Template - Interior Front Curve

[Frank&Mike]

Has anyone ever made a template of the interior front curve? I want to make a piece of cabinetry/table for the front, to be placed directly below the front windows, and behind the sofa. I can't figure out how to make a template of that front curve.

Can you share your experiences and ideas? I attached a very simple drawing of what my challenge is.

[CanoeStream]

I've used a "story stick" successfully in a number of situations. It will get you so close that final adjustments with a belt sander may be all you need. Be sure and post photos of your process & results here.

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f36/...pes-29321.html
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[Homewrecker]

take a news paper and open its pages.
tape them together with broad masking tape.

press the taped page along the floor of the nose of the trailer
carefully crease the pages along the floor/wall to wall.
use a marker to indicate where the crease exists.
remove newspaper and cut along the line.

place the finished cut back into position along the wall.
mark carefully, where the cut isn't exactly as you'd hoped.

gather enough cardboard to span the area along the wall.
tape the newspaper to the cardboard and carefully cut along the newspaper template you made.
(compensate for the corrections you might have made)

put cardboard into position and sand imperfections, so it touches the wall seamlessly.
now you have your finished template

[Frank&Mike]

Thank you both for the help. I appreciate it very much! I'm headed to the garage now to gather the tools and go to the storage facility. I'll hopefully have progress and photos to report back with this afternoon.

[Dave Park]

Hi,

I am in Round Rock and can help you with this.

[Frank&Mike]

Well, the newspaper didn't work for me only because it's about 96 degrees and 100% humidity. I kept swetting like a stuck pig on the newspaper. But thanks for that suggestion. I think it would work well in a little kinder climate.

I did the the Story Stick and will start to work on the next step with that. Thanks for sharing that with me BobStream.

Dave Park - thanks for the reply. I definitely would like to talk to you about what I would like to do. I'll send you a private message with my contact information ... if you can call me when it is convenient for you.

I'm headed back to the storage facility now to replace some fuses on the Fridge and see if I can resolve that little project today (freezer works like a charm ... lower fridge section, well nothing to brag about there ).

[Dave Park]

Fun times! I've put my phone on to charge. Turns out I live just a few blocks from you, and I'll be happy to help in any projects you have

[Pahaska]

Hi Frank and Mike:

I think you may have seen my cabinets across the front. The problem is not making a template at floor level. It is making a template for the top of the cabinet. The dimensions have grown both in width and depth as you go upward. You can make a cabinet without ever having made a floor level template.

I found that a template made of the corrugated stuff that they make signs out of is a lot more practical. You can buy it at hobby stores.

The center part of the front is flat. You only need a template for the curved sections on either side. I found small, but significant, variations between the two sides of my trailer.

[gwchitty]

I agree, go with corregated cardboard. This is going to be way harder for me to to describe than it is to do. I made several form fitting pieces for various shelves and used cardboard and a drafting compass as my primary tools. There is a trick to this process, though. You have to think in one dimension, namely the direction you are pushing the template into the curved wall. I start by carving the cardboard template into a rough approximation of the shape, like a countertop. Then I push the template forward into the curve. Open the compass until it bridges the largest gap. Then draw the shape of the wall on the cardboard with the pointy side against the wall. You have to hold the axis of the compass toward the direction you push the cardboard into the curve. Don't swing it on an arc turning the compass with the wall. Trim off the excess and check the fit. Repeat. If you screw up, start over with another piece of cardboard. This is harder to describe than it is to do but the point is to think in only the direction you are pushing the cardboard.

Take your time and make your mistakes in cardboard, not wood.

Cosmos

[CanoeStream]

Originally Posted by Pahaska

The problem is not making a template at floor level. It is making a template for the top of the cabinet. The dimensions have grown both in width and depth as you go upward. You can make a cabinet without ever having made a floor level template.

The story stick method works for any of these options but for either the reference plane must be in the same plane with what you intend to build. Same goes for the scribing technique described by cosmos. I've used both. The story stick method gets me closer. The scribing method is sensitive to your scribing compass always being tangent to any surface or curve you are trying to reproduce.

For a story stick duplication, a piece of flat plywood can be the reference plane in this case -- a 2' x 4' piece should offer plenty of resolution.

The reference plane plywood doesn't have to be perfectly regular. But it must have one straight edge that coincides exactly with what you intend to build.


It helps to mark the centerline; you don't really have to be aligned to it. And then you can begin to trace the marks of your long pointer as you record multiple points around the edge of the plane you wish to reproduce. More points equals more accuracy. Twenty isn't too many. But record a point at the exact corner of what you want to build (points A & Z above). Whether with a story stick or scribing method, your reference plane must not move once you start to trace.

And yes, I fully agree with Pahaska that the right and left sides of your trailer ends will differ.

[Aage]

Here is yet one more idea on how to scribe the perfect line for your curves.

It's one in a series of videos from the TV series "Classic Rides", in which they re and re a 1970 27-foot Land Yacht. You have to either wait or skip ahead to almost three-quarters of the way through the clip to see where he uses a common paint stick to scribe some cork "click" flooring.

YouTube - Airstream Restoration - 07-1 Flooring

I love this series, it makes it look really easy and fast to completely re-do a trailer.

[triplenet]

I used the advice in the previous posts to make templates for Ref. bulkhead.

I used cardboard then transferred that to 1/4 ply so it could be sanded to fit.

Our coach ('07, 25' FB) had been converted for product demo and had a shelf curved around the rear. I removed it and I can copy it on builders paper if you want it.

Let me know.

Bob