With the galley cabinet largely finished and currently getting the poly treatment, I needed a new project. I still have some electrical items on order so that build needs to wait. I have the fuel part for the heater system, but I need to drive around some more until the gas tank is nearly empty before dropping it (dropping it is easy – lifting it back in to place will be hard unless it is empty). I settled on the microwave cabinet.
The microwave cabinet sits on top of the refrigerator on the driver’s side just in front of the bed. It is going to be tough because the van walls start to seriously curve there. We had previously used cardboard templates to try to get the curve right and that was a PITA. It also didn’t work very well.
Today I decided to just start cutting. I have a sheet of chip board that I got for this very purpose – to use as a template for more important parts. I knew the height and the starting width and then I just started cutting with the jigsaw. Rather surprisingly, it went much better than I expected. I still got in/out of the van to trim the board about 10 times, but I’m happy with the result.
Fortunately, it was a beautiful day here so we could work outside. It made it much easier to have the saw horses right there so I could make small adjustments and climb right back in to try it.
I probably should have just duplicated my first wall, but I somehow convinced myself that the slope of the second wall was a bit different. Both walls are fine, but it would have saved time to just copy the first one. instead of repeating the trial and error process. By the time I had everything fit I think the differences I perceived in the van wall were just in my imagination.
Unfortunately the drawer I built ages ago to go in this spot is the wrong size. I don’t know if I forgot to account for the width of the walls (1″) or forgot to account for the drawer slides (1″), but I forgot to consider one or the other as it is 1″ too wide. I think this will work to fix it, but it won’t be the most beautiful drawer ever!
In a surprising stroke of good luck, I had to pieces of spare plywood that were almost the perfect the size for the shelves that will fit in the cabinet so I was able to quickly cut those. Tomorrow I should be able to largely put it together and get it ready for finishing.
I also made a shopping run to the electrical supply shop for one more length of wire. I decided the outlet for our induction stove needs a heavier gauge wire than I had previously run – 14/3 – so I picked up some 12/3. This will allow me to comfortably run a 20 amp circuit to the passenger side of the van.