MicroCamper - Winter project

[stormbird]

So there is to be a cooker/kitchen drawer on the left and general storage to the right of the bed base.[ see above ]

The front of the draw is to the left and we are looking into the stove part when standing outside the back of the car with the rear door up.
The pine piece at the front is to stop the cup/pans from falling out and the 2 tall sides will need to be covered in some thing to stop the heat scorching the wood ? need to find some cheap aluminium [ thick enough ] else I do have some steel sheet and a bender it will just be heavier.
All the above is held together with tacks whilst I plan it.

Now I want to use this stove [ yes a little odd ] however I have used if for over 10 years now and I don't see any point in buying another one that takes a different gas source. That is a recipe for having an empty bottle when you most need one.

Not seen anyone else use one so I am on my own with this , the low rail is to enable me to reach the on/off control and I though of leaving some space to put the cooking pot and cup down ? Not sure how far away from the wooden sides/front I need to be to stop burning the wood ?
So first up I need to fasten the base down , however it needs to be quick release as I only intend screwing the burner to the canister when I want to use the burner.

Looks like I can add a partition and keep some of my stuff in the right hand end of the drawer . probably couple of bottles with porridge/muesli in one and water in the other need some room for other food and my treacle !

Afterwards it needs a shelf that can fold out with a support on the front face of the draw.

Paul

 

[DannyC]

So there is to be a cooker/kitchen drawer on the left and general storage to the right of the bed base.[ see above ]

The front of the draw is to the left and we are looking into the stove part when standing outside the back of the car with the rear door up.
The pine piece at the front is to stop the cup/pans from falling out and the 2 tall sides will need to be covered in some thing to stop the heat scorching the wood ? need to find some cheap aluminium [ thick enough ] else I do have some steel sheet and a bender it will just be heavier.
All the above is held together with tacks whilst I plan it.

Now I want to use this stove [ yes a little odd ] however I have used if for over 10 years now and I don't see any point in buying another one that takes a different gas source. That is a recipe for having an empty bottle when you most need one.

Not seen anyone else use one so I am on my own with this , the low rail is to enable me to reach the on/off control and I though of leaving some space to put the cooking pot and cup down ? Not sure how far away from the wooden sides/front I need to be to stop burning the wood ?
So first up I need to fasten the base down , however it needs to be quick release as I only intend screwing the burner to the canister when I want to use the burner.

Looks like I can add a partition and keep some of my stuff in the right hand end of the drawer . probably couple of bottles with porridge/muesli in one and water in the other need some room for other food and my treacle !

Afterwards it needs a shelf that can fold out with a support on the front face of the draw.

Paul

Are the canisters flat-bottomed?
If so, you could put a patch of the Gorilla velcro permanently on the bottom of your stove area (once the surface is properly sealed and painted), and stick a fresh opposing patch (hooks/loops) to the bottom of each new canister? I tell you they are really strong, it takes a great deal of effort to remove something from a 3" x 3" patch of the stuff. It certainly will never fall over and it won't rattle around while driving either.

 

[stormbird]

Are the canisters flat-bottomed?

Sadly not

If so, you could put a patch of the Gorilla velcro permanently on the bottom of your stove area (once the surface is properly sealed and painted), and stick a fresh opposing patch (hooks/loops) to the bottom of each new canister? I tell you they are really strong, it takes a great deal of effort to remove something from a 3" x 3"

yes it will get painted

patch of the stuff. It certainly will never fall over and it won't rattle around while driving either.

I want that as well , I have a few ideas I need to try ?
have a 3.5" hole saw ?
Nah nether do I , have to be the jigsaw

Paul

 

[undertoad]

Why don't you just glue some little cleats in a square arrangement, in the center of the drawer, for the stove to sit in?
Even if they were only a 1/2" high, they'd be enough to locate the stove.
If you do that, make them so they don't meet at the corners - It would collect less junk that way, and be easier to clean.

 

[stormbird]

So first stab at holding the stove :-

As undertoad suggested hem the beggar in ! the fly in the ointment is I can't leave the burner fastened to the canister so it needs to be easy to remove [ i.e without tools ] so there will be a plastic strip cut from a thin chopping board parallel and to the right of the stove throttle held with a couple of thumb screws. As the outer wooden fence around it is below the top of the gas canister , it will bend as it is screwed down and grip the stove.

My biggest pot so plenty of room for it however I need to find something for a flame proof wind break on 3 sides.

This should work Paul

 

[undertoad]

I need to find something for a flame proof wind break on 3 sides.

Do they sell that thin aluminum flashing there? You know, the stuff to seal chimneys, dormers, etc. to the roof shingles.
A piece of that might work, and hardly weigh anything.

 

[stormbird]

Do they sell that thin aluminum flashing there? You know, the stuff to seal chimneys, dormers, etc. to the roof shingles.
A piece of that might work, and hardly weigh anything.

I had heard over your side of the pond they use that , historically we have always used lead [ church roofs have acres of it [ and it is easily stolen !]] so maybe harder to find over here.

