Kev Posted July 4, 2023 Share Posted July 4, 2023 Well, my HW dealer has been closed a few days so I couldn't get what I needed to finish up the bed. In the mean time, my wife's cousin is setting up the gooseneck area of a horse trailer as a sleeping quarters and asked for a little help.. It all started with some simple designs.. That back area is the wall of the trailer that goes over the bed of the truck at that height. What she wants is some simple steps with built in storage options. The Sketch above was taken from her hand drawn sketch so that I could create a list of materials to do it. For the record, she's more than capable of this build but, I think felt a little intimidated with the complexity of it. What started as some drawings and materials lists ended up as a project in my shop. It should be noted that the materials being used are mostly what she has on hand or are in her budget to supply. Of course being family, my time is donated. I started with the step portion. Big Box store ply and some alder for the trim. There will be treads on top of the ply. The middle section will get 3 drawers and the 2 outer sections will get doors. The taller one will get some adjustable shelving. I also built the large storage box case for the back. I've stopped the project here to ensure it will fit through the door of the trailer. I'll get back to this project after the bed is finished up.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted July 4, 2023 Share Posted July 4, 2023 That’s gonna be cool! I could see a small tv mounted to the side of the taller section. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted July 4, 2023 Author Share Posted July 4, 2023 22 minutes ago, Coop said: That’s gonna be cool! I could see a small tv mounted to the side of the taller section. That's a cool idea and I'm not sure what all she has planned for the small area.. I know that the floor area where you walk in is small and oddly shaped. On top of that there's a saddle tree that's in there. But, on the upper "bed" side of that cabinet would be a good place for a small TV.. I'll mention it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted July 4, 2023 Author Share Posted July 4, 2023 The ply on that big cabinet is crazy wonky! I added the center divider and some bracing but, it's still pretty bad. I'll end up either adding a back to it or fighting it during the install where I can also square it up. The upper center divider is just a piece of scrap set in place to see and formulate the path forward for the trim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted July 5, 2023 Share Posted July 5, 2023 The taller cabinet is oriented 90* to the left of how it will be, correct? Is that cabinet grade ply, or supposed to be? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted July 5, 2023 Author Share Posted July 5, 2023 24 minutes ago, Coop said: The taller cabinet is oriented 90* to the left of how it will be, correct? Is that cabinet grade ply, or supposed to be? This is exactly how it will fit into the trailer. The upper portion of the big cabinet will get 2 doors and the lower portion only one door. The ply is AC from the big box store. Ultimately it's crap and potato chipped pretty bad.. I've left the squares on it for now and will add more bracing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted July 5, 2023 Share Posted July 5, 2023 Ok, I visioned the doors being on the front, white side of your original drawing. I’ll sit back and watch 😁 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted July 5, 2023 Author Share Posted July 5, 2023 42 minutes ago, Coop said: Ok, I visioned the doors being on the front, white side of your original drawing. I’ll sit back and watch 😁 It's all good.. It's a weird configuration because there's just not much room in there. She needed a way to get to the overhead portion so, that's the stairs with storage options. Then she wanted a place for the hanging clothes which is the upper section of the big cabinet - closest to the sleeping area. The lower area is for general storage. I assume I'll be doing some shelves of some sort in there... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted July 5, 2023 Author Share Posted July 5, 2023 Well, the HW dealer was open today but, out of 8/4 Cherry until tomorrow.. So, back to the horse trailer today.. Got the 3 drawers built and installed - Don't have material on hand for the drawer bottoms so they will come later. These are currently sitting on my bench with epoxy fills in the knots. All done in alder. I would have preferred to use 1/2" BB ply but, it just wasn't in the budget. I hope these don't come back to bite me in the butt! This trailer will see all the weather changes so, solid material was not the best selection for the drawer box material. I did expand the gaps a bit to help with this. I also got all the shelf pin holes drilled and 2 shelves made. I only had enough shelf pins to legitimately install one of the shelves.. So, at least it wasn't a completely wasted day.. I've put in a request for the appropriate door hinges so that I can start working on the doors as well as some 1/4" material so I can install drawer bottoms as well as center panels for the doors. