New fine van furniture

[waldenbound]

I finished my new cedar bed a couple of months ago, and let it dry so I could apply the linseed oil. Linseed oil looks very nice, it makes the grain and knots "pop", and brings out the coloration in the wood.
It's sized to fit a Thermarest sleeping pad. So my bed is not even a twin size. I did fix the mistakes in tightening up the slats, and making it 20 inches tall for plenty of storage underneath.



The bed is way over-engineered. All 2X4s and I even put carriage bolts on the legs. It's built like a Sherman tank.

Now for my latest creation...



I was using a plastic storage tote for my clothes and a smaller plastic bin for the books I'm taking. Then I thought, ditch the plastic and build a combined clothes bin and book storage area.

So, I built a cedar chest with some slats about two thirds down separating clothes from books. The hinged lid lifts up to the book area. I recycled a bridle leather belt for a latch and side handles. If you're going to cut up a nice leather belt, use it for something worthwhile. This time I did measure the van to fit the cooler, cedar chest, kitchen cabinet on one side, and the bed on the other.

So, I know it's not finished carpentry, and there's mistakes. I still can't cut straight, measure straight, keep a straight thought in my head.    But, it's pure cedar, the moths will flee my van in terror, it's handmade, and it's mine.

I can see me in Quartzsite now, "Waldenbound's Fine Cedar Furniture. Mistakes, No Extra Charge."    

 

[abnorm]

Very Cool !..................I love the repurposed leather....................

Looks like you made most of your crosscuts and butt joints.......care to share your cutting tool of choice ..........often the tool choice can make or break a project..........especially for those who have never handled tools before..............I have plenty of tools available to me but am amazed by what little is really necessary by Ya'll to build your dreams.........

 

[Queen]

Very cool, can we see a couple of pics of your closet/bookshelf opened up?

 

[waldenbound]

Cross cuts and butt joints?....Whatchoo talkin' about Willis?... Don't exactly know what those are. I just built a frame out of 2x2s, think of a cube. Then I "glued and screwed" 1x4 decking boards to the frame. I used my DeWalt impact driver, can't live without that. Then I have a Rockwell mini circular saw. It's pretty good for 1x2, 1x4, ect. It can cut 2x4s also. Can't cut through plywood, it's too much. My little detail sander sanded everything down smooth.

Here's my book area. It's mostly nature guides that don't work on Kindle.

Then my clothes area is a top loader. I discovered that with a hinged top, it'll probably bump into the ceiling, so I'm probably going to just put some heavy drapery or burlap over the top.I'm going to let the glue cure about a week, then start using it.

 

[masterplumber]

Very nice, I like rustic cedar furniture. And a few mistakes thrown in just make it feel more rustic. For your lid, you could try cutting it in half the long direction, and adding an upside down hinge if that makes sense. That way as you open it, the lid can fold in half for clearance from the ceiling. I'm just thinking in a van flat spaces to temporarily set stuff are at a premium, and that cabinet top is a good flat surface.

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

Excellent job, love cedar, it's one of my favorite woods to work with.

If you used wood glue it cures in about 30 min. 24 hours if you really want it to be fully cured. In the shop, I can edge glue up boards for cabinet doors or table tops and run them through the shaper and drum sander 45 min later and they aren't coming apart. And that's a glue only edge, no screws or fasteners of any sort.

 

[Ballenxj]

I had to open this thread after reading the title.  
Nicely done.

 

[Gunny]

Outstanding workmanship. Looks great and functional..

Rob

 

[waldenbound]

One thing I have to fix is the legs. Every leg is a different length. They were supposed to be all 2 inches. I'm sure I can bring in the mini circular saw just to cut them off.

I really had a bad time with the frame. Looking back, I could've saved myself a lot of grief if I just made to rectangles for the top and bottom and then fastened the legs to that. But, no, my frame came out crooked, the whole thing is crooked, and it has gaps. I kept filling in the gaps with Liquid Nails, Elmers ProBond wood filler. The slats covered up the shoddy work the frame pretty nice though. Everything is glued together and screwed to the frame, but everything is so interconnected now, I think it should be about bulletproof.

 

[Txjaybird]

 Those look really nice.  I have a few things I'll hang onto until the last minute before/if I go fully nomadic,  a very small old cedar chest is one I'll try to hang onto. Even if I get rid of the front passenger seat, it might make Queenie a good car seat!

Jewellann

 

[DannyB1954]

I would be inclined to use thinner wood to save weight and space. They do look nice.

 

[StrayCat]

They do look fabulous!

 

[highdesertranger]

looking good. highdesertranger

 

[TooManyDogs]

Looks good to me and I bet it smells nice too. But yeah, how much does it weigh?

Speaking of cutting things straight, I tried to build out my van using the foam laminate technique that was featured a few months ago. I can't cut foam straight using a knife for the life of me. I also can't cut quarter inch plywood with a circular saw either. Even the 2x4s aren't exactly even. Kind of defeats the whole "measure twice, cut once" when my cuts plain suck.Ha!

 

[Mobilesport]

Looks good to me and I bet it smells nice too. But yeah, how much does it weigh?

Speaking of cutting things straight, I tried to build out my van using the foam laminate technique that was featured a few months ago. I can't cut foam straight using a knife for the life of me. I also can't cut quarter inch plywood with a circular saw either. Even the 2x4s aren't exactly even. Kind of defeats the whole "measure twice, cut once" when my cuts plain suck.Ha!

Alot of my wood cuts aren't straight as i use a jigsaw for alot of my cuts but 
afterwords i go to town on all my cut pieces using my Makita orbital sander .
Sanding makes a world of difference.

 

[rvpopeye]

Linseed Oil
Make sure you dispose of the oily rags in water and a metal container , they WILL spontaneously combust !

I wish a certain club owner had known this.......I lost a complete sound system and band's gear and his insurance only covered the new addition ........................

 

[waldenbound]

Linseed Oil
Make sure you dispose of the oily rags in water and a metal container , they WILL spontaneously combust !

I wish a certain club owner had known this.......I lost a complete sound system and band's gear and his insurance only covered the new addition ........................

Oh, thanks for bringing up the linseed oil-soaked rags. Here's a tip.
I took my rags and hung them up to line dry. About a week after they were dry, I put them in the fireplace. They did flame up, but then safely burned down with no odor.

I mean, the traditional advice is put them in a metal container. But, you still have to dispose of them. So, burn them.

 

[rvpopeye]

Absolutely !
That is fine , burn them before they burn you.

 

[highdesertranger]

to cut a straight line use a straight edge, it works on a circular saw, sabre saw, or even a razor knife. highdesertranger