Putt

[Putts]

Well, we've had snow twice so far...getting to be that time of year.  

*sigh*

Freezing temps are going to put the kibosh on adhesives and paint inside Putt...or is it?

At this point I've got damned near a fully insulated cabin so I'm thinking I could heat it with a propane heater and keep working through the winter. So, I jumped directly to the rear cabin wall. This will force me to go in and out of the front door to work on the interior, but it has to be done soon so I can work on the ceiling, and it will aid in closing up the cabin so I can heat it and work in there.

The bolts at the bottom attach it to the rear of the wheel wells. Two 3/4" thick ply with Sikaflex between and about a hundred screws squishing it together.

I got myself a bedroom.  

 

[highdesertranger]

be careful with heaters and adhesive in enclosed areas. we want to see you at the RTR. highdesertranger

 

[tx2sturgis]

The gap at the top of the wall for the roll-up door....will that eventually be sealed or left open?

 

[~Wes]

Putts, I have enjoyed reading this thread, and will eagerly follow along with your progress. Really cool build you have going on! Keep up the good work.

 

[Putts]

Thanks, Wes, glad to have you along for the ride.

be careful with heaters and adhesive in enclosed areas.  we want to see you at the RTR.  highdesertranger

I hear ya, HDR.  I keep a window cracked and one of the roof vents open. Mostly relying on the radiant heat to warm the wall as it cures; the added moisture in the dry Montana climate also helps Sikaflex cure. Currently using one of these...

But I've decided to go ahead and buy my Buddy Heater next paycheck. The thing above overheats the cabin, the Buddy should be much better matched and probably safer too. Also, I'm a bit of a safety freak so I'm pretty careful.

On RTR: If the stars align I'll be there this year, but the odds are pretty long.  2019 for sure! 

The gap at the top of the wall for the roll-up door....will that eventually be sealed or left open?

Sealed....sort of.  Here, lemme save a thousand words and let you stare at this picture.

The roll-up door has a pocket above the ceiling over the bed. The "drom" will not have any air exchange with the cabin.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Sealed....sort of.  Here, lemme save a thousand words and let you stare at this picture.

{snip}

The roll-up door has a pocket above the ceiling over the bed. The "drom" will not have any air exchange with the cabin.

Ah ok....cool...be sure to accommodate the door's 'overtravel' as it will push slightly past where it actually rests when 'parked' at the top.

The boxvan I have been eyeing for a couple of months finally sold to someone else, dangit. So, I have started looking again, and yeah, mine will have a drom box...in fact I plan to incorporate a bunk sized murphy bed that folds up against the drom wall to reveal a kitchen cooking-counter area. I have not seen this done...but it seems do-able to me. A person is not going to be cooking while they are sleeping...so why not set it up so that space is used more efficiently, especially in a small camper.

The counter will have a recessed area that can retain misc items like plates, condiments, etc, even with the bed platform folded down. The area under the bed and the kitchen counter will house freshwater and grey water tanks, and a 12v fridge and microwave. The small sink will be off to the side so it's accessible regardless of the position of the bed.

Just thinking out loud and also enjoying your progress....carry on!

 

[Putts]

Ah ok....cool...be sure to accommodate the door's 'overtravel' as it will push slightly past where it actually rests when 'parked' at the top.

It's hard to describe but there will be pictures soon. I have removed the little angle iron stops that prevent over travel, but they will be replaced with a ceiling beam that will serve their purpose, so I got it covered.

The boxvan I have been eyeing for a couple of months finally sold to someone else, dangit. So, I have started looking again, and yeah, mine will have a drom box...in fact I plan to incorporate a bunk sized murphy bed that folds up against the drom wall to reveal a kitchen cooking-counter area. I have not seen this done...but it seems do-able to me. A person is not going to be cooking while they are sleeping...so why not set it up so that space is used more efficiently, especially in a small camper.

Probably not for me, but interesting idea. Brings to mind this video I saw about coop modular living spaces. It's worth a watch all the way through, very novel, practical,  and imaginative thinking...genius really. But they have an interesting take on a Murphy bed you might get some ideas from.  That bit starts at 13:45. Curious to know if it toggles any ideas in your head.

[video=youtube]

On the Putt front...

