots every time before I added any skins. And this is a very important part of the work. I've really tried to keep the weight down by using very light but sound structures, mostly 1x2 softwood.

The structures are anchored to the trailer in a number of ways. I use decking screws going into the floor most of the time. Then for the wall I have created 2" strips of baltic birch that are attached to the walls and then the structure is tied into them. On the curved walls, I have done kerf cuts every 1.5" going just over 1/2" deep into the 3/4" baltic birch strips to allow it to bend. I experiment with the depth of cut to see how deep I have to go to get it to bend for whatever radius I'm working on at the moment. To attach these baltic birch strips to the walls and ceiling I invested in a very nice pack of metal screws that really grab into the Airstream. I use a screw about every 2" so there are lots of them and with that many I don't even think about weather I'm hitting a metal stud or not.

Hope that helps. Feel free to fire back any specific questions and I'll try to answer with better photos or explanation.

2vets · 10-19-2009, 07:02 AM

Wow She is truly beautiful! You are a master craftsman!

RankAm · 10-22-2009, 10:07 AM

Air19, thanks for the additional explanation about anchoring your cabinets to the floor and walls. Forgive my ignorance, but are the 2" baltic birch strips (attached to the walls) of ply or solid wood? Any other information about the screws that grab so well?

Thanks again for your excellent thread.

Hank

air19 · 10-23-2009, 07:08 PM

Hi Hank,

Please feel free to ask any questions you want. No problem. I might not get back in a day, but I get email reminders when someone has accessed this thread and that's when I usually check back in.

Regarding baltic birch, it is a special type of plywood made up of more plys than regular birch playwood. Baltic birch is not always available at a big box store, but check around. It comes in 5 foot by 5 foot sheets, but in Vermont I have found a source that actually has 8 foot by 4 foot sheets. For woodworking it is a great plywood because with those extra plys it is much more stable and stronger than normal ply. For my use of creating anchoring strips that go around the curves of the Airstream wall I wanted something that would retain it's strength even though I was cutting more than half way through it to be able to bend it.
I am using 3/4" thick baltic birch for the Airstream anchoring strips. Baltic birch also comes in other thicknesses with more plys than the comparable regular plywood. For example I used 5/8" thick baltic birch for the tops of my beds. That's possibly overkill and it did add extra weight. The other negative of baltic birch is that there is more glue used than regular ply and it has been noted to give off more glue fumes. Frankly I work with it alot and have never noticed this or had any problems. But for the tops of my beds I did have my wife (who applies the finish to all my wood working pieces) to finish not only the top but all the edges of these large pieces.

Regarding the screws. They are self tapping metal screws 1 and 1/4 inch long and 1/8 inch thick, but I don't rely on the self tapping. I predrill through the baltic birch and into the Airstream wall with a small bit (1/16) and then I predrill again into the birch with a slightly larger bit.

I have attached a picture of a strip of the baltic birch ply and the screws. Hope that helps Hank.

RankAm · 10-25-2009, 01:57 PM

Yes, your message was very helpful. I will head to the hardware store to get a supply of the screws. I will not be working with the plywood for a good while, but at least I can get the rest of the hardware I expect to need.

Hank

air19 · 02-03-2010, 02:59 PM

Hi Everyone,

Back again after a long absense. Getting ready for winter in Vermont and then working through it always seems to take me away from my fun hobbies, like working on the Airstream.

When I left you last it was time to start the design and buildout of the front end of our 53 Flying Cloud. Lots of progress has been made. My wife and I have spent countless nights talking through different designs. I've done half a dozen real sized mockups of various seating arrangements. And we have settled in on one design we think will work well.

We are trying to satisfy two major objectives with the front end - 1) to provide a seating area for eating, doing paperwork, and working on the computer, and 2) to provide a comfortable lounging area for watching TV or listening to music.

We originally were going to build a dinette up front on a slight angle to make access easy. We thought about sitting longways on the dinette benches to watch TV on the closet wall. When we mocked this all up everything was too tight.

We made a couple of breakthroughs with the design when we decided to switch the TV location to the front end on the street side by thinking about a cabinet area as an extension of the kitchen counter. Then we simplified the dinette into an "L" lounge.

The first goal of providing a seating area is easily solved by the L lounge and it doesn't feel as cramped as the full dinette. The second goal of providing a comfortable lounging area will be solved by providing two seating positions where we can put our legs up. One of these happens naturally on the L lounge when you put your feet up, the other will be done by a slide out foot rest.

Over the next month I hope to show you the entire buildout.

air19 · 02-03-2010, 03:21 PM

The first of three steps in building out the front will be to get the lounge benches in place. Then we will build in the TV cabinet, and finally create and mount the table.

Starting with the benches I have just a couple of obstacles to work around up front - the fresh water tank set in the middle under the front window, and two batteries set on either side. There is also a small amount of wiring and the water pump by the battery on the street side of the fresh water tank.

I am building the bench area in four pieces - a curved area on the street side for battery #1, the front bench that sits over the fresh water tank, a curved area on the curb side for battery #2, and the side bench on the curb side.

Here's a couple of pictures of all four pieces in place that represents two full days of work in the woodshop. One of my overriding goals for everything we build out in the trailer is to keep it light weight. That starts with the framing which is all 1x2 softwood. For those of you who have been watching this thread you will notice some runners in some of the bench sections. And by now you should be able to guess what will go on those.