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted July 9, 2023 Author Share Posted July 9, 2023 Busy day in the shop today! Worked on both this project as well as the bed.. On this project, my goal was to try and square up the big cabinet as much as possible. This was tough because the plywood was just so wonky! I ended up laying it on its side and clamping it to my OF table. From there, I just tried everything in my arsenal to pull it as square as I could get it and glue/nail a back on it. This really required some creative ways to pull this square! Yes, that's a ratchet strap hooked to my hook for hanging my clean up hose at the miter saw! All told, I was able to get that 30" x 80" cabinet pulled to within ~1/16" of square which I consider a major win! It was bowed through the middle at over 3/4"! I didn't get a picture but, I also make the stair treads.. Ended up with 1 1/2" qtr sawn white oak for the treads.. They're on and ready for finish. Just waiting now for door hinges to arrive to make the doors.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted July 10, 2023 Share Posted July 10, 2023 Now that’s creative correcting! 😁 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted July 11, 2023 Author Share Posted July 11, 2023 With the bed done and the door hardware arriving earlier than expected, I was back on this project today.. I wanted to finish up the stair section first.. It's far from perfect but, that plywood is a major PITA to work with! Really makes me appreciate Baltic Birch! Ready for my wife's cousin to install hardware and finish of choice. I'll get after the big cabinet tomorrow.. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted July 12, 2023 Author Share Posted July 12, 2023 Making my post a little early tonight as I'm heading for my wife's cousin's house to make sure the big cabinet will fit through the door and be able to stand up before moving forward. I'm pretty sure it will but, I want to be sure so it's worth the drive I did to a bunch of precutting of trim today so that I'll be a bit ahead once I know I can get the cabinet in the trailer and stood up in place.. Bands clamps finally came in handy 🤣 Nothing glued or nailed in place here.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted July 13, 2023 Author Share Posted July 13, 2023 Update.. Able to get it in the trailer! I installed that trim just as shown in the picture above.. Just 3 doors away now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted July 13, 2023 Share Posted July 13, 2023 Looking mighty good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted July 13, 2023 Share Posted July 13, 2023 But, I haven’t once heard you say …. “but it’s only horse trailer furniture”. 😁 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted July 13, 2023 Author Share Posted July 13, 2023 6 minutes ago, Coop said: But, I haven’t once heard you say …. “but it’s only horse trailer furniture”. 😁 I think we all do the best we can do with what we have. Whether that's a tool or some material. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted July 13, 2023 Share Posted July 13, 2023 How true. And I’m sure on your end it was wonky material but the results look like bb ply! Well done. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted July 14, 2023 Author Share Posted July 14, 2023 I got back from Ray's concrete pour pretty late but, still managed to get the 3 remaining doors build for the horse trailer. I'll finesse their fits tomorrow and get them mounted so that I can finish this project up.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted July 14, 2023 Share Posted July 14, 2023 When you build doors like these with ply panels and mitered corners, do you just glue the panels to the rails and stiles or do you use something like the domino at the miters? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted July 14, 2023 Author Share Posted July 14, 2023 5 minutes ago, Coop said: When you build doors like these with ply panels and mitered corners, do you just glue the panels to the rails and stiles or do you use something like the domino at the miters? Typically, I like to add splines or dominos. In this case, I'm just pin nailing them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted July 14, 2023 Author Share Posted July 14, 2023 Got an early start this morning and got it finished up.. Gaps aren't perfect but, not too bad considering how crazy the ply was. They'll be doing the finish work on it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted July 15, 2023 Author Share Posted July 15, 2023 She brought the trailer over this afternoon and I helped her get it installed. She still has a lot of trim work and wiring but, this piece is done for me.. Shot of it actually in the trailer.. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted July 15, 2023 Share Posted July 15, 2023 That’s pretty neat! Does she rodeo or are they show horses? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted July 15, 2023 Author Share Posted July 15, 2023 Just now, Coop said: That’s pretty neat! Does she rodeo or are they show horses? I'll be honest, I'm not quite sure. I know she does a lot of trail riding and cattle drives and stuff but, beyond that, it's just not my world.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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