Windows screens

vonslatt · 06-07-2005, 12:23 PM

Anybody have any suggestions for windows screens? I have several ideas but nothing that really pleases me and we'll be heading up into blackfly country for the fourth.

Cheers,

Jake.

Eric von Kleist · 06-07-2005, 01:20 PM

Funny you should mention that, as I have been trying to come up with something myself. Having fireflies flying around inside the bus at night while you lie in bed is really cool, but the other critters can stay out. (Once I had a firefly in a room with a ceiling fan going. I was watching it in the dark while lying in bed. I was thinking about how Tinkerbell would fly around at the beginning of the old Walt Disney show, when all of a sudden ZING! a fan blade hit it and sent it like a meteor off into the dark. Poor Tinkerbell! LOL)

When I lived on the boat, I took some heavy (5/8") Dacron rope and cut it to the length of the circumference of the deck hatches. Then I stitched some fiberglass screen cloth to it. The rope fit in the channels around the hatches and held the cloth tightly in place. I don't think that exactly the same thing would work on a bus, but I'm thinking about doing something similar with flexible magnetic strip material. Run magnetic strips along the top and bottom of a piece of screen, and stitch some lengths of rope to the sides. This could be mounted either internally or externally, and since the rope is flexible, it would roll up around the magnetic strips (maybe). The rope would be stiff enough to hold the screen against the edge of the windowframe so that bugs couldn't get past, and the magnetic strips would hold it tight at the top and bottom.

Alternatively, you could do the entire circumference in rope and just use a couple of round magnets to position it.

OTOH....

Proper screen channel is available pretty cheaply, and you can construct fitted screens to go on the outside of the windows. This would probably be a whole lot easier and more reliable than the magnetic strip idea. Since my windows only open on the top half, I would only need some screens to fit the top half of the windows.

dammitAndy · 06-07-2005, 02:37 PM

Erik has the right idea with the screen channels, but the tricky part is being able to slide them open as well if you need to get through that particular window. I guess you could leave a couple out or something.

Eric von Kleist · 06-07-2005, 08:16 PM

Hmmmm....sliding....

Okay, here's an idea I may try. Build screens for the top halves of the windows, the halves that open. Fit them loosely (say 1/16" gap on sides) in exterior window frame so they can move up and down easily. Screw a 1/2" x 1/16" piece of aluminum flat onto the frame of the window so that it holds the screen in place for sliding up and down. If you want the window open completely, push the screens down to the level of the fixed windows, which don't open anyway.

Hmmmm.....

vonslatt · 06-07-2005, 09:03 PM

Oooo . . I like that idea, there are always aluminum storm windows with screens popping up on craigslist - they could easily be cut down to fit.

Jake.

justcorey1960 · 06-13-2005, 07:45 AM

Go to Menards or any building supply store they have screens that fit into top of bus windows ezy to put in and take out same screens u can buy for house they have frames allready done

vonslatt · 06-13-2005, 11:49 AM

But that would be cheating!

My current plan is to sew magnets into pockets of that vinyl coated poly "pet sceen" material.

I have 30 to 40 4 and 9 Gig hard drives (they are SCSI and SCA so not real useful in a PC) each of these will yield two VERY strong magnets. I plan on covering 3-5 windows with each section of screen material.

Cheers,

Jake.

Update to Body and Paint pages: Jake's School Bus Conversion

Eric von Kleist · 06-14-2005, 04:55 PM

Well, I priced screening, and I'm modifying my plans!

Regular aluminum screenwire is $7 for a 4'x7' roll. Not bad. Enough to screen all my windows full height would be $25. But...enough framing material would be $125.00 + furniture (corners, latches). Time to get creative....

Plus...they have this anti-solar screening that costs 3 times as much, but it's very dark (like window tinting), and it keeps out (they claim) 90% of the heat and UV radiation (like window tinting), and it would keep out bugs (which window tinting won't do)...so....

I'm going with the expensive screen, and I'm going to manufacture individual wooden frames for the windows from salvaged 2x4 material. I'll have to paint the frames, but they will be sturdy and constructed so as to be easily removeable...and free. I'm just going to buy material for 5 windows to start with, and that will mean I will at least have some ventilation at night without having to spend a whole lot of money right now.

phillbus914 · 07-07-2005, 12:58 PM

The screens at Menards look like an easy solution, but when I was looking at them (about a month ago) they were about $5 each. not too bad for 2 or 3 but if you bought much more than that you might be better off makeing your own screens.

At the Menards I was at they were by the house doors/windows.

phillbus914 · 07-09-2005, 11:26 AM

UPDATE:

those screens are only 2.50 now I just bought 4 of em

they might be on sale though, so you might want to hurry.

vonslatt · 08-11-2005, 02:38 PM

Well, I decided to make frames for all of the windows:

See http://www.vonslatt.com/bus-body.shtml for the whole story!

Jake.

Eric von Kleist · 08-11-2005, 03:40 PM

Nice screen job, Jake!

That's exactly what I want to do now on my bus. What are the dimensions on your screen stock? I see that the frames use 1/4" lath on top of the screens, but what size is the frame material itself? In the picture on your work bench it looks to be about 3/4" x 1".

The black paint goes very well on the bus. The hard drive magnet idea is a good one, too. Where did you come by so many of them?

vonslatt · 08-11-2005, 04:13 PM

Everything was ripped from 3/4" pine, both the 7/8" and 1/4" strips. The frames are about 25" by 28 1/2", they could have been a touch wider, as it is they overlap the window opening by only 1/8".

The screen stock is 36" by 25 feet per roll and I used about a roll and a half. It was something like $12 per roll. The lumber came from the town dump that morning, I managed to get to the wood dumpster before Capt. Backhoe "compacted" it!

I use to work for a comapny that built Internet caching hardware (boxes with lots-o-hard-drives), after they closed up shop I did some consulting work for them and opted to be paid with old computer equipment instead of dollars, what was I thinking! :-z

Cheers,

Jake.

Griff · 08-11-2005, 08:35 PM

VERY nicely done! They look like OEM in the pictures. I also agree that black was the right color to use on the frames, it really looks sharp and contrasts well with the rest of the color scheme.

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