Dinette rebuild
-
- Posts: 17
- Joined: Sun May 06, 2018 12:19 pm
Dinette rebuild
Hey everyone, I finally got sucked into starting some restoration work on my 69' Avion 22ft. I thought I'd share some of the progress. The front dinette was showing signs of age with delamination and wear, so I thought it was a great time to modify the layout a little, without taking away from the classic look. I'm even using shellac to match the existing wood colors. I basically copied the dinette seats, but changed the front cabinet to seat level, with storage underneath. It adds a foot or so of extra bed width and adds a space for my battery (sealed, vented box of course) and charging system. The fiberglass battery box outside is trashed. I'll add a thin pad to the front surround and it will look kinda like U seating. The table will have to be pedestal or possibly a fancy hinge system I'm working on. So far it's gone from "don't worry honey, I can do this in a day" to over engineering a designing 3 partial weekends worth of work. Me overthink something?? Never!!
I'll post a bit more as I get the ends together and some ideas along the way.
I'll post a bit more as I get the ends together and some ideas along the way.
-
- Posts: 17
- Joined: Sun May 06, 2018 12:19 pm
Re: Dinette rebuild
Very nice work indeed! Looking forward to seeing the finished product.
Re: Dinette rebuild
Very nice! Keep us posted.
Razorback (Paul)
1987 Avion 34W
1995 Ford F-250 7.3L PowerStroke
I'm a "whosoever"... are you???
1987 Avion 34W
1995 Ford F-250 7.3L PowerStroke
I'm a "whosoever"... are you???
-
- Posts: 17
- Joined: Sun May 06, 2018 12:19 pm
Re: Dinette rebuild
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!
So far so good. Designing always takes the longest, then It's always fun going through materials for the right one. I realized halfway through that poplar cracked using pocket screws and I couldn't pilot drill at that angle. I switched to pine with glue and Brad nails and it worked pretty nice for the frame. I used Indonesian birch plywood at first and it was horrible about splintering and the weird red underlayer was frustrating. I finally stepped up to some Russian birch. It's awesome!! Nice consistent color all the way through and smooth as butter to cut. Finally realizing that I can't cut straight to save my life, I use guides and patterns for everything. I use a nice flush trim router bit with bearing for all of my plywood cuts. 1/4" (6mm) for facing and 3/8" for the seat and end panels. I hope to get some progress over this long holiday weekend and I'll post some more pictures.
So far so good. Designing always takes the longest, then It's always fun going through materials for the right one. I realized halfway through that poplar cracked using pocket screws and I couldn't pilot drill at that angle. I switched to pine with glue and Brad nails and it worked pretty nice for the frame. I used Indonesian birch plywood at first and it was horrible about splintering and the weird red underlayer was frustrating. I finally stepped up to some Russian birch. It's awesome!! Nice consistent color all the way through and smooth as butter to cut. Finally realizing that I can't cut straight to save my life, I use guides and patterns for everything. I use a nice flush trim router bit with bearing for all of my plywood cuts. 1/4" (6mm) for facing and 3/8" for the seat and end panels. I hope to get some progress over this long holiday weekend and I'll post some more pictures.
Re: Dinette rebuild
Looking forward to pictures!
Razorback (Paul)
1987 Avion 34W
1995 Ford F-250 7.3L PowerStroke
I'm a "whosoever"... are you???
1987 Avion 34W
1995 Ford F-250 7.3L PowerStroke
I'm a "whosoever"... are you???
Re: Dinette rebuild
Linn_chris43 Russian, or Finnish birch (there are 2 factories on and near the Baltic) is a wonderful product. It and vodka are the Russians primary exports. Keep in mind that only some of it is made with water-resistant blue. Seems to be a quality control problem with the product from the Russian factory. Good looking project.
Re: Dinette rebuild
Very nice. Keep up the good work!
1987 34V
2000 Ford F250
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
2000 Ford F250
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
-
- Posts: 17
- Joined: Sun May 06, 2018 12:19 pm
Re: Dinette rebuild
I had hoped to post an update of a weekends work well done, but, in all my infinite wisdom I hit the wall of Oh crap, how did that happen. I put the forward bench and dinnette seats in for a test fit and the dang seat stuck out a half inch into the doorway. Well $h!t! This plywood didn't come with enough vodka. I measured at seat height and the forward bench sits a half inch from the wall at top and touches at the bottom. I didn't account for wall curve. I also used up my 1/4" wiggle room with a double face where the forward bench full faced vertical meets the dinnette seats, with their curved end face to have 3 full separate pieces. So I got out my trusty belt sander and sanded the bottom wall side of the long bench and removed it's facing. I made a seam where the benches meet the dinette, so its the single dinette end instead of double. I gained back a 1/2", but it took me a day. I did however get some seats hinged for storage and a couple of curved ends done. Now if I can only find 2 more of these offset butt hinges for the forward bench, I'll be set.
Re: Dinette rebuild
Ouch! I hate it when that happens! Sorry for the delay.
Glad you got it fixed, and look forward to seeing the finished product.
Glad you got it fixed, and look forward to seeing the finished product.
Razorback (Paul)
1987 Avion 34W
1995 Ford F-250 7.3L PowerStroke
I'm a "whosoever"... are you???
1987 Avion 34W
1995 Ford F-250 7.3L PowerStroke
I'm a "whosoever"... are you???