Woodworking Time!

Now that my Tuscan house is all covered up, I've started on the process of making the frames that hold the front and rear windows and the roof vent.  Taking the advice of Nancy and others on the NSSO group, I purchased a neat little gadget called the Kreg Jig Jr.--they have a bigger, more expensive version, but this size was fine for me. 

Since I've never worked with such things as saws--at least the electric versions--or drills, I needed some initial practice time.  It really wasn't that hard--well, the jig wasn't hard to do.



Next came the sawing the 1x3s into 7 foot lengths and 15 inch lengths--with a circular saw, a pretty heavy circular saw.  Ted set a work area up for me on the front porch because of the rain.  I'm definitely having problems cutting a good straight, square line!  It's not so hard on a panel, but on a little 1x3...That problem reared it's ugly head when I went to put it all together!!

I got pretty good with the Kreg Jig.  I got the 2 window frames done pretty fast.  This is where my sawing problem showed up...Because the ends on my short pieces weren't cut square, they didn't fit correctly on the longer pieces and the openings ended up not being square and just a little larger than they should have been--by that stupid 1/8" again!  I sure hope this doesn't come back to bite me later!!

The last panel that I had cut for the ceiling was just a little too big and fit a little too tight between two other panels that were already on.  That panel is sagging.  We tried putting an oak support on the roof and stapling the panel to it, but all that happened was that the sagging panel pulled the oak down and bowed the oak!  I'm going to cut a new panel, take the original one off, and put the new one on.  Hopefully, this will solve the problem of the sagging panel!! 


ADDED NOTE:  Last night I was at a Boy Scout function where I ran into the man who sold me my poor, pitiful Scotty.  It took me most of the night to get up the nerve, but I finally confronted him on the condition of the camper.  He swears he didn't know, but Ted didn't believe him.  I'm not sure if he was telling the truth or not, but it did make me feel better to finally get it all off my chest, face to face with him.  I'll be emailing him the address for this blog so he can see just what I've gone through.  Yes, one day this will be a wonderful camper, but I was not looking for a project camper--I was looking for a camper to hook up and enjoy camping in right away.  I guess I can be proud of all that I have accomplished and all that I have learned along the way and still have to learn.  And my Tuscan house will be a gorgeous camper one day!!

It's Electric!

Ted finally finished the electrical wiring of my Tuscan House!  The only things left are the actual light fixtures which I have to find now.  He's got a beautiful fuse box with plenty of power capability--two 15s and two 20s for those of you with the knowledge.  It will handle just about any appliance configuration I come up with.

There are junction boxes in multiple places and enough outlets to make anyone happy!  So another step to completion has been finished!  However, there is still a lot to do before winter--the framing begins next week!

My Tuscan House Is Covered!!

Catching back up again.  The past week has been AWESOME!!!  Finally making some visible progress!  Sunday, Sept. 4th, we put on the first piece of back paneling--the beginning of closing up my Tuscan house and putting her back together again! 

Had to take some time off due to inclement weather--like ex-hurricane Lee causing some heavy rains.  I was pretty ready for a break anyway.

Saturday, Sept. 10th--Back to work!  I made up my mind to learn how to use power tools.  The power saw was first--how hard can it be?  Hey, I got this one covered!  My biggest "setback" is that I'm vertically challenged.  There are ways around that--I just have to climb up on the table to saw the sheets!  Ted may have cut the first panel, but I did all the rest!  

Next, there was the pneumatic staple gun.  That took some practice too--but I'm getting pretty darn good at it!  Today, we even dragged Paul in on the work--lift, carry, hold!  By the end of the day, we're all a little punchy...
...but, we did get the front panels on with no serious problems.  The front panels still need some paint, but she's looking like a real camper now!



Sunday, Sept. 11th--We finished putting all the panels from front to back on!  What a weekend!  Once again, we used Paul for all the times we needed someone tall, strong or just for the extra hands--good thing he works out!

  It took a while to figure out where we needed full sheets of Masonite and where we would need to place the shorter pieces.  In the end, it all worked out and my Tuscan house is all closed up again!  I can't believe we're finally at this stage! 

Moving right along...

I guess I have just a little "catch-up" to do.  August 25th, Hurricane Irene headed towards us.  My biggest worry was whether my little camper in her incomplete state would make it through a hurricane.  After all, she's basically just 2 walls on a frame at this point!  Not good when they're predicting sustaining winds of 80 mph!  Even if the winds don't hurt her, the rain could pool in her tarps and collapse her walls!  OH NO!!!!  So, Ted and I spent Thursday wrapping her all up nice and snug in 3 layers of tarps!  She looked like a Christmas present!  The good news--She held up like a champ!!  The tarps all stayed in place--how could they not when Ted did such a good job of tying them all up?  And she was totally dry inside--not a drop!  Much happiness!!!

Ted has been busy doing his parts--making a "box" under the bed to house the electric cord for my Tuscan Casa.  The front has a hinge so it can be accessed from the front of the bed area--that was my idea! 

He also started working on the electrical system (I'm TERRIFIED of working with electricity)--putting in the fusebox and running the appropriate wiring for my lights, appliances, and outlets.  I had to figure out where I wanted outlets and which appliances were going where.

In the past week, I've been dreaming, planning, measuring, sketching, window shopping online--getting myself up and motivated again after such a long break.  Of course like every ADHD person, I've been putting a certain amount of time on things that she won't be ready for until much later in the rebuild process.  But you have to dream, right? I've changed my idea for my curtains--using different material for the dinette area and the bedroom area.  I found the coolest little wooden hat racks that look like cordovan-colored shutters--and decided to do all the trim in the camper that color.  I was perusing the aisles at Lowe's and found MY piece of Formica laminate with a nice-sized crack in it--and got the $58 sheet for $20!!  BARGAIN!!!  Today I went into Tuesday Morning and found two little wrought iron "gates" to use outside of my Tuscan Casa--no self-respecting Tuscan home would be without wrought iron!

All in all, it's been a hell of a week!!