4/2/05
Finished cabinets. The latches are window sash locks from Home Depot.
They're fairly inexpensive and they keep everything closed in transit.
4/3/05 Now to start the hatch.
First I made a template of the hatch outline and cut out the sides from
3/4" birch plywood.
4/7/05 Assembled hatch frame.The spars are poplar. It fits in the opening
pretty well. Now to skin it and add the speakers, light, hinge and
latch. The stove will ride on top of the counter during transit so I
need to make sure everything will fit around it.
4/9/05 I added another row of ribs after test fitting the skin. I didn't have
much spring back without the added ribs and I'm hoping that I won't
have any with them.
4/10/05 Manual hatch props. I had to modify the props that I got from Austin
Hardware by drilling out the rivet holding the brackets on and
bolting on brackets that are from gas props. The ones that came with
the prop were too big to fit in the space that I had. The new ones have
more holes for screws in them anyways. I drilled a hole in the side to
receive the bolt head holding the bracket on so it would sit
flush on the side. The hatch side of the prop is held on with just one
screw so I can take the hatch off to skin it.
4/10/05 Test
fit of the props and the overhead light. Everything looks good at this
point. The hinge really is nice. It allows you to take the hatch on and
off with out removing the hinge. (Update: I've since replaced the
fluorescent tubes with LEDs. The tubes kept burning out in cold
weather.)
4/16/05 Attaching the skin. I used screws to roughly locate the skin.
Then I clamped and stapled it down, working from the middle out to the
sides. Then I clamped it to the bench overnight while the glue dried. I
traced the ends of the unskinned hatch onto the bench so I knew where
the ends should be. I had to use a pipe clamp to squeeze the hatch ends
together to meet the lines after the skin was on.
4/29/05 Wiring
and insulation. There's wires for the trailer lights, license plate
light, speakers and hatch lights. I provisioned some wires so the
license plate light could be used as a stop light. I'll wire that up
some other time as I haven't found a third brake light logic unit I like.
Here's a test fit of the hatch with the skin on. No springback! Now
some more
urethane. And the inside skin. And more urethane(sigh). I bought some LED
taillights that where thin enough to fit in the 1-1/" thickness of
the hatch. They shouldn't get as hot as an incandescent taillight which
might have been a problem since I'm insulating the hatch.
5/11/05 Inside of hatch skinned and finish applied. I used wood strips to cover
all the staples I used attaching the 1/8" baltic birch plywood.
This is the second sheet of plywood as I cut the first one with the
grain in the wrong direction. The plywood bends very easily in one
direction but not so easily in another. I could have force fitted
it but I was afraid it would cause the hatch to spring back.
The license plate light is from a Model
A Ford. I sandwiched a t-nut between the inside skin of the hatch
and some plywood to mount the light. That way I can take the light off
and replace if it ever gets broken. It can also serve as a third
brakelight.
4/23/05 Since it was a warm day, I decided to start skining the exterior.
I'm using fiberglass reinforced plastic (FRP).
It's pretty easy to work with; I can trim it with my router and
cut it with a pair of tin snips. The only trouble is that its
fiberglass - ITCHY. I skinned the whole side and went back and trimmed
out the door and the profile. I'll use the leftover piece when I make
the door. That wire sticking out is for the porchlight. Jean and I'll
skin the other side tomorrow. I used contact cement for the sides
and I'll float the roof and the hatch. The nice thing about FRP is that
it expands and contracts at about the same rate as wood. Hopefully, the
sides won't delaminate in the sun. (Update 1/31/06 - the FRP doesn't
expand at the same rate as plywood. The sides have delaminated in some
places. I get bubbles in the sun that go away when it cools off.
I've since learned that Henry's outdoor carpet cement works better than
contact cement.)
4/10/05 Test
fit of the props and the overhead light. Everything looks good at this
point. The hinge really is nice. It allows you to take the hatch on and
off with out removing the hinge. (Update: I've since replaced the
fluorescent tubes with LEDs. The tubes kept burning out in cold
weather.)
