The Breeze

[somewhereinusa]

You could mount it as I did my fridge. Build a cabinet above it,attached to the ceiling, but not attached to the cabinet. (protect the top with felt where it touches) That would keep it from tilting in any direction. Then, since it has legs, build another storage area underneath that is bolted to the floor, again touching but not attached to the cabinet. The upper keeps it from tilting, the lower keeps it from sliding.

[The-Breeze]

The thing is, this possibly is being held together by 6 (3 on each side) long rods that go from front thru the back with wing nuts holding it tight. The bottom of the cabinet rests on one set & one shelf rest on another set inside. The last shelf, most likely did too but had solid wood added to the side of the shelf about 6 inches high which at first glance is part of the actual cabinet. Evidently someone thru the years wanted the bottom shelf lower than the rod was. I plan to have Clint make another shelf and do the same with it stacking it on top of the bottom shelf and again with the shelf that now rests on the rods eliminating the rods altogether for holding shelves but now putting all the weight on the bottom rods holding the bottom.Despite the rods it appears to be very stable and held together well but I know that vibration can play havoc on it.

I have all intentions of putting anything heavy on the bottom of the cabinet and go with lighter things the higher I go with it.

Our first thought was on the lines of what Nat said, but when we discovered that the rods were more than shelf holders we started thinking about other ways of securing, hence my call out to you folks.

I just thought about seeing just how the legs are held on. Maybe by eliminating the legs and having it sit on a raised platform it would lower the center of gravity on it and we could strap it to the window edges. Well, curiosity got the best of me. Nay to removing legs. They are the corner post to the whole cabinet.

On second examination, if we strapped it right below the drawers we could just secure it to the windows & not have to deal with removing or even opening up the raceway (as it's already painted & not sure what separating it from the bus would do to the paint.)

I'm liking a combination of Claybal, Somewhere & Jolly Rogers ideas mixed with our own. I love using a leather strap (would blend in more with the look of it), and I want to see if we can secure it below the drawers to the window frame. Instead of angle irons I like building a "fake" base for it keeping the legs as they are and also would provide support for the shelves since I want to eliminate using the rods for shelf holders and hide the bins I am planning on putting under there.

Thanks for everyones input, please continue with ideas cause as I've told Clint when he complains of me making changes "Until its secured to the bus, changes are likely."

[Dragonpop]

You could also use some nut-serts in the raceway cover and
then use bolts to secure any brackets or straps to secure the
top of the cabinet.

[The-Breeze]

What are NUT-SERTS?

[family wagon]

I'm a big fan of straps. A cam-lock style could work well here; a nylon strap wouldn't be awful but like others said a leather strap might look nice. If you have any flexibility as to exactly where the piece will be positioned, and if there are any screws already holding the wall together, you could remove those screws, place the strap under, and re-install to anchor the strap ends. With the nylon or the leather and some appropriate hardware, you could customize the strap to be just the right length and not have any kind of buckle joining the two sides of strap together.

[Tango]

Nut-Serts = Wonderful!

[HolyBus]

They make your breath minty fresh.

[Dragonpop]

Nut-serts are like a threaded pop-rivet. You drill a fairly
large hole in the sheet metal and insert the nut-sert and
then you can use the nut- sert tool to expand the sert on
the back side of the metal which then secures it in the
hole. Now you have a threaded hole to put a bolt in. They
use them a lot when installing extended mirrors on pickup
trucks. By the way you can by pass the tool and use a bolt
a nut and a couple of washers to set the nut-sert. HTH

[Mercgryph]

I'm sure you've found them by now but just for reference:
They're basically threaded rivets.
Generic 100 Mixed Pack Threaded Rivet Nut Inserts M4.M5. M6. M8.each 25pcs: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

Example install tools (both simple threaded rivet and "Nutsert" variety):
Surebonder 8510 6-32, 8-32, 10-24, 10-32, 1/4-20 Threaded Insert Tool - Solid Rivets - Amazon.com
Amazon.com: Nutsert Tool Kit In Metal Case: Automotive

I've used these for some small projects like aluminum can alcohol stoves. Cant really swear to their load bearing capacity though.

I also wanted to just express what i would try in your situation. (and was looking for an applicable case to start learning to use SketchUp with, so thanks!)

