interior and appliances
(This shot taken on July 02, 2003. I still need to fabricate cabinet doors and take care of some trim.)
I suppose I dreaded the interior most of all. I'm not an inspired woodworker, and I really dislike finish-carpentry. My wife and I did plenty during the construction of our home but I've put most of that out of my mind! I had an image of the camper's interior in my head, and knew I wanted oak cabinets. Everything was specialized and compact. There were no standard home appliances used, so I couldn't make use of anything pre-built.
We wanted to have ample space when living inside, have a permanent queen bed and dining table, all the necessary appliances, and plenty of storage. It had to be solid to withstand off-road abuse, and it had to look nice too! The layout was already done, and here are some thumbnails to click from the Camper Frame page...
All that was left now was to build it, so I gathered the wood tools and got after the project.
Step one was to get the bulkhead installed. This piece of 3/4" oak plywood forms the partition between the mess area and bunk. It also houses the electrical distribution area and enabled me to get my "electrical bearings" while gearing up to build cabinets...
With the partition bulkhead installed, stained, and protected with marine-grade spar varnish, I finished off some remaining pieces of insulation, then skinned the interior with Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic paneling. It is glued to the insulation and riveted to the steel with plastic rivets. Although heavy, I chose it for it's strength, ease of cleaning, and temperature stability. Here's a shot of the FRP being installed on the ceiling of the mess area...
Next, I focused on the mess area. I built the wall cabinets, then took care of the base cabinets and seating. Everything is glued, screwed, dado'd, etc. All cleats are bolted to steel frame members, and also 'insulated' with a bead of tri-polymer sealant to eliminate vibration. To finish the Mess, I built the countertops with oak edge trim. Fortunately, by this time my dad had returned to the ranch. The extra set of hands was really welcome when it came time to glue down the laminate!
Once the countertops were installed, I got the appliances in order. The fridge is a NovaKool 4.5 cf DC fridge. It features the German Danfoss compressor and draws only 2.2 amps (12 VDC) for about 20 minutes of every hour. It even has a small freezer section. The stove is a Wedgewood Vision 16" range, and has a hood with light and externally vented fan. There's plenty of storage under the seats at the table.
Here are some shots of the mess area. (Cabinet doors are in the works right now...)
The NovaKool is accessed externally through a compartment door for service and cleaning...
And the bottom of the Wedgewood Vision range, LPG supply line, and more storage can also be accessed externally via a compartment door underneath the range...
The range is the only LPG appliance we have. It is supplied from an aluminum marine-grade horizontal DOT tank of 10 lbs. capacity (enough for over a month of cooking.) It is located in the left side trapezoid compartment behind the rear wheel, which is externally vented for safety...
The Bunk covers much of the mechanics of the camper: water supply, water heater, expansion tanks, batteries, charging systems, toilet, and externally accessible storage. It has a queen-sized futon mattress, is very roomy and quite comfortable. There's plenty of space for my wife, myself, and of course, Charlis-dog. In the bunk, we have wall cabinet storage for clothing, and also an LCD television, DVD/VCR combo, and Blaupunkt CD-receiver with speakers in the mess and bunk. To Charlis, it's a great dog bed, with windows for "scopin' for wabbits..."
Both the mess area and bunk have three windows and one roof vent. The mess area has a Fan-Tastic powered vent, which is thermostatically controlled, and quickly and quietly exchanges air in the camper. We also have a Porta-Potti 565 self-contained chemical toilet stowed under the bunk, behind a soon-to-be-made door.
We are really pleased with our camper so far. In fact, I find myself sleeping in it quite often, as the cool evening breezes make for exceptional cross-ventilation in the bunk. As I write this, it's haying season in our part of Wyoming. The camper's coming in handy as I can park it right in the meadow by my baler, and jump out of it and into the tractor early in the morning, and get a few bales made while the coffee's brewing. When I'm finished working, the water's ice cold and really washes the dust out of my throat.
