The Devil's in the details

So As I get ready to install the 'back shelf' as I have grown to call it. I realized I was about to install the shelf overtop of a very important piece of the puzzle. Specifically the element control for the cook top. After install in the counter I had the control tucked in behind until a time that I figured out where to best mount the control panel. Out of sight is out of mind.......good thing I remembered

I have to make sure I don't pull a bone head move and mount the control over top or behind where the elements are. Nothing more frustrating than having to turn down the heat for a boiling pot of water and having to reach through the stream from the offending pot to do so!

This is actually a great opportunity to get two birds with one stone. You'll notice a small square in the back shelf. That is the air supply or intake for the cooktop. I was brainstorming how I can leave that open but yet stylishly cover the opening. In walks in the brushed aluminum bracket that I have been hording for just the right moment.

Some measurements and tracings, then re measure and re trace...finally after the appropriate amount of humming and hawing.....I committed. 

Set in place it has the desired effect I was looking for. A stylish mounting bracket for the cooktop that visually covers the air intake. I still need to create a small mounting block inside the back shelf. Then we can deliver to the bus interior.
 

Just like that....."BAM".....it's winter!

We were sitting on the deck on a thursday exclaiming how wonderful of a fall it had been. The leaves had a chance to turn and hang on for weeks. The vistas were beautiful. The next day by 2pm it was full on blizzard.....and just like that....its winter.

But what can you do but embrace mother nature. I'm a winter guy(although I would love more daylight for it) so we bundled up and listened to the squeek of the snow beneath our boots.

After last spring, when we had record amount of snow, I decided that I needed to up grade some of our snowshoes, courtesy of my in-laws. Now I could scrap these old fellers like our throw away society seems to promote, but instead I decided to create oldschool snowshoes 2.0

I found a company out of Quebec that manufactures modern snowshoe bindings for old school snowshoes. They seem to work like a dam.....I'll see what the field test shows when we get enough snow on the ground.

Meanwhile, as I wait for a new Voltage regulator I decided to heat up the inside of the bus and work on some kitchen trim. I still have aluminum stock that I purchased

The hardest part of this whole process is the little curve at the end. It took some playing but eventually I got what I liked

Test fit proved positive.

Now to build a storage shelf/container thingy that matches the drives side

Starting with the paining process, sanding and primer layer are done, now a coat of three of the cabinet paint

While I await the paint to dry, I spent my time polishing the trim piece. This is an exercise in patience. The process is multi step and slow, you really cant rush this....if you do it usually comes back to bite you in the back side.

After I spent a good half hour going through the different grades of buffing compound, my end result was pretty slick....the guy in the reflection not so much, but the mirror polish ...pretty slick!

 I was so proud of myself, I decide to reward myself with a special treat!