Embedded Files
SKOOLIE: A schoolbus converted into a mobile camper or destination hotel room.
This client in Costa Rica has a 30 year old school bus that they are remodeling into a Skoolie. They have a very basic woodworking shop but little experience. One of the main projects was installing a face-frame with a shelf, lighting bars along the sides, and two twin beds mounted directly into the bus frame.
This was done through Workaway.info, where I traded work for room and board. This particular client was in Paquera, Costa Rica.
Like all of my experiences through this program, one of the most difficult challenges was lack of access to proper tools and workspace. This client had a really old tablesaw and a miter saw, and a shop (seen here) that needed several weeks of cleaning and restoring before I could start.
The most difficult part of the face frame and light boxes was that nothing in the bus was straight, square, consistent, or symmetrical. So each mounting block had to be custom cut, the face-frame edges had to be hand shaped, and the lighting bars pieces had to be individually designed and fabricated to mount properly.
I did some of the basic electrical work on this, though someone else wired the breaker box.
I also built two twin beds for the skoolie. I used lap joints for the inner long stretcher, and the outside of each of the beds was mounted directly to the side of the bus.
The legs of the bed were fixed to the floor and the ceiling of the skoolie with custom-fabricated mounting brackets.
None of the wood was milled and the client didn't have a functioning jointer or planer. So even though it was a fairly small amount of lumber for these beds, the process of milling and dimensioning lumber was really time consuming.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse