The Roach Motel

[Diesel Dan]

Originally Posted by roach711

I did give them a good going over with my random orbit sander before brushing on the polyurethane so the edges are nicely eased but not rounded over like yours. Frankly, the veneer is so thin that I was afraid I'd tear it out with the router. Besides, my garage is so chaotic with this project that I can't even get to my router table!

Every woodworking project that I've stained looked....wrong, so these days when I want a dark piece I use dark wood and a clear finish. Dark colors tend to make a space look smaller so in a small space like this I like light colors. I even considered using birch ply with a water based finish to get a nearly white look but I already had a good bit of oak plywood and some left over oil based poly so I went with the oak and oil finish throughout.

I also like the way you made the cabinets. If you want to dress them up a little and hide the plywood edges you could just get some 3/4" wood outside corner molding. I used quite a bit of that stuff and it adds a nice "finished" look for very little cost or effort. I just tacked mine on with finish nails and sometimes a bit of glue for high use areas.

[roach711]

My nephew was looking at a house that had cabinet doors built the way you mention and they looked really good, but as Acordian said, the furniture grade plywood edges don't look all that bad and with the edges beveled you really can't see the edges of the doors.

Originally I was going to build oak face frames for the cabinet fronts and rail & stile doors but later decided I'd like to get this thing done within my natural lifetime.

[roach711]

Roachie did real good this weekend and didn't miss a beat on our 400 mile jaunt. We did find a few more squeaks and rattles but some grease and a few dabs of adhesive should take care of them. Before we left I did a quick, back-of-the-envelope calculation of the weight I've removed and added back so far and figured I could drop my 80 lb. tires down to 70 lbs which made the ride much smoother. At 80 lbs it feels like the rear tires are bouncing off the road at each bump. I checked the tires at around 50 miles into the trip and they were just warm to the touch.

Jack likes lots of human interest photos so here we go....

Here we are in camp. My oldest niece turned 20 and it was birthday party time out in the boonies.




We got a shiping container delivered so we wouldn't have to haul so much equipment up each trip. The girls are camoflaging it with spray paint.



Last year we built a raised deer blind. Of course it has heat and carpeting. I'm no hunter but I do enjoy swinging a hammer.



How about an artsy shot of the outhouse at night?



And last, but not least, here's my youngest neice with her stuffed animal of the moment.

[chev49]

Cute!

[ol trunt]

Roach, Thanks for sharing the pics. Looks like everyone had a good time!

[roach711]

Last weekend I got the cooktop/oven and the Atwood furnace installed.




Just as I was heading in to clean up I saw the neighbor's akita dog running past our house trailing his tether. I didn't want him to get hit by a car so I trotted over to drag him home. I called him and he came to me tail wagging. As I reached out to pet him he grabbed my arm and gave me a couple of good chomps. An akita is like a grisly bear with a long tail and a puppy cut so his friendly little chomp made me a left-hander for the next few days. Didn't get chewed as much as mashed. My wrist felt like I'd smacked it with a hammer. Check out the bite radius on that sucker.



The upper kitchen cabinet is in and I made a little storage bin under the bed that covers the wheel well bump.




There's a huge cherry tree next to our driveway and it grew a bumper crop of tiny cherries this year. Of course every last one landed on top of the bus and made a nasty mess so I drove Roachie in to work to give it a good bath. While I was there I filled the water tank and fired up the water pump. Naturally, the only connection that leaked was the hardest to get to. A loose hose clamp was the culprit and I got the floor squeaky clean while mopping up the water. The pipes held pressure overnight so we're good to go there. The home-made accumulator worked nicely.

The Atwood furnace is working fine. So we now have 5 ways to heat the bus:

Engine - expensive to run and annoying to fellow campers. Useful only when traveling.

Furnace - Convenient and no worries about monoxide poisoning or excess humidity, but the fan draws 45 watts and it seemingly vents as much heat outside as it puts into the bus.