[font=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]Big milestone yesterday! Kind of a weird one, but one that I knew would happens since before I even got Putt.[/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]I drew up my plans for Putt about 6 months before I even bought it...I knew I would be getting a step van and I pretty much knew the dimensions as they're all so similar. The back of the vehicle has always been slated as a garage with a wall against which the bed would reside between the wheel wells. One of the very first things I did was build the stairs up into the back of Putt so I could have easy access into the vehicle as I built the forward parts of the cabin.[/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]When I built the stairs I kinda just slapped them together, not worrying too much about how well they would last because I knew about half way through the build I'd construct the rear wall and then access though the back would be cut off and the stairs would be no longer needed....well, until the very end when I had to build the shelves in the rear storage area. So, two years ago I knew there would come a day when rear access would be cut off and I'd have to reposition Putt to work through the front door.[/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]That day was yesterday![/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]Before:[/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]After:[/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]Kind of a silly little thing...but made me smile![/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]Dart says, "Hi!"[/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]

[/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]

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[tx2sturgis]

 Curious to know if it toggles any ideas in your head.

On the Putt front...

Yeah.

$1200 a month for a bunk bed?

Wow. Just wow.

So now that Putt the Van is snuggling up next to Miss Sticks and Bricks, what sort of vehicular hanky-panky will we see in the future?

Loud voices at 2AM? Banging of parts? Squeaking noises and cuss words?

Dang....I miss my youth. :dodgy:

And...not sure if you noticed this, but I swear, that Dart is a keeper!

 

[Putts]

Trade shows...blech. Back to Putt!

It kinda just crept up on me. Working on Putt has changed. Used to be I'd have to think for about 3-4 hours, sometimes longer, before I actually started working on something. All of a sudden, it seems, thinking time is half of what it used to be, and it's getting even shorter. Back when it was an empty box and a 3D rendering the slate was clean...which meant I could do almost anything. I'd have to imagine all the future stuff and where it would go as I worked so that I didn't paint myself into some sort of corner. It was kinda like playing chess all in your head. Now, there's a lot of stuff already built so there's much less left to the imagination. I can see what's there and then build on to it. Much less stressful...and progresses quite a bit faster. Yay!

Had a trip to Denver for a trade show and one to Boston for a headphone measurement workshop over the last few weeks, but did manage to get a couple of solid steps forward. The first is a bit of an odd one. Across the ceiling there's a square bar that was used to hold the angle brackets that prevent the rolling door from coming off its runners at the top end. I this image the bar is circled in red.

The problem with this bar is that it's somewhat offset from the vertical wall attached to the wheel well, which has to be stabilized at the top. I'd have to make some sort of beam that had the offset in it...but was never quite sure how I'd do it. It's also worth noting this is the top of the garage area and the beam has to have a few holes drilled in it to ventilate it into the ceiling above the cabin for airflow through the forward fan. (Remember I have a separate air flow system for the walls and ceiling to evacuate the air heated from the sun.) 

Turns out, the answer was pretty simple: cut the right size piece of plywood and rip a 2x4 to the right width. A handful of 5/16" bolts, bunch of screws, and a half a tube of Sikaflex later and *BAM*, I got me a stabilized wall.

Back to my original point, I've been eyeing that bar for a couple years now as I built the forward part of the cabin. It was the mental stopping point for the forward cabin build; what ever I did with the ceiling line had to square up to it. And now it's done and off the list. Looks like it's going to work just fine.

 

[Putts]

Next step was the cabinet above the bed. There was actually quite a bit of thinking time on this one...mostly about how tall I could make it without bonking my head when I get in and out of bed. Cut the two main pieces of wood a hair long so I could wedge them into place and got a stool that was about the right height for the bed so I could noodle around with the position.

This one was pretty easy as I already had three sides of the cabinet in place with the existing walls, just had to make the front.

Just enough room at the top to get the ceiling into place.

Starting to fill up in there.

Woot! Bed next.

 

[rvpopeye]

It's really starting to come together !
You gonna clear the oak or paint ?

 

[Putts]

Gonna paint it white. Light gray doors and drawers. Bit darker gray trim. Dark gray table and counter tops.

Then I can make it any color I want with the LED lights.

Walls will be slowly stickered up as I travel to various places.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Stickers on paint?

 

How about magnetic tape or something less terminally destructive!

