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08-02-2016, 07:09 PM
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#1
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Almost There
Join Date: Jul 2016
Posts: 98
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Arched cuts, how does everyone do them?
So I've been hunting around, and can't find a definitive answer. How does one measure and cut the arched shape of the bus ceiling for a wall? I've seen a few methods, but can't find instructions on how to measure for the cut.
Someone on here, I can't remember who, used a piece of cardboard as a "stencil", this is what I'm leaning towards so far because I'm not a very skilled carpenter. But idk where to find such a big piece of cardboard
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08-02-2016, 08:00 PM
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#2
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Bus Crazy
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Oklahoma aka "God's blind spot"
Posts: 2,446
Year: 1989
Coachwork: 1853FC International/Navistar
Chassis: 35' Retired Air Force Ambulance
Engine: DT466, MT643
Rated Cap: 6 souls and a driver
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bread519
So I've been hunting around, and can't find a definitive answer. How does one measure and cut the arched shape of the bus ceiling for a wall? I've seen a few methods, but can't find instructions on how to measure for the cut.
Someone on here, I can't remember who, used a piece of cardboard as a "stencil", this is what I'm leaning towards so far because I'm not a very skilled carpenter. But idk where to find such a big piece of cardboard
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I've heard a bow & string will help too...
Haven't tried either, YET
Someone should post up a "to scale" pdf that'll get ya close
__________________
I once complained I had no shoes....
Until I met a man with no feet
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08-02-2016, 08:52 PM
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#3
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: Garden State (rural NJ)
Posts: 378
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Behind the big-box stores that sell appliances, you will find a plethora of cardboard in various sizes. Asking inside the store will normally nab you all you need.
The radius doesn't have to be perfect, just close. Use flex trim to clean the look up.
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08-02-2016, 09:01 PM
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#4
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Bus Geek
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Eustis FLORIDA
Posts: 23,764
Year: 1999
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Freighliner FS65
Engine: Cat 3126
Rated Cap: 15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BusFiend
Behind the big-box stores that sell appliances, you will find a plethora of cardboard in various sizes. Asking inside the store will normally nab you all you need.
The radius doesn't have to be perfect, just close. Use flex trim to clean the look up.
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That's what I've been thinking, when the time comes.
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08-02-2016, 09:17 PM
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#5
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Bus Crazy
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Farmington Hills, Mi (Detroit area)
Posts: 1,968
Year: 2000
Coachwork: Eldorado Aerotech 24'
Chassis: Ford E-450 Cutaway Bus
Engine: 7.3L Powerstroke
Rated Cap: 19
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I used a pencil and some cardboard to scribe my curved cuts.
First, tape a pencil to a block of wood. The wood spaces the pencil out from the surface and gives you a better grip on the pencil. Then cut a piece of cardboard to the rough shape of the curve. You want your cut imperfections to be less than the thickness of the pencil/wood marker thingy. Then hold the cardboard up to the surface (wall, ceiling, whatever), hold the marker up to the surface with the wood block against the surface, then scribe the line keeping the wood block flat against the surface.
Now cut out your cardboard template and use it to transfer the shape. A belt sander is useful for touching up your curves.
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08-02-2016, 09:39 PM
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#6
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Bus Crazy
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Oklahoma aka "God's blind spot"
Posts: 2,446
Year: 1989
Coachwork: 1853FC International/Navistar
Chassis: 35' Retired Air Force Ambulance
Engine: DT466, MT643
Rated Cap: 6 souls and a driver
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My air door box (that I'm going to pull down and build a shelf/bin in) already has my curves that I'll transfer to graph paper. I'll post a copy of graph here
__________________
I once complained I had no shoes....
Until I met a man with no feet
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08-02-2016, 09:40 PM
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#7
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Skoolie
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Monrovia California
Posts: 151
Year: 1984
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Engine: 3208 turbo Cat
Rated Cap: 78
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Quote:
Originally Posted by roach711
I used a pencil and some cardboard to scribe my curved cuts.
First, tape a pencil to a block of wood. The wood spaces the pencil out from the surface and gives you a better grip on the pencil. Then cut a piece of cardboard to the rough shape of the curve. You want your cut imperfections to be less than the thickness of the pencil/wood marker thingy. Then hold the cardboard up to the surface (wall, ceiling, whatever), hold the marker up to the surface with the wood block against the surface, then scribe the line keeping the wood block flat against the surface.
Now cut out your cardboard template and use it to transfer the shape. A belt sander is useful for touching up your curves.
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My friend, you are a genius.
J
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08-02-2016, 09:45 PM
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#8
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Gonvick MN
Posts: 339
Year: 1975
Chassis: Gillig
Engine: Cat 3208t/10 speed transmission
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Quote:
Originally Posted by roach711
I used a pencil and some cardboard to scribe my curved cuts.
First, tape a pencil to a block of wood. The wood spaces the pencil out from the surface and gives you a better grip on the pencil. Then cut a piece of cardboard to the rough shape of the curve. You want your cut imperfections to be less than the thickness of the pencil/wood marker thingy. Then hold the cardboard up to the surface (wall, ceiling, whatever), hold the marker up to the surface with the wood block against the surface, then scribe the line keeping the wood block flat against the surface.
Now cut out your cardboard template and use it to transfer the shape. A belt sander is useful for touching up your curves.
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Excellent idea!
Much better than the trial and error method I used.
__________________
Remove hence to yonder place....
