Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Pocket Door in the Making

I just saw the most recent issue of Sunset magazine and found someone else that converted an Airstream into an office, so it seemed like an appropriate time to revisit our own recent Airstream project.
After we finished our project, we got a chance to show it a couple of times, and one of the most common questions about the interior was, "Where did you get all of these cabinets, and how did you get it to fit so well?", or "So what part did you do? Did you just find a way to move around the interior and make it fit?"
The simple answer is that we custom fabricated nearly the entire interior (excluding the bathroom sink and tub), and as proof, we thot we would show a few samples of the work in progress, beginning with the interior pocket door.

Everything starts with a template. For this unusual shape, I sacrificed 2 sheets of cheap luan ply.

This place is so dusty.



The door gets glued up.
This is a "Go-bar" table. Kind of an old-fashioned way to keep something flat.
Works great.


A test fitting. Ball bearing rollers (Cheap hardware drives me nuts). Smooove.



The finished installation. This sides all Walnut.

My favorite part is these dope curves on the door jamb. The original door was the width of the bottom half. It couldn't be any wider at the bottom because of the bathroom countertop and tub, as you can kind-of see in this photo. There were also other obstructions which I dealt with cleverly. The result is a 4" wider opening in the top half, which makes it sort-of ergonomic for those of us with arms.

On the lavatory side, the door is maple.

Now that it's gone, and I don't get to see it any more, I kinda forget how bad-ass our work is.

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Today is the first day of the rest of my week


Blogging is new for me. What a dumb word, "blog". Crude. I feel a little embarassed everytime I say or type it. I guess it's easier to say than "Digital Online Journal".

Since this is a relatively new experience, I haven't exactly known what thots and experiences were "blog-worthy". So far, I've restricted my entries to things that are specific to construction mostly, since that's my job, and this is linked directly to my business site. But I'm not always doing the most interesting work. At least, not so interesting that I feel the need to document it on a weekly basis.

Then, last night, while eating dinner at Quinn's Lighthouse (my regular spot in the East Bay) it occurred to me that beyond my work, people hiring me (and perhaps others) might be interested in other aspects of my life. After all, it is my cumulative life experience that has helped me to define my opinions and passions, and these are the things that define my work.

So, from now on, I hope my entries create a more well-rounded view of my life, and how I live it. I intend to include my thoughts on design, architecture, art, the way people live, how we treat each other, and anything else worth writing down. I'll also include excerpts from my book-in-progress, "Always Carry A Sharpie" (working title). It's a book of advice and opinions, mostly from me, which makes it the most egotistical thing I've ever done.

For now, I'll just leave you with this: A giant lemon that looks like Grampa Simpson. My Niece brot (brought) it home from her Grandparents lemon tree. The green butter dish in the background is there for scale. Don't say "Gi-normous". We'll look back on that word combo as a mistake.