 

[Putts]

Terminal is what I hope for. At some point the entropy curve needs to be let in.

 

[rvpopeye]

The mosquitoes will be easy to track and easy cleanup too.
I did one of my truck campers all white ext. semi gloss. with redwood trim.
My class A living room was all white processing racks (4 , 6+8 space).

 

[Putts]

Yesterday was a HUGE milestone!

It started by bolting a hugemungous 4x4 to the rear wall.

The 1x2 bolted up with it is 3/4" down from the 4x4 surface. This allows the bed platform 3/4" ply top surface to be flush with the 4x4 so I can put hinges on it. It will also allow me the space to later put 1" of insulation against the wall with a layer of luan adhered to it. That rear wall will be exposed to the external temps of the inside of the garage space behind it. That wall might get quite cold or hot, and it would suck to sleep right up next to it.

Then I installed the bed facing and trimmed around the periphery in like manner to support the edges of the bed platform.

Starting to look like a sleeping area now. 

The width of the cabin from wall to wall is 83 3/4"...a number burned into my memory. A standard twin bed mattress is 74"...with an extra inch for some slack, 75".  That leaves 8 3/4" of space for a headboard cubby with some shelves in it. 

Slapped it all together and put the bed platform into place...and threw a mattress on it.

Here you can see the four bolts at the lower left that bolt the bed face to the wheel well. Also the nice comforting bead of Sikaflex around the edges. So far I've got about $90 in Sikaflex in the build...so far...

Welcome to my little world!

The wheel wells are 44", and a twin mattress is 38" so I've got a 6" gap between the mattress and the rear wall. I'll be rolling up a sleeping bag or two along their length and tucking it into the gap for a bit of extra width. 

In this view you can see the top of the headboard.

What you can't see is there's another shelf about two inches below it.  I'll be cutting various shaped holes in it to be able to place cups, glasses, iPads, etc, into it so they don't move around when I'm underway.

Well, guess where Dart and I slept last night?

Oh man, it was fabulous. First time sleeping in my very own bed in my very own home on wheels. 

I love Putt!

 

[jimindenver]

Looks great!

 

[Putts]

Thanks, Jim. I'm super stoked to begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Tons of little details to go before I can paint the inside...but I think I'm on schedule for beginning to move my camping gear into it by spring.

 

[Matlock]

Very nice, good use of every inch.

 

[Putts]

Working towards the point where I can putty, sand, and spray paint the interior. This paint job will be focused on getting a couple layers of paint throughout the entire interior including inside the cabinets. So I had to yank out the bed, headboard, toilet cover, countertop, etc. leaving the raw skeleton of the interior. There remains quite a bit of stuff to build inside: trim around the door; trim around the window; finish the top part of the room divider; and the biggest one, finish the seat platforms for the dinette.

Been real excited about that last one...and very unknowing in terms of exactly what to do. I knew I was going to buy a pair of front seats from a van of some sort---they're available brand new and cheap as companies take them out and replace them when they do custom builds. The problem is, despite being a big vehicle, every inch counts. I made my battery box as short as I could, but I knew it was a bit tall. Most automotive seats are fairly thick. It's also rare for them to have the old school ball bearing sliders that mount flat; nowadays it's usually integrated into the pedestal---which is often what makes them thick. Another thing that makes them thick is people like a far bit of cushion these days. 

Anyway, I really couldn't finish the seat bases until I had my seats in hand. I been cruising ebay for take out seats and saw these; take outs from a Mercedes Metris, their full size family wagon.

Nice and flat...old school rails...$175 the pair (shipping was $150). Looked at some car reviews for Metris front seat comfort. Found one that said, "Seats were firm and a little short." It meant space saving to me, and they're Mercedes, so they've got to be reasonably high quality.

Sold!

Got out a couple of milk crates and plywood scraps to set them on and began measuring. 

Finished the back dinette seat mount today. I hope to spend tens of thousands of hours in this seat.

The space underneath is where i'll keep all my current shoes.

Here it is more forward and fully reclined.

And here with the mock up dinette table. 

When I had the other seat in the mocking it up, it looked really good for fit. The forward seat is a bit high due to the battery box, but in terms of how far they stick out, and their movement on the sliders, combined with the fact that the final table will also be able to slide along the wall forward and back, I think it's going to be almost perfect.  I'm happy.