# A small part of a big project



## cjtoombs (Nov 26, 2014)

I decided some time ago that I wanted an RV of some sort.  After some thought, I decided on a truck camper.  There is a small problem, though.  Truck campers (and specifically the one I bought) look something like this:




And my truck looks like this:


Which called for a solution, the one I came up with will look like this when it's done:


This subframe will allow the camper to go all the way to the front of the 10 ft bed, as well as supporting and attaching the camper to the bed through the stake pockets. It also provides quite a bit more storage where the wheel well holes are on the camper.  More to follow, wife wants me to go somewhere now.


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## cjtoombs (Nov 26, 2014)

Ok, can't add any more pictures, says I have exceeded my quota by 73 mB, so I will continue this at some later date, when I can post pictures again.


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## Bill Gruby (Nov 26, 2014)

You have enough posts. There should be no limit on you. Let me check?

 "Billy G"


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## cjtoombs (Nov 28, 2014)

Test message:









I just uploaded this stuff under his account with no issue.

Nels


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## Bill Gruby (Nov 28, 2014)

The problem has been fixed. You are no longer limited. Have fun.

 "Billy G"


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## cjtoombs (Nov 28, 2014)

Thanks, gents, for getting me going again.  Now, on with the story.  The part that I will be focusing on in this thread is this one:



A bit closer look at it:




The camper has a radius (sort of, it's not very accurate) at the front (not shown in the model of the camper) and this part is designed to match it, as well as possible.


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## cjtoombs (Nov 28, 2014)

With the background out of the way, lets get down to cutting some metal.  The models that I showed in the earlier posts were done in Turbocad, and I used the Turbocad CAM plugin to generate some G code and put a 3.5" square bar of 6061 in the vise and cut this out:




The outside dimensions are .030 large at this point.  I removed the nubs on my Craftsman 3 wheel bandsaw (I used a slitting saw on the second one, my bandsaw was out of commission at the time, and holding this thing at an angle to cut it off wasn't easy, or recomended):




I laid out the tops by printing the shapes out from Turbocad and gluing them to the plate:




This was cut out on the bandsaw (luckily I did both of the before the saw crapped out).  The bevel was filed on the outside with a body file, inside with a course rat tail file.


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## cjtoombs (Nov 28, 2014)

The bevels on both parts are to help with weld penetration.  Here the parts are clamped up and ready to weld:




I preheated the part for a while with the torch, since I only have 200 amps to work with, and I didn't want that big chunk of aluminum sucking up all my heat.  Here is the welded part.  This is my first big project welding aluminum,  I am improving, but don't claim perfection on these welds 





This was set up in the machine.  Since I indicated to the corner vise jaw to begin with, I just made sure it was flush to the right side of the vise jaw, and it was back in the position it was cut in the first time.  






This is where that .030 I left on the outside earlier came off.  I used a slitting saw to get through most of the parting (it wasn't large enough to do the whole thing) and used the bandsaw to complete it. The second one had to be hacksawed off, since the bandsaw wasn't working.


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## cjtoombs (Nov 28, 2014)

I'd like to say I planned it this way, but that square nub that was left on came in handy in the next setups.  I used it to ensure that the ends to be cut were square with the spindle on the machine:




Then I cut the relief so that the 1/8" thick 2" tube would slip over it:




After cutting the other relief this was welded to the tubing:.





The welds on the sides were cut down flush and smoothed off, as well as on the outside of the radius.  The inside of the radius was left as welded, as nothing attaches or contacts it:





This is where it will actually be on the camper:




It's pretty close, but the camper isn't a perfect radius.  Some sealer will take care of the rest.  I'm probably overbuilding this subframe, but the old engineering saying "when in doubt, build it stout comes into play here.  I was originally going to build it from steel, since the welding would have been much easier, but the weight was going to be way over what the camper jacks would handle, so I opted for aluminum for the entire structure.  So far I have the sides done and two of the support I beams done, as well as these two parts.  I have 3 more I beams to go, then I can start welding parts together.  I will either have to attach them to the camper or build a jig to ensure that the hold down bolt on the camper align with the features on the frame they bolt to.  Once that is done, then there are internal items (drawers, shelves) to be done, then skinning the bottom and front, then the doors.  I'll probably post more on the doors, since they are pretty complicated, but I won't be doing them for some time.


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## rsegars (Nov 29, 2014)

I have thoughts of doing projects such as this but at this moment in time I lack the talent. Very nice!!


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## Bill Gruby (Nov 29, 2014)

rsegars said:


> I have thoughts of doing projects such as this but at this moment in time I lack the talent. Very nice!!



 I have been at this machinist trade for over 40 years now. I have heard that line more times than I can count. Talent is a natural ability that allows someone to do something well. Go back over that and stop at the word "Natural".  To me that means it is either there or it is not. You will never find out if you can swim till you get into the water that is deeper than you are tall. My suggestion to you is to find a project that seems unreachable and take it on. You will find out in short order where the Talent is. All to many times it is there and the individual will never realize it. I have seen many newcomers say I can't do that and never reach their full potential. 

 I'm not saying take on a project that has an unreasonable end. Just find one that taxes what you know at this point. You can't learn if you don't try.

 "Billy G"

 Sorry for the Hi Jack, you can have it back now.


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## GA Gyro (Nov 29, 2014)

Bill Gruby said:


> I have been at this machinist trade for over 40 years now. I have heard that line more times than I can count. Talent is a natural ability that allows someone to do something well. Go back over that and stop at the word "Natural".  To me that means it is either there or it is not. You will never find out if you can swim till you get into the water that is deeper than you are tall. My suggestion to you is to find a project that seems unreachable and take it on. You will find out in short order where the Talent is. All to many times it is there and the individual will never realize it. I have seen many newcomers say I can't do that and never reach their full potential.
> 
> I'm not saying take on a project that has an unreasonable end. Just find one that taxes what you know at this point. You can't learn if you don't try.
> 
> ...



Thoroughly agree with Bill...

One has to be willing to be 'stretched'... to grow their talents.
And there may be short term failures within the stretching... kinda like this:
Hitting a point where it looks like a total waste... 
Then sleeping on it...
And the next day it seems easy, and is accomplished.  
The process of learning is more important that the finished product... the finished product will happen when one reaches that stage of hands on learning.  

Seems to me the best way to learn, is by doing...


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## cjtoombs (Nov 29, 2014)

rsegars said:


> I have thoughts of doing projects such as this but at this moment in time I lack the talent. Very nice!!



Lol, for me, it's at this moment in talent that I lack the time.  Most of the talent comes from having lots of tools and just diving in.  I had never welded aluminum, or Tig either, for that matter before I bought this welder.  I had taken Vo Ag shop class in high school where we learned oxyacetylene and stick.  I bought a Ron Covel video on Tig welding and went out and gave it a try.  Before this project I probably hadn't run more than 4 feet total in Tig aluminum beads, and some of the beads I ran (especially the first ones) were a bit rough, but they have improved.  The great thing about metalwork in relation to woodwork is that you can weld up your mistakes in metalwork.  If you have it available, you can take welding and machine shop classes (usually at night) at your local community college.  We don't have machine shop available at our local, but we do have welding.  I would like to take it, just for a refresher, but I tend to travel a lot with work.  It's nice to have a pro looking over your shoulder and correcting your technique, but there are plenty of pros on the web that can look at pictures of your beads and give you some idea where you are going wrong or right.  This is the largest welding project project that I have undertaken so far, and requires not only a lot of welding, but a lot of machine work as well.  The worst problem in reality is distractions that pull you off in other directions and slow the progress on the main project.  Like having to fix the bandsaw .


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