That and I only want a piece 15" x 10 " , not 50 yards

Paul

 

[undertoad]

historically we have always used lead

That's why you have 400 year old buildings there, still in use, and here, not so much.
Maybe you can find a big old aluminum pot, and cut it up, to make a curved windbreak.
OR, maybe just cut through the process, and buy one of these on Amazon

 

[stormbird]

So in a change to the advertised program [ Cooker drawer ] we have dragged this from the back of the garage due to the unseasonably nice weather.

Now SWMBO was told I was cutting sticks from an old fence panel , and yes I did that and made maybe a months worth to go into store....

However I also wanted to make some progress on the mattress frame and so needed some slats cutting.

These are cut from reclaimed floor boards they are about 19mm [ 3/4" ] and when the tongue and groove has been removed yielded about 4" [ 100mm ] of pine boarding. So the saw was set to 2" [ 50mm ] and these were ripped from it , almost enough the rest were made up of the box bed base wood I picked up a couple months ago so again apart from time they have cost £0.00.

Here they are laid on the upturned OSB board test base to ensure I have cut enough , as can be seen they are over long , when trimmed to 28" or [ 72cm ] the excess will be cut into 2" x 2" squares for spacers as can be seen on the right.

It really now needs to go back inside the car for a little trimming of the OSB and to see where about on the kitchen unit the OSB board will rest.

Paul

 

[undertoad]

I don't know how you keep your workspace so neat and organized - What's your secret?
At least, I can only see the evidence of one project - I usually have 2 or 3 at the same time, and THAT becomes a problem

 

[stormbird]

I don't know how you keep your workspace so neat and organized - What's your secret?

Well this is all rather embarrassing as men generally are not fond of talking about their feelings ?
However despite years of trying really hard and a lot of self discipline I still have only reached a Brown belt and now despair that I won't live long enough to become a Black belt

At least, I can only see the evidence of one project - I usually have 2 or 3 at the same time, and THAT becomes a problem

Of course you cannot see into the garage ! where lurks more projects than you can shake a very long stick at !

Just a view of 1/4 of it !

and this ......


Paul

 

[undertoad]

I don't see a problem with any of it, EXCEPT the garage - You’ve got stuff piled on your chair!
I always keep mine free, so I can easily sit and hold my head in my hands, while pondering my latest mistake design change.

 

[stormbird]

Other chairs are available ? there are 4 on the front lawn , 3 of which are visible surrounding the bench saw post #69 ?

Quick photo-montage of the garage :-

So how many unfinished projects can you see now ?

I think it is fair to say the bench saw needed emptying ?

No wonder it would not retract under the table and this is WITH a vacuum cleaner fastened to the rear suction outlet ! [ the bellows under the saw dust !

Still done now.

Paul

 

[Trickytrike]

i am reassured i am not the only one with multiple parallel projects in "ongoing" status..

 

[undertoad]

Now THAT'S more like it - A man after my own heart
If that saw was in my shop, there would be rodents tunneling and nesting in that pile - I know this for a fact, and DAMHIKT........
The other thing I am always impressed by, is the sheer mass of stuff a Workmate can hold, without collapsing

 

[stormbird]

So progress made :-

While it looks no different there is now a drawer for the cooker , I needed that to establish where the centre wall went in the kitchen unit.
So next up is to disassemble and properly glue and nail the 3 vertical walls to the base and back wall.
The mock to has now been trimmed so it sits square to the kitchen unit which is also good news, as I now know where the unit will sit in the car , here for the bed deployed and closer to the rear door if the rear seat is upright.

Arrow shows where the end of rear seat supporting the bed base comes to , I may hinge it there to allow the front most part to be propped up against the rear seat allowing me to sit up and read etc in a bit more comfort. The very front of the bed base needs a support going down to the foot-well floor another ' to do ' job.

Bed support nearest the kitchen unit will sit on the brackets bolted to the back of it and the arms will have wooden beams bolted to them which in turn will have slats running across them.

Brackets I think need trimming like this to get them as high as possible , unsure till I see how much room is available on the other side to bolt them to ?

Eventually the exciting bit of fitting the slats , still unsure what finish to give it , obviously it will be much easier to finish the kitchen unit , say if I decide to paint it before the slats are added.

Paul

 

[undertoad]

Never mind ........

 

[stormbird]

Never mind ........

I saw your original comment in the email

Periodically I shut the rear door too see what happens , it just kept pushing the box up against the back of the back seat , so that is where I have left it. Oddly to get the rear seat up , I need to first move the box to the rear unfold the seat then push it forward again, a minor niggle.

Paul

 

[undertoad]

I re-read your post, and saw that you only moved it back that far when the seat is up.
Good repurpose of a gate hinge, BTW

 

[stormbird]

I re-read your post, and saw that you only moved it back that far when the seat is up.

As always juggling the available space !

Good repurpose of a gate hinge, BTW

Copied from someone else , I was going to make a wooden vertical tab and slot till I realised it would be hard to make as the angles needed did not suit thick plywood and the loads involved.

Now what do you make of this ?

It is exactly the same vehicle as mine and has exactly 40" across the back door opening ?
I get
Bed 27" and walkway 13" just wider than my shoes are long
They get
Bed 24" and walkway ? and kitchen unit with a sink and cooker in it ?

Oh well .....

Paul