Back to Nature
A good friend of mine, David, has a sweet Winnebago/Mercedes camper van and an ambition. His camper van, Isabella, he uses to explore the wonderful New England forests, his ambition is to convert the drab doors and drawers of that camper into beautiful wood. Now, I gather that upgrading features on these campers is a popular pursuit; and why not? It gives you the chance to customize your living space on a scale that is more approachable than a whole house. In a larger sense, replacing factory components with high end gear has long been a passion of the maven class, but the ambition here was different … better. It was about getting back to Nature.
Isabella in the wild
Design
This would not be the first upgrade. During an earlier makeover, the owner had covered the original gray linoleum-like door and drawer surfaces with cork, and had also swapped-out the plastic latches for those bold, stainless steel clasps used in boat cabins. This took the vibe in a more earthy direction and also created an appetite for natural materials. As a next step, it was thought that replacing the cork for actual wood would add interest and also brighten the space. The scope was 4 drawer fronts, 3 cupboard doors and a large, bi-folding lavatory door.
In discussing the Project we agreed that it should be an easy endeavor, especially if we were to reproduce the dimensions and edge profiles of the parts being replaced. The plan was to create solid wood drawer fronts and doors. Today, these parts are typically made from manufactured wood products (e.g., plywood) for reasons of structural integrity, but we hoped to get away with using the untamed material so as to capture the best of Nature. For the large, bi-fold lavatory door the strategy was to create a 1/4 in. thick wooden veneer which could be applied, just as the cork was, onto the existing door’s surface. It would be too much to ask a solid plank door of that dimension to stay true, and this way we could most easily utilize the locks, vents and piano hinge of the plywood original.
Image from within the camper showing some of the cork clad doors/drawers.
Materials
Our goal was to select a light-colored American wood, loaded with character and easy to finish. Oak was the quarry as we entered Highland Hardwoods, that cornucopia of quality lumber. And their flat sawn oaks were indeed “nice”, but also a bit sedate. With only small door and drawer surfaces to work with we were looking for plenty of wood grain action. The hard maple and hickory were “interesting” but, with their reputation for being tough to work, we took a pass. Likewise with the rustic white oak, “lovely” but too much of a twist risk for this application. Unexpectedly, we happened upon a fetching pile of yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis). These flat sawn, curly planks had it “all”, with sharp contrasts of heart and sap woods, and a grain feature that popped like terrain on a topo map. Sold! It’s nice to exit the lumber yard with confidence.
Curly Yellow Birch
Dimensioning
The methods for constructing the smaller doors and drawer fronts were essentially identical. During this process, the existing components would be used as templates before being discarded. This approach not only provided correct positions for the new hinge/drawer attachment screws and latch openings, it also made shaping the exact edge contours a snap. Here’s how it went.
Prepare a board by thickness planing stock to 3/4 in. and cutting to rough dimensions. For the larger pieces, two or three such boards were glued together with the aid of biscuits.
Drill holes all the way through the original drawer front/door parts at all attachment screw points.
Using screws, attach the original door/drawer front to the back of the prepared board employing the same attachment holes utilized by the drawer fronts, and adding a couple screws, as required, for the doors.
Trace the outline of the template in pencil and drill all hinge screw holes into the doors using the guides prepared in step 2., then unscrew the template from the piece.
Cut out the shape at the bandsaw, staying just wide of the pencil line.
Cutting out a rough drawer front at the bandsaw (note the attachment screw holes)
5. Reattach the template with screws and then cleanly shape the perimeter at the router table with a flush trim bit using the template as a guide.
Trimming the wood edge flush with the template
7. Drill-out the latch hole using a 2 inch Forstner bit at the drill press, and then unscrew the template.
Drilling the latch hole using the template for positioning
8. Repeat these steps for all seven of the drawer fronts and doors.
Dimensioning complete for the 4 drawer fronts
Even with those glue-ups for the wider pieces it all went rather quickly. We encountered a couple incidents of tear-out at the router, which might be expected from this curly grained wood, but these could be adequately repaired and the overall results looked great.
