Our Bus, Our Home - Page 8

Deezl Smoke · 03-07-2014, 07:39 AM

WOW !!! That's impressive. I'm not far from Kelso. Just a few hour drive from Portland. May have to take a drive up your way sometime and see if you'd be willing to give a tour.

The buses I looked at a few weeks ago came from the Evergreen school district in Washington. I was amazed how little rust and corrosion there was on them.

Thanks.

eyedeal.ink · 03-09-2014, 12:34 PM

Thank-you. and yes if you made it up this way we would love to give you a tour. and talk skoolie talk. our bus is located in Castle Rock now and we normally work on her on Sundays and Mondays.

eyedeal.ink · 03-12-2014, 01:52 PM

Got a solid start to the couch/bed this weekend. Much more to come on this one. First piece of 1/2" plywood is laid in place, actual height of the couch will be as high as the back 6" of plywood. It slopes slightly upward toward the front so that when it lays out as a bed it'll be level.

White99z · 03-12-2014, 02:30 PM

This is an awesome build! Very inspiring!!! Thanks for sharing!

DavidCrue · 03-12-2014, 02:49 PM

I don't know about everyone else, but this built has been so much fun to watch that I'm dying to see what your plans are for the floor. The entire bus looks amazing.

eyedeal.ink · 03-17-2014, 11:39 PM

Still working on the countertop, got it grouted and sealed but need to finish the caulking. We drilled a couple holes for the kitchen faucet and sprayer, had to use the pilot bit that came with the hole saw to drill the pilot holes, didn't have a masonry bit so I had to make due, what a bitch. I swear it took ten minutes per pilot hole and about a minute to cut the actual hole (diamonds make a big difference). While I was doing that, Janelle did some drilling of her own on the couch/bed supports. We burnt the midnight oil the last couple of nights (literally til 2 am two nights in a row and then midnight last night) and last night was dust boogers from hell after cutting 64 dados with a pair of table saw blades but it had to be done.

We found the kitchen faucet at an RV thrift store (new/used) at about a tenth of what we found anywhere else, gotta look around for the deals I guess. Now we just need to order some hudee ring clips for the retro butterscotch sink that Janelle fell in love with at another RV parts place we found on Craigslist. I'm typically the buy it new kind of guy but I'm often thankful for her drive to be frugal; the sink really ties the whole thing together.

proconsul100 · 03-18-2014, 12:21 AM

its looking great, i love the counters

eyedeal.ink · 03-19-2014, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by proconsul100

its looking great, i love the counters

thanks

browncrown · 03-19-2014, 07:33 PM

Your countertops are MOST NICE...love it!

scgwagner · 03-24-2014, 09:43 PM

You guys have really done a spectacular job. Cannot wait to see what's next! Love the angled sink/toilet to conserve space. Your penny back splashes look awesome! Thanks for sharing...and keep it coming!!

eyedeal.ink · 03-24-2014, 10:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scgwagner

You guys have really done a spectacular job. Cannot wait to see what's next! Love the angled sink/toilet to conserve space. Your penny back splashes look awesome! Thanks for sharing...and keep it coming!!

Thanks!

scgwagner · 03-25-2014, 09:17 PM

Ok. So I am in love with your couch...but I have to confess I am having a hard time picturing how it functions! Is it hinged? Is that space underneath for storage? I am trying to design something for multiple duties like that right now...and I thought you may have just done it! Also, did you find plans somewhere to use, or did you design it yourself? (My guess is the latter!)

bansil · 03-26-2014, 12:01 PM

PIMP

love it great progress!

eyedeal.ink · 03-26-2014, 04:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scgwagner

Ok. So I am in love with your couch...but I have to confess I am having a hard time picturing how it functions! Is it hinged? Is that space underneath for storage? I am trying to design something for multiple duties like that right now...and I thought you may have just done it! Also, did you find plans somewhere to use, or did you design it yourself? (My guess is the latter!)

Thanks guys! we've been working pretty hard lately. As for the couch, it was a little of both, we researched for the last year (never built a couch before) and then made our own, it had to be lightweight, strong, and versatile and allow for storage/cleaning throughout. Janelle really wanted to be able to fold out each section individually for lounging and it just makes it easier to get to stuff stored inside; we won't be adding cupboard doors to the front so access will be through the seat. We plan to center our foldout table on the third section from the front door and then two "loungers" and a couch cushion will make seating for three.

