Eclipse Pix

I hope you got to enjoy the eclipse on Monday. I was in northwest CO. Just outside the path of totality. The sky was clear. Many people couldn't tell anything was happening. One neighbor saw me peering up through my weld hood near the end and came out to ask when it was gonna start. Fortunately, he got a peak before it was too late.

Unfortuantely, the old weld glass was so badly scratched that it just smeared camera images. However, Nature provided endless pinholes. Just stand under a tree and look down.

Window Shades

Window treatments for this old Scamp posed a challenge. The front and rear windows are fixed. They don't open. They're curved plexiglass with rounded corners and a black rubber seal all around. That edge seal is thin so they're pretty flush both inside and out.

By contrast the side windows are jalousie with two flat, glass panels that crank open. Silver aluminum frames are about 1-1/4" thick to accommodate the crank mechanism. While pretty flush to the shell on the outside all that frame thickness protrudes inside. The crank windows also have square corners.

Could the end and side windows be any more different from each other? Forget matching shades. The front and rear windows got mini blinds. The windows slope with the walls. Guides on each side keep the blinds hugging the wall instead of dangling free.

Cabinet Doors

The cabinet doors are sorta shaker style. Inset panels are plain lauan. The frames were made from Douglas fir. Tongue and groove joints assured good corners. Pocket screws enabled dry assembly until eventual paint or varnish. That depends how everything looks together at that point.

Scott helped by making the doors. I generally prefer doing things myself. That said, outsourcing door fab was a good call. He not only did a great job, I learned a lot by letting him do things his way, and observing.

A lot of care went into the size and placement of all doors. As planned the potty is still accessible with the bed fully extended. There's not much room to spare, so I best stay skinny.

Counter Tops

Maybe the front counter was trying to tell me something. It wasn't very cooperative. First the plywood was warped. I straightened that. Then came the edging. I added bottom lips for thicker edges. When I started routing the finished edge the follower bearing on my router bit came off.

Fortunately, the little parts (bolt, washer and bearing) didn't go far. And I caught it quickly so the damage wasn't that bad. Just a setback. Between filler wood, glue, staples, wood putty and sanding, that boo boo was fixed.

Air Conditioner

Air conditioning's a requirement for my Scamp remodel. The conventional RV solution is a rooftop unit. My roof isn't nearly strong enough for that much weight. It could be strengthened but I prefer a clean roofline. They're kinda spendy too. And overkill capacity for such a small space. No thanks.

In upscale motorhomes, residential heat pumps are more popular. While appropriate for that application it's not for my project. But a residential window AC unit is perfect. They're a stock appliance in stores all over the country. Much easier on the wallet. 5,000 btus is plenty of capacity. Most brands use similar dimensions. Not standardized for interchangeability but close enough should the need arise some day.

Location wise I considered many options. Eventually deciding to

Kama Sutra

Just kidding about the title. Although this post intimately involves a bed. Albeit small cozy it was designed to be enjoyed by a couple. Plus it's a couch with storage underneath. One would expect a number of positions to be involved. I'll park the metaphor there to keep this post family friendly.

I expect to use the upright mode most. The seat is level. Back lean is 15 degrees. Good posture for sitting at the table (future development) to eat, write, use laptop. The level 24" seat's good for napping as well.

That's the most

Drainage

Carly Simon has a version of Coming Around Again that's a medley with Itsy Bitsy Spider. It always makes me smile when the chorus of children start singing the nursery rhyme.

For some reason