With company here, and doing other things that go with that, I haven't been hanging out in the shop everyday. I slip out there now and then to do this and that and get eyes back on various parts of the project.
I got roof vents ordered. Actually they are the Hengs brand 26" by 26" escape hatches, not just vents. Another thread explained why I needed such a large size for the bunk hatch, but I only needed a 17" long by 14" wide for the rear vent/hatch (reasons were due to roof metal damage I want to cut out). Since they don't make the exact size I needed I looked at the next sizes up. But when I concluded a 22" by 22", and it was actually a few pennies MORE than the 26" by 26", I spoke with DW and we determined the larger would be preