Measuring curves

[Zephod_beeblebrox2]

How do people get the curves marked out for cutting walls to fit the curvature of the roof?

[Malkieri]

Originally Posted by Zephod_beeblebrox2

How do people get the curves marked out for cutting walls to fit the curvature of the roof? Attachment 6324

Cut a cardboard template then transfer is what I have seen done on a few builds.

[Zephod_beeblebrox2]

Its more the measuring of the curve that stumps me. Cardboard makes sense because its lightweight.

[Malkieri]

lightweight, free, easy to cut with scissors and if you mess up there is always more laying about. A bit of caulking should hide any mistake made in wood and add a bit of flex. Good luck!

[taskswap]

I have an extra "trick" with cardboard - hot melt glue. You can actually mock up entire cabinets and such by just tacking pieces together, and the yellow hot-melt is plenty strong enough to hold up well. You can mock up entire rooms and cabinets this way with only a small pile of moving boxes cut up. When you're happy with it all, the hot melt "pops" off with a screwdriver and you're ready to do the real thing.

[Zephod_beeblebrox2]

That can be fun. Loads of extra work though. So far, imagining and building has worked for me.

[sdwarf36]

To get a good template going, I do this. Measure the upright board--mark it from bottom to top in 3" increments. Measure from the mark to the wall + write it down. Transfer the numbers from the curved area to a piece of cardboard.

Example (I had it worse-my walls curve the whole way) from 3" up to 60" is 48" to the wall.
63" = 47 1/2"
66" 47"
69" =46 1/2"
etc.
When you mark the dots on cardboard, draw a line to connect the dots. You'll get a nice close arc to the roofline.

[lornaschinske]

Many ways...

Here are a few from the internet. Mostly because I don't feel like typing it all out yet again...

Matching Curves With A Tick Stick

How to Scribe for a Perfect Fit

Carpentry 101: Scribe for a Better Fit | DoItYourself.com

I suggest that once you get your template made, you keep it in a safe place so that you can use it again.

For small areas, I have a 10" and a 6" contour gauge. For large areas, I use basically the same principle.

[HolyBus]

Originally Posted by sdwarf36

To get a good template going, I do this. Measure the upright board--mark it from bottom to top in 3" increments. Measure from the mark to the wall + write it down. Transfer the numbers from the curved area to a piece of cardboard.

Example (I had it worse-my walls curve the whole way) from 3" up to 60" is 48" to the wall.
63" = 47 1/2"
66" 47"
69" =46 1/2"
etc.
When you mark the dots on cardboard, draw a line to connect the dots. You'll get a nice close arc to the roofline.

My son came by today to help me cut and install a one piece shower stall. We did this trick in 4" increments. It seems to have worked great. Now if we could just get the shower stall to tip up into place. We can't seem to find a way to get it upright. Doh!

[Zephod_beeblebrox2]

Have you tried taking it to the front of the bus? More headroom there!

[Jolly Roger]

If you use thin cardboard you can use your fingers to make the curve, cut it with scissors and form pieces to make up for imperfection's? One you get your template you shouldn't have any problem's?
There will alway's be something that is not perfect?
It is better to be on the outside of the line and trim to fit than to short and waste the board?

[family wagon]

I'm late to the party... I thought I had written about this on my build thread, but can't find any mention of it there now. Anyway, this photo basically sums it up:

Do the template in two pieces. Rig the uncut template material as high up the wall as you can, so that its edge is flush to the wall, and then use a fixed-length stick and a pencil to translate the curve of the roof onto the template below. Then cut along the line and hold the newly cut template against the roof to check the fit. The photo shows my straight edge and pencil clamped in approximately the way I held them.

Depending on how tightly you want the template to fit, you might choose to repeat the procedure. After you have the top part of the template made you can attach a second piece of material below to make a full-height template.

[HolyBus]

Originally Posted by Zephod_beeblebrox2

Have you tried taking it to the front of the bus? More headroom there!

The shower is vertical and in place. I trimmed an inch off the front base edge and it stood right up!

[Zephod_beeblebrox2]

I figured out how to do my curves
The trick is to cut the OSB into two. The first (bottom) half goes to the start of the roof curve.

Attach the second temporarily to the first but keep the bottom edge dead parallel with the top edge of the first. I used a spirit level since my bus is on vaguely level ground.

Next, measure the distance from the highest point of the roof to the top of tge 2nd piece of OSB. Then remember that distance and mark off every 2 inches, the same distance from the ceiliunf on the OSB.

More than 2 inchges means too much fiddling to get it to fit.

[Zephod_beeblebrox2]

This is a more self explanatory picture. My ruler had a hole in the end which allowed me yo duspoend it from a pencil to get a true vertical. Just a case of marking off on the correct side of the ruler.

I wanted to include this before but android didn't want to cooperate.

[Zephod_beeblebrox2]

My 6th curve. 3 more to go..