We also picked up a seat out of 2007 Kenworth, should make the road trips a little more tolerable on the backside

...and now we can work on the cab area. I love it when we get a particular part for this project and it opens up a bunch more we can do, yay!!

scgwagner · 03-26-2014, 08:08 PM

Holy cow. Your couch with storage design is super close to what I've been trying to figure out. My idea was to have pull out drawers underneath that would be pantry or bedding storage and double, when pulled out, as the support for the opened bed. Yours is much better executed than what I could have pulled off! But, man oh man...I love the segmented idea!!! That is absolutely beautiful!! Well done! I am also guessing that you will put another layer of plywood across the back to make it solid? And will you upholster any of it, or use pads?

sdwarf36 · 03-26-2014, 08:22 PM

The couch is similar to mine in function-except yours is gorgeous! I do things out of wood because I have to -yours look like you do it out of love.

eyedeal.ink · 04-23-2014, 08:33 PM

Been working quite a bit lately (late being the key word here, Janelle's Dad lives out in the boonies and let's us work til 2am whenever we want). Here's a few pics of the drivers area. Built a couple cabinets and buttoned up the electrical. Still a little more work to be done up here and then some cosmetic stuff but I'm pretty satisfied with what we got done so far. The stereo we bought has a motorized screen for the backup camera but I didn't want it coming up higher than the aluminum window frame so I routed it in. We ended up with a few chunks of figured/curly maple for a few choice places in our build, we think we'll have enough to cover the drivers and couch end cabinets tops and trim for the table. I love working with maple, it's hard as hell (gotta pre-drill for finish nails) but makes a great finished product.
I ended up supplying air to the drivers seat using the old stop arm supply. It already penetrates the firewall and it comes with an electric release valve so I can turn the air on and off with a switch, that'll be handy for getting in and out of the thing, it tops out when you get off it if it has air in it, not a big deal or anything but I still like the switch feature.

Chair installed. Ended up cutting out the plywood the size of the seat pedestal, contact cemented a chunk of the floor rubber in it's place and used 4 - 3/8" grade 8 bolts for the install. We covered the rest of the floor with a piece of floor rubber from the wheel wells (I knew saved that stuff for something). We glued the carpet to the wall behind the drivers seat with rubber cement and some small 3/4 nails that disappear into the carpet. The 6x4 piece of carpet was $15 at the local auto parts store and was the perfect size to do the wall and floor with, we'll be doing some kind of hardwood flooring on the rest of the cab and steps I think.

Also got started on the ends of the couch. This whole cabinet assembly had to be removable at this end which was a challenge but we did it, 8 screws and the whole thing comes out as one unit. We wanted a place for shoes and gloves, at the front (3/4" maple) and a nice big copilot cabinet with a big enough surface to double as a small table. The top maple pieces are only half inch thick (beggers can't be choosers) and had a slight crown from being planed when the wood was still green but we used a little gorilla glue and screws every 3 inches along the sides to attach a piece of half inch plywood to the bottom and that took care of that (I'll post a pic of that later). We designed the framing to sit down that half inch so the top (1 inch total wood) will rest on the maple and the plywood, somebody will inevitably sit on the cabinet top and it has to be strong, all the framing was dadoed, glue and screwed, some joints are reinforced with an 1 1/2 finished nail. The last pic we had misted the wood lightly with water to get an idea of what the wood will look like finished. Still need to add some trim so it matches the other cabinets and Janelle's been working on a couple pieces of vine maple for a hand rail and main support pole at the front, strong stuff once it dries and it should add that final touch to the front.

sdwarf36 · 04-23-2014, 09:26 PM

I love the cubbies by the stairs!

eyedeal.ink · 04-24-2014, 06:09 PM

Thanks guys, putting in a lot of hours, til 2 am this morning, get up at 10 am and tattoo for 8 hours and then head back up there, we're coming up on two years on this project and we thought we'd be done by now, gotta get it done.

PDBreske · 04-24-2014, 10:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eyedeal.ink

... we're coming up on two years on this project and we thought we'd be done by now, gotta get it done.

I've had mine for about 2½ years and I feel the same way: "I need to see this thing completed!"

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