Have a seat.

No I mean it, I know a really great place to sit.

Well after a months work I have the bench seats done, they look fantastic! I think this has been one of my favorite projects on the camper so far. Also the one I have invested the most time in too, perhaps. I really enjoyed building from scratch, having all the new fresh lumber to work with and just the general fabrication of it all.

We started out building the skeletons of the seats which involved a lot of measuring, pre-drilling and (something my dad is very insistent upon) countersinking of screws (where you drill a very small shallow hole so the head of the screw can rest at or below the surface of the wood). After the frames were done, or I thought they were, I came to the conclusion they were a little too tall for comfort. I originally got my measurements for high from checking many different chairs and taking the average of how high you sat from the floor. However when I was making the frames at last minute I decided to go about 2 inches higher. Big mistake. We chose to dismantle the seats and lower them all 2 inches. It was really worth it though because then the hight was oh so nice.

Next up came the sides and tops (also lids) of the seats. This part was not too hard. We got some nice thin wood for the sides and thicker stuff for the top since it will have to support the weight of people. After a few trips to Ace for hinges we had these all assembled.

Oh! side note throughout this whole time I was racking my brain trying to figure out how I was going to upholster these things. I had (with the help of my mom) looked into high density foam, which is really expensive. I was trying to find some kind of material to cover them with, there was a lot more searching too which I cant remember now. However, while at Menards looking for something else the heavens opened a light shown down and I could hear the voices bellowing down, here was my answer! In the outdoor patio section they had a huge wall of replacement seat cushions for outdoor furniture and swings, they were perfect and exactly what I needed. My long search was over. I went back a few days later with my lovely wife Tyne and we picked out some great green cushions.

Anyway back to the bench seats. Next up came a few days of staining. Lots and lots of staining. Its worth it though because they have a great dark finish on them now. After letting them dry and putting them in and placing the padding on, voila! I give you a new and great place to sit!

Also during this past month I got side tracked into a few other little projects. I got the water system working. Found a new water storage tank, got a new spare tire, towing mirrors for my car removed some ugly wallpaper and chances are a few other things too. I might write more about these later, or at least post a video.