I'd personally look to build a lower cabinet with a wider front face that would pin the bottom in place. then the idea of a top strap is pretty nice, but if the cabinet was fragile or i wanted to absolutely make sure it could not move, i would build some bracing on the sides to pin it side-to-side and provide a better path for the strap to go around the top.

i put together some renderings for this and tried to upload them with the post but no matter what i do the upload fails... (yes they're under 2MB and 1600pixels a side)
Oh well, lets try linking then:

Overall view:


Bottom Detail:


Top Details:



you can secure the upper arms to the backstrap pretty easily using a pocket-hole jig like below:
Kreg R3 Jr. Pocket Hole Jig System - - Amazon.com

[nat_ster]

Wow.

Great job on the detail and idea's.

Nat

[The-Breeze]

WOW, thank you for all of the information and the picture of what you would do. Great ideas, I just showed Hubby and he was very impressed with how much you put into this for us.

He & I like the way you designed the bottom and will look to see if it's doable. Theres some trim at the bottom which he may have to work around. And he thinks your idea of how to secure the top is great and will most likely go with a good bit of that. I love the way you have secured a strap around it vs. what we had envisioned

There is trim at the top right below the rim that is rounded and a strap would work great vs trying to use wood.

Will post pics once we get around to securing this bad boy. Right now he has quite a few more things to finish out before we can move in.

[Mercgryph]

No problem. It's a really rough representation of the concept I had.
If you'd like to PM me closer pictures of those areas and dimensions i can model something more specific. I wont turn down the opportunity to refine these skills as i'll be using them soon enough once my bus is back from the mechanic!

[The-Breeze]

These are pictures of the entertainment center that I discussed in my last post.
I lost the picture I took of the front somewhere in my PC or on Photobucket. When it shows up I'll post it
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This shows some of the recycled wood I saved from our antique wardrobe. I sanded it down (without a mask inside the bus....landed me in the ER a few days later) Note to self...wear mask & do all sanding outside. I applied about 3 coats of poly with light sanding in between may add more layers once I can find the top again LOL
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This is the tall narrow cabinet that I measured and saw that the empty space on the wheel well cover was just waiting for me to cut in half & install. I took one half & faced it towards the front of the cabinet & the other half facing the side. This is showing how it is removable & easy to take out.

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This shows it completely out & the deep absyss now available to fill up with some very special "stuffs" that we just know has to come with us on our journey

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[The-Breeze]

Screens installed inside.


Removable and open & close for easy access to windows.

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[The-Breeze]

We got the sink & tile installed a few weeks back. We went with the HepVo trap to save space in the island.

The tile we got for free. I responded to some used octangonal tile pieces that I really liked and when we got there they asked if we wanted these too....shoots ya. Did the floor in the crapper room and the whole island and still have about 5 sq ft left over.

The original octangonal ones were way tooooooo much work to reuse.

Sink viewed from end of island. Yes it is installed sideways.

Splurged & bought the sponge & sink junk holder. This shows it opened with the face pulled down

Bought the sink at the restore for $5, the faucet was $18 at the Discount Store in town (brand new never used)

The left side of the sink towards the drivers side. Installed a fill up valve from the marine side of the business and a air release valve also a marine product

This shows the right side of the island.

HEPVO TRAP

This shows the space we saved by going with the HepVo trap
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We chose to install then in a less than conventional manner as I want the space by the window to house an herb garden & a few other plants I have chosen to keep (from the dozens & dozens I have already given away)

[EastCoastCB]

I can't see all the pics, but the sink and tile look GREAT!

[The-Breeze]

Reposted the pics...let me know now if you still can't see them.

I'm going to try to take better pictures of our screens installed. Clint did a great job on them & I'm pleased with the results.

[nat_ster]

For reused small tiles, it looks good.

What is the trim on the edges made from?

Nat

[The-Breeze]

Actually these are 12X12 brand new so it was very easy to do a good job. The octagonal ones I originally responded to were used and way tooo much work to clean up and these were free & in the color I wanted so it made it easy to decide.

The coral colored trim is wood. We also got a whole box of white (app 2"X4" for trim) but decided that using the tile we did in a moving vehicle was pressing our luck & the thought of vibration loosening up vertical hanging tiles was very likely so we chose to use wood trim.

[The-Breeze]

Here's a few more pics of our inside screen work install. I had to show more, proud of the job Clint did.









I always check the oops paint section at HD in hopes that I can pick up a good deal on paint and I found this $.50 can of paint (one of those sample paints) that looked a lot like the ceiling on the bus, so for the price I brought it home and unbelievably, it matched the ceiling perfectly, so I painted the acoustics panels and went on down the line & touched up the few scratch spots. Talk about luck.

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