1500 watt electric milk house heater - Handy if we're plugged in to shore power and totally silent.

Propane cooktop - No battery draw and 100% efficient, but it does put out a fair amount of humidity. Monoxide poisoning is a real possibility.

Little Buddy catalytic propane heater - Similar to the cooktop but no danger of monoxide poisoning. It can burn up all the oxygen in the bus, so neither the cooktop or Little Budy will be used when we're asleep.

So now we have light, heat, hot and cold running water, bathroom facilities, and a working kitchen. Progress!!

[ol trunt]

Roach, Great progress! Your kitchen looks better than the one in my house. Don't think you'll have to worry about being cold but how about a wood burning stove just to be on the safe side. HA HA

[roach711]

Originally Posted by ol trunt

Roach, Great progress! Your kitchen looks better than the one in my house. Don't think you'll have to worry about being cold but how about a wood burning stove just to be on the safe side. HA HA

My next project will be to build a cold fusion generator.

[somewhereinusa]

Good looking work.

[crazycal]

Sorry to hear about the dog bite. I would have bitten the dog back right before I went to go bite the dog's owner.

[lornaschinske]

Originally Posted by roach711

...My next project will be to build a cold fusion generator.

That isn't that funny considering they have gotten "warp drive" actually working... on a small scale. Wouldn't Gene Roddenberry be thrilled?

[ol trunt]

It is funny Ha.

[roach711]

warp drive? Now THAT would be useful! Cross the country in the blink of an eye.

Where did they get the dilithium?

[roach711]

Originally Posted by crazycal

Sorry to hear about the dog bite. I would have bitten the dog back right before I went to go bite the dog's owner.

No (lasting) harm done, but I heard that another neighbor had been "nipped" returning the same dog a couple of summers back. The owners are lucky we aren't litigious people. I have started to howl at the moon lately...

[crazycal]

What did the owner have to say?

[ol trunt]

Roach, Several years ago while ar work I got bit on the hand by a young Pit Bull so I know what you are dealing with. Fortunately, the Department paid for the repairs to my hand and other than a quarter size lump on the back of my hand where the bones healed funny there was no permanent damage. I guess where I'm going with this is to recommend that the dog bite be reported so if biting seems to be a pattern for the dog, measures can be taken. I'm sure you can imagine the extent of damage a bite such as yours would have done to a young child. Just my two cents worth. Jack

[roach711]

Originally Posted by ol trunt

Roach, Several years ago while ar work I got bit on the hand by a young Pit Bull so I know what you are dealing with. Fortunately, the Department paid for the repairs to my hand and other than a quarter size lump on the back of my hand where the bones healed funny there was no permanent damage. I guess where I'm going with this is to recommend that the dog bite be reported so if biting seems to be a pattern for the dog, measures can be taken. I'm sure you can imagine the extent of damage a bite such as yours would have done to a young child. Just my two cents worth. Jack

I hear you Jack. The owners were very apologetic and had the dog's enclosure upgraded. His shots are all up to date and my injuries are minor and will heal completely but if we see him out again animal control will be called. I hate to see an innocent animal pay the price for stupid owners but as you say, a bite like that could easily break a kid's arm. I don't get the attraction of the big, macho dog. They're just a lawsuit waiting to happen.

[crazycal]

Wait a second while I climb on my soap box...OK, I'm ready. I understand what you are saying about not wanting to hurt an innocent animal, but the dog isn't innocent. You stated that there have been two bite incidents already. Obviously the owners are idiots. You say that you will call animal control the next time. What happens if the next time is when the dog chews off some 6 year old's face. I own two dogs and I take owner responsibility very seriously. One of the two is a Rottweiler. I would never stand for my dog biting someone unprovoked. You should let animal control know about this incident. OK, I'm done.

[roach711]

A part of me totally agrees with you both and another part doesn't want the dog punished. So far the dog is winning out.

[crazycal]

It's your call.