The doors were a satisfying project, but also a frustrating one at times. I'd had a dream image of these doors with rounded corners, giving the trailer a much different look from one with square cornered doors. The imagery was appealing to me, and now it was going to come to pass. If I could just get the doors to fit the doorways. I've had a certain confidence in my abilities to make a wide variety of things, even things I hadn't made before. The trick, as I'd found in the past was to be able to make two of them, the same. I was comfortable with the woodwork. I was comfortable with the sheet metal work. I was having concerns about the molding. I'd done the doorway molding much earlier, when the weather was warm and I could work outside. There was still lots of time in front of me. Now, it was cold, and April not far off. The molding was ten feet long, my basement shop very small, and I'd be handling a propane torch with a pretty big flame in close quarters. As it turned out, the final piece of door molding I'd bent was also the most difficult. Maybe, just because it was the last. Framing the doors was a straightforward woodworking job, once I decided how big they were going to be. Figuring 1/8" on each edge for the molding thickness, and another 1/8" clearance on each edge for air gap between door and frame and another 1/8" just because.

 I made the doors 5/8" smaller in height and width than the finished door openings. I was going to have the window centered in the door, until I got the lock and laid out the whole works on a dummy layout. Not gonna happen. The window had to be off-center in order for the door frame to have any strength in the middle. Also, I decided that I'd use a strip of oak for extra strength in the part of the door with the least wood in it.
The windows pleased me, especially since they were so reasonably priced. They were well made, good looking, had rounded corners, and were a good size for me. They were originally intended to be mounted by the use of a fitted trim molding which would be on the inside face of the door. Short sheet metal screws would go through the edge of this trim molding and engage a slot in the window frame molding. This makes for an "invisible" mount with no exterior screws showing. Of course, when I tried to fit the interior trim molding in place, it would not fit properly. I had made the window opening to fit the window well enough, but did not make the opening quite big enough to accommodate the trim molding. Well, rats! I didn't have a mittful of tiny sheet metal screws for the trim molding, anyway, so might as well do what I can. I drilled a bunch of holes in the window frame and attached the window with sheet metal screws. I used a bead of silicone caulk under the window molding, and extra caulk extruded from the screw holes, so I am sure the windows will be sealed well.

I'd gotten some stout continuous hinge from a surplus shop in Duluth, and so used that for hanging my doors. More sheet metal screws and caulk, and the doors were hung. I snapped a few screws while hanging the doors. Jeepers! They just don't make 'em like they used to.

Remember my concerns about making two of a thing the same? Well, my door openings in the trailer body were slightly different from each other. The difference was in the molding. Each piece of molding I put on was a little bit better done than the previous one, and now it showed. The first door I made did not quite fit in one door opening, but fit perfectly in the other. I hung the first door, and then made plans for the second door. I made the necessary modifications and got the second door hung. Now that the doors are both in place, I can see how much difference there is in the way the doorway moldings were put in, from first to last. I think I'd like to re-do the first molding job, but not until after we get back from our first trip this spring. I am assuming there will be other changes to make as well, so I'm going to make a list as we travel along.




Showing the door framing, the strip of oak on the edge near the lock cut-out, and some corner radius fillers for the window opening. The larger radius fillers on the left edge of the picture were actually scraps from an unrelated project, adding some strength to the bottom edge of the door frame. The frame is held together entirely with polyurethane glue. (think very large and powerful primates from tropical Africa)

 A square of wood will gives me 2 corner radius fillers - note shallow cuts into the block at the thinnest parts of the fillers. These shallow cuts make it easier to cut out the curved shapes, where the thickness tapers to (almost) zero.



After the paneling was glued and nailed in a few key places, a router is used to cut the window opening and trim the outer circumference of the door quickly and neatly. After the router work, the rest of the paneling edges can now be nailed down with colored paneling nails. Staining and a few coats of clear finish make the door ready for the next stages.

 This is a spiral-fluted, carbide panel cutting bit with a safe end. It makes a downward-slicing cut in the paneling, producing a smooth finished edge.

Traveling clockwise with the router inside the window opening, the bit will hug the edge of the opening.

Traveling counter-clockwise around the outside circumference of the door, the bit will hug the outer edge of the door.

If the aluminum were thin enough, this bit would cut aluminum, too, but this metal was just too thick and the bit could not be used to trim the aluminum. I had to use sheet metal shears.


The outline of the door and window opening were traced onto the sheet aluminum.

The outside was a straightforward cutting job, using a large straight shears just off the left edge of the picture.

A pilot hole was cut with a hole saw, to enable rough cutting the window opening with the smaller shears shown in the picture.


Once the opening had been rough-cut, another pass around with the smaller shears made a neat job of the opening with no tinner's lice on the cut edge.



The lock, window, and molding have been installed. The paneling is also finished. The next stage is to attatch the hinge, and then take the door out to the trailer for final mounting.

After a few weeks on the road, we knew that a stick was not the answer for keeping the windows open.

When we came back home, I made up some hooks and got some light chain. I attached the chain to the top of the window opening framework, and attached the hooks to the window slider, through a small hole I drilled.

Now, the window can be held open at any height, by hooking any chain link the hook will reach




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