Power-tool skills expand travel options

I’ve developed top-notch power-tool skills as we’ve done a deep dive into our camper van conversion project. But let me temper your exclamations of admiration: I’ve successfully cut out the top notches of our fake-barnboard panelling using a jigsaw.

I have also used, for the first time ever, a planer, oscillating sander, belt sander and chop saw. And I expanded my power-tool skills with a drill/power-screwdriver by learning to countersink screws, drill into metal, and use some ratchet thingy that lets you get screws in better. (I hope my command of the technical details won’t confuse you.) I tentatively approached the table saw, which has scared me ever since my brother cut off his index finger on one, but made just half a cut before stepping aside.

All those power tools made me nervous at first, especially when drilling into metal, but I built up confidence as my limbs and digits remained intact.

When I wrote my blog motto “Travel to learn. Learn to travel.” I was not thinking that learning power-tool skills would help me travel. But here we are in this mad COVID world full of surprises and firsts. We’re converting a van into a camper so we can travel while remaining self-sufficient and physically distant from others. And if you want to move that project along, you must dive in to learn new skills.

However, the project has proceeded as the same pace as Ontario’s economic recovery – that is to say, slowly. My plans for a test-drive camping trip by Canada Day are well in the rear-view mirror.

Did you know there is nothing straight inside a van? The walls curve from top to bottom, and the doors curve top to bottom as well as side to side. Just when you think you’ve cut something to fit, you encounter a random chunk of metal protruding into your space for no apparent reason.

When people in YouTube videos claim they’ve done their camper van conversion in a week, be very skeptical. It took us five days, working on and off over two weeks, just to cover the insulation with the panelling – something I thought would take one day.

Third time’s the charm? Not for camper van wall panels.

“Measure twice, cut once” is the general rule for avoiding mistakes. But when it comes to camper van conversion projects, we learned it’s “measure four times, cut 11 times.”

Bill spent many hours measuring and then drawing and cutting templates for the panelling. The large piece of fake-woodgrain panelling had to go around the wheel wells, over some metal ribs, and snug up into the corners where odd bits of metal stuck out. But he’d taken all the weird shapes and angles into account – we thought. We traced his templates onto the panelling and I held as he cut it with the jigsaw.

“It’s all about the templates,” he said with confidence, as we prepared to lift the panel into place the first time. He even boldly promised there would be no swearing. Hmm. The panel needed some fine-tuning, but really, that was to be expected. He fired up the jigsaw again for more fine-tuning. And then more.

“Third time’s the charm,” he said, still smiling. We lifted it into place, but it still wouldn’t fit.

On the ninth try, the panel got jammed in over the wheel cover, and we feared cracking it in two as we yanked and tugged to get it out for more trimming.

“Tenth time is a frickin’ charm.” He wasn’t smiling much by then.

We updated that saying to “Eleventh time’s the charm” after the panel finally slipped into place. (Well, we may have whacked it a bit.) We high-fived each other and took a break.

Not fans of delays

We had planned to install the ventilation fan in the ceiling first, but the fan was taking so long to arrive that we proceeded with insulation and panelling first. When our daughter Rachel and her partner, Coburn, visited, we put them to work helping install the ceiling panels. On one of those sweltering days in June, all four of us were inside the hot van, our backs and sweaty hands supporting the ceiling panel while Bill made sure the electrical wires were out of the way as he drilled. Who should walk up the driveway right then but a courier, delivering the fan. Splendid timing!

After finishing the big panels, we decamped to our friends Kathleen and Arthur’s place. Arthur has a spacious, well-set-up envy-inducing workshop with all the tools needed to cut the fiddly panelling bits to go onto the doors, cut a hole in our roof for the ventilation fan, cut laminate flooring to length, and build the bed supports. That’s where I added significantly to my power-tool skills.  

After Arthur and Bill taught me how to use the various tools, they set me loose. We helped each other when necessary but worked independently too – we were well-oiled machinery as we went in and out of the workshop to the van and back again. I can’t say that all my cuts were perfectly straight, but my work did contribute to the project.

The ventilation fan went in surprisingly easily, after Bill worked up enough nerve to cut through the roof. Arthur pitched in and helped every step of the way, for the fan and everything else that followed. The longest task was covering the doors with panels – all those blasted curves.

Kathleen – who kept us supplied with water and tea but otherwise worked upstairs in her office – came out for an update.

“Weren’t you going to remove that latch before you put the panel on?” she asked.

Rats. She was right. Good quality control, but another delay while Arthur found the tools to remove a bit of metal so we could open the side doors wider.

As we worked, I contemplated how this camper van will give us more freedom to travel this summer, which is the whole point of the project. Interprovincial border restrictions are showing signs of easing up. Hopefully by August we’ll be able to visit our son, Tom, in Kelowna, B.C., and our daughter Rachel in Canmore, Alberta. However, even if we must stay in Ontario, many friends and relatives have offered us their driveways, where we can park overnight and have distanced visits. Oh, how our concepts of a good visit or holiday have changed!

We are still deciding on the name for our van. We received a lot of great suggestions and are still discussing the options. If you didn’t submit yours or cast a vote before, it’s not too late! Just leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Now, on to building the bed frame and cabinets. Bring me those power tools!