Small doors completed
On to the lavatory door. To make the veneer pieces we would need to re-saw a couple of long planks in two, producing 4 boards that could be thickness planed to 1/4 in. and then mated back together along their edges. Even with a good bandsaw, slicing a 6 foot long, 8 inch wide hardwood plank down the spine can be a challenge. David stopped by to assist with these cuts and then remained to play catch on the thickness planer. All went well.
Resawing a birch plank
Slimming-down the veneer boards
Now for the aesthetic part. There are a few choices to be made when pairing up four panels on a door like this.
1. To book match or not? Certain grain patterns lend themselves to the kaleidoscopic thrill of book matching; that is, orienting a pair of boards opposite each other like pages in an open book. While the mirror effect can be dramatic, there’s a price to be paid in chatoyance, a grain-dependent optical phenomenon which, in book matching, typically makes one panel appear darker than its mate. We favored the extra drama. When book matching there’s also a decision for which edge to use as the mirror plane. I’ve always found that the grain gives you the answer here, as one permutation generally transcends the other, which was again the case.
2. What’s the sequence? Since the resawn veneers come in pairs (e.g., AA, BB), and this door has four panels, side by side, there are two different book match sequences to consider: AABB or ABBA. Taking the central piano hinge of the door into account we opted for the “big picture” book match of AB|BA. The central pair (BB in this case) was selected as the one with the best pattern to reflect.
3. Up vs. Down? After settling on the eye catching stuff this final decision is more a matter of propriety. There are two possible board orientations, related by 180°, and you want to select the one that will not make the grain appear upside-down. A furniture design maxim is to have the grain “heavier” at the bottom, soothing our natural sense of upward growth. (Look around your house and you will notice this on chests of drawers, door panels, etc.) To do otherwise would sire a freak of Nature. There is a lot to think about when building responsibly!
The final pattern, all things considered
To complete the door, each AB pair was glued together and then the seams leveled smooth with a card scraper. These constructs were prepared 1/8 in. longer and wider than a half panel of the existing door, the excess material to be trimmed following assembly.
Glueing together an AB veneer panel
Assembly & Finish
Assembly of the bi-fold door involved adhering an AB panel to each individual door section, one at a time. We used a version of LIQUID NAILS® for this (LN-2000) dispensed from a caulk gun and, again, David was on-hand for this operation. Taking turns, he would dole out a couple beads of adhesive onto the linoleum door which I then frosted smooth using a notched trowel. With the wooden panel laid “goodside-down” on the shop floor, a disassembled door section, laden with a full tube’s worth of adhesive, was brought over top and carefully laid in place. Boxes of books were employed as extra weight until the adhesive dried and it all went well.
Applying LIQUID NAILS® to a door section.
Door panels being bonded to their veneer under a couple hundred pounds of books
Once the veneer was attached, the remaining tasks were to trim the edges and then re-create the original openings for mounting hardware and vents. I removed the extra veneer about the edges using a hand held router and care. Given the propensity for tear-out with this wood I needed to go slow while maintaining the router perfectly upright. To assist with the second requirement, I fashioned a wooden “outrigger” to mount the router on. Keeping that outrigger board flat to the door surface as the router was slid along the edge was easy and ensured a true cut.
Trimming the edges with a flush trim bit and outrigger
The various openings were then re-created using a combination of hand drill, sabre saw and chisels completing the woodworking part of the Project.
Book matched door panels
The drawer fronts, doors and veneered door panels were taken back by David for final finishing, and he did a terrific job. To begin, all parts were sanded to #220 grit and then the sharp edges broken for a smooth touch. To get the most from the curly grain, the outer surfaces were further sanded step-wise, #320 then #400, producing a super smooth polish to the wood. Following this, two light coats of gel polyurethane were applied. This brought out the colors nicely, making the wood seem alive. Lastly, to get that perfect “feel” a coat of wax was rubbed-in and buffed.
Final assembly was a matter of (David) re-installing the stainless steel clasps and other hardware before mounting the parts back to their original positions within the camper. While difficult to capture in pictures, the finished doors/drawers add a cozy warmth to Isabella’s interior. Feels Natural.
"I like to section hike the Appalachian Trail and the Long Trail and I frequently refer to topographical maps in my adventures. When I saw the wood we chose in the lumber yard, the grain immediately reminded me of the maps. I love that the finished project allows me to think of hiking whenever I see the wood grain inside."
David