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08-02-2016, 09:48 PM
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#9
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Bus Crazy
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Farmington Hills, Mi (Detroit area)
Posts: 1,968
Year: 2000
Coachwork: Eldorado Aerotech 24'
Chassis: Ford E-450 Cutaway Bus
Engine: 7.3L Powerstroke
Rated Cap: 19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by juliol
My friend, you are a genius.
J
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Thanx! I wish I could take credit for the idea, but it's a carpenter trick from way back.
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08-03-2016, 04:49 AM
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#10
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Bus Crazy
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: EHT New Jersey
Posts: 1,134
Year: 2003
Coachwork: AmTran
Chassis: International 3000RE
Engine: T444E/AT545
Rated Cap: 75
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There are a slew of boatbuilding tools I've seen. But I kept the inside front cap as a rough template for all my arcs.
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08-03-2016, 12:49 PM
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#11
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Almost There
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: Tampa Fl
Posts: 82
Year: 1994
Coachwork: Custom
Chassis: Bluebird
Engine: International straight six
Rated Cap: Unknown
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this is the best method make sure the cardboard stays square
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08-03-2016, 01:17 PM
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#12
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Mississippi
Posts: 27
Year: 1997
Coachwork: Amtran
Chassis: International 3800 chassis
Engine: T444e
Rated Cap: 77
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This is link from vonslatt--he used the poster board/marker method showing how to get all the little dips and dings. He has other really good ideas--I especially like reversing the windows which I am going to try on my bus.
School Bus Conversion - Framing the Bus
__________________
Cheryl Ann
Blessed to be Alive!
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08-03-2016, 01:39 PM
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#13
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Bus Crazy
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Andrews,Indiana
Posts: 2,437
Year: 1991
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: AARE
Engine: 3116 Cat 250hp
Rated Cap: Just the two of us.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cheryl_ann44
This is link from vonslatt--he used the poster board/marker method showing how to get all the little dips and dings. He has other really good ideas--I especially like reversing the windows which I am going to try on my bus.
School Bus Conversion - Framing the Bus
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That's way to complicated, roaches suggestion works well, I just use a large magic marker on it's side.
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08-03-2016, 02:02 PM
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#14
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Skoolie
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: South Dakota
Posts: 217
Year: 2002
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Freightliner HDX
Engine: CAT 3126B250
Rated Cap: 84
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I'll be tracing the upper rear panel that I have removed:
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08-03-2016, 03:18 PM
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#15
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Bus Crazy
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Andrews,Indiana
Posts: 2,437
Year: 1991
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: AARE
Engine: 3116 Cat 250hp
Rated Cap: Just the two of us.
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Before you cut your panels, you might want to make sure the curve is the same. On mine the curve is different in different locations, even from side to side.
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08-03-2016, 04:33 PM
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#16
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Bus Crazy
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Farmington Hills, Mi (Detroit area)
Posts: 1,968
Year: 2000
Coachwork: Eldorado Aerotech 24'
Chassis: Ford E-450 Cutaway Bus
Engine: 7.3L Powerstroke
Rated Cap: 19
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Another method is to cut the bus in half at the spot you want to match, hold your board up to the cut edge, trace the curve directly, then weld the bus back together. This method gives an extremely accurate match.
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08-03-2016, 04:55 PM
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#17
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: North carolina
Posts: 651
Year: 1986
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Ford
Engine: Detroit 8.2
Rated Cap: 60 bodies
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I went with the cardboard template option and made the template for my biggest/widest wall first and after that I was able to cut a smaller section out of it to match my overhead bin pieces and tape it back in or remove it as needed.
My full height walls were a little tricky until I got my template right.
My outside walls lean out a little to the bottom of the windows and then lean back in a little bit more than they leaned out up to the busway/cable tray/wire run molding and then the curved ceiling. So a full length template got me started but ended up only needing the top piece from midway of the windows up.
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08-03-2016, 05:10 PM
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#18
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Bus Geek
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Houston, Texas
Posts: 8,462
Year: 1946
Coachwork: Chevrolet/Wayne
Chassis: 1- 1/2 ton
Engine: Cummins 4BT
Rated Cap: 15
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You guys all have it SO easy, what with flat walls and all. My '46 is all curves. The sidewalls flare out from the floor about an inch at the window bottoms then back in at the top. Also makes fitting a door a real nightmare. And the rear quarters...they are all compound curves. I need to get with an old school wooden boat builder to figure those out!
Or maybe a cooper (wooden barrel maker).
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08-03-2016, 07:44 PM
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#19
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Bus Crazy
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Salt Lake City Utah
Posts: 1,635
Year: 2000
Chassis: Blue Bird
Engine: ISC 8.3
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Keep in mind when tracing with a spacer like the block of wood that if you're copying anything but a straight line, then you're actually going to get a reduced copy. Envision using the spacer block to trace inside a circle -- the copied circle, while being a perfect match to the original shape, will be smaller by the thickness of the block plus half the thickness of the pencil/pen/marker.
I like to use the block method until my template is "pretty close" and then remove the block and use the pencil alone, perhaps even held so that the tapered/sharpened tip instead of the whole body runs on the tracing surface. The nearer the line is drawn to the surface you're tracing, the less the shrinking effect will be.
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08-03-2016, 08:45 PM
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#20
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Bus Geek
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: pa
Posts: 2,510
Year: 98
Coachwork: 1. Corbeil & 2. Thomas
Chassis: 1 ford 1998 e350 4x4 7.3 2 mercedes 2004
Engine: 7.3 powerstroke & MBE906
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nice explanation family wagon. I was going to mention something but could not find the right words. The circle envisioning is excellent.
Later J
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