Two Scamp projects: Hardwood floor and new cabinet doors
Hello,
We're taking our 1996 13' Scamp on the road for four months this winter, and there are a couple of projects I want to finish before we take off (in addition to the solar panel installation I'm currently working on):
- I'd like to replace all cabinet doors with new 3/8" birch doors.
- I'd also like to install hardwood flooring.
Tips from anyone who's attempted either of these mods would be greatly appreciated. Former threads about either project would be great too. Thanks in advance for your help!
I am also in the process of doing those 2 exact same things. Just on my 1978 Boler instead of a Scamp. And I am also in Minneapolis!
I have no advice, just wanted to say hey.
Patrick
Quote:
Originally Posted by cterhark
Hello,
We're taking our 1996 13' Scamp on the road for four months this winter, and there are a couple of projects I want to finish before we take off (in addition to the solar panel installation I'm currently working on):
- I'd like to replace all cabinet doors with new 3/8" birch doors.
- I'd also like to install hardwood flooring.
Tips from anyone who's attempted either of these mods would be greatly appreciated. Former threads about either project would be great too. Thanks in advance for your help!
I did very plain birchwood ply doors in my Boler. I don't have the woodworking facilities so I had Home Depot cut them and then applied four coats of acrylic-poly varnish.
Greetings from another Twin Cities Boler owner. I did my cabinet doors in Maple and the floors in a maple look version of the Home Depot Allure vinyl. I don't have any good photos of the floor handy but I'm really happy with the look and the apparent durability.
Clive--what is the thickness of your wood and how are the edges finished?
Approx. how much does Home Depot charge to cut wood for the customer?
RussL---Is that one door that covers all openings of your upper cabinet? Might be a good look for the Perris Pacer---my doors are not the nice square ones like Clive's. They are dinky rectangular doors, so one piece across would look better.
RussL---Is that one door that covers all openings of your upper cabinet? Might be a good look for the Perris Pacer---my doors are not the nice square ones like Clive's. They are dinky rectangular doors, so one piece across would look better.
Thanks, Vickie
Quote:
Originally Posted by Raya L.
RussL,
I, too, would love to know more about your upper cabinet(s). Can you show a photo with it open?
And it looks like you have some nifty stuff going on with the refrigerator/stove area too.
AND, how does one make those simple/straight panel doors. I really like that look.
Nice!
Raya
Vickie and Raya,
Thanks for the kind words.
The upper door is in fact one piece. I ended up doing it this way for several reasons:
1. I'm lazy. Building one door, even if a slightly more complicated design, seemed easier.
2. Along those same lines, getting 3 doors to hang well where none would sag and get out of alignment didn't seem like a lot of fun.
3. Hinging it at the top works well. It gets the door up and out of the way and less likely to attract my forehead. I have some hardware that I haven't installed yet to hold the door up but the prop rod I cut some notches in actually works really well.
4. I never remember where anything is stowed so opening the entire cabinet at once makes sense. We actually end up leaving it up all the time at the campsite.
I don't have any pictures handy with the door open but there's not actually much to see. Nothing has really changed there. I could have removed the dividers between the 3 door spaces but I wanted to maintain the structural integrity of the cabinet so I left them there.
The door construction is basic frame and panel. I used 1x2 maple for the frames and 1/4" maple veneer plywood for the panels. The panels float in a groove routed in the inside of the frame. The frames are glued and screwed together with pocket screws. You can see one of the pocket screw holes filled in the attached picture of the inside of the closet door.
As for the rest of the kitchen it's one of those "might as well" projects that got out of hand. I wanted to add the cooktop and sink with the glass lids to add counter space. I also wanted a fridge to replace the original ice box. The cutouts for the cooktop and sink were different than the originals, leaving holes to patch in the countertop and the new fridge was too deep to recess fully in the cabinet. I decided to build a new coutertop to hide the cutouts and also extend out over the fridge.
This meant that the original wrought iron support for the upper cabinet wouldn't work anymore. I was never fond of the look anyway but I knew the support needed to be there so I decided to build something from maple. That of course led to building a matching one for the other side which led to the frame supporting the stainless backsplash.
There's plenty of work left to do but I'm happy with what I've done so far.
Did you use a Kreg jig for the screw pockets? Someone was showing me one of those not too long ago and of course now I want one.
I've often gazed in amazement at the three upper kitchen cabinet doors in my Boler because they are all three perfectly aligned, and how does that happen in a camper factory where they are throwing rivets around like candy?
I have been thinking about turning the right-most one around, because they all three open with left-side hinges, which makes the right-hand door open kind of the "wrong" way; but now you have me thinking about a single door. It is true that leaving one of the doors open can be hazardous to your face!
I've used 3/8" baltic birch plywood for a few of my projects. ('88 Scamp, '82 Perris Pacer, and my latest, '69 Trailswest Campster.) It is light-weight, stable, and has no voids in the multi-layers. It sands very smooth, and takes a nice finish. (You do have to take care of the edges, as they can splinter at times.)
Did you use a Kreg jig for the screw pockets? Someone was showing me one of those not too long ago and of course now I want one.
Raya
I did use a Kreg jig. It's not the one linked in my post. I picked mine up ten years or more ago at a woodworking show. It's one of the earlier, all metal, models. It's one of my all time favorite tool purchases. You won't regret it if you get one.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Robert Johans
I've used 3/8" baltic birch plywood for a few of my projects. ('88 Scamp, '82 Perris Pacer, and my latest, '69 Trailswest Campster.) It is light-weight, stable, and has no voids in the multi-layers. It sands very smooth, and takes a nice finish. (You do have to take care of the edges, as they can splinter at times.)
Robert,
I just wanted to say that I've admired your work for a long time. I hope that your renovation business works out well for you. If I didn't enjoy doing the work myself I certainly wouldn't hesitate to work with you.
When the plywood is cut to size, the cut edges are obviously sharp from the saw cut. "Easing" or rounding the sharp edge with sand paper can sometimes pick up a splinter. This splinter can tear off the edge and pull some of the top veneer off the plywood surface. This leaves an ugly scar on the face. No good.
To avoid this problem, I've found two solutions: a small router (sometimes called a palm router) with a small "ease-over" bit can put a tight, clean convex arc on the plywood edge. Or, "break" the edge by slowly and carefully stroking 120-grit sand paper perpendicular to the edge before using a finer grit along its length to finish it off.
Once the edge is smooth, sealing with a sanding sealer followed by a few coats of urethane (or other options) will keep the edge from splitting in the future.
Okay, thanks! Great tips I'm hoping to use some Baltic Birch to replace some of my Black Walnut (ha ha) doors. Now I just have to figure out where to get it around here.
Wow, really inspirational photos Clive, RussL and Robert!
Russ, I love the look of the single door for the upper cabinets. In addition to just looking "cleaner" (which is always nice in a small space) I can totally see what you about being able to see in the entire cabinet at once. I'd love to learn more about the hinge hardware that keeps the cabinet door in the open position. And Robert, wow, your skills are amazing!
I'm curious, where do y'all source your stainless backsplash material?
Boler American
Bean
Perris Pacer
Scamper
Trailswest Campster
I'm hoping to use some Baltic Birch to replace some of my Black Walnut (ha ha) doors. Now I just have to figure out where to get it around here.
1983 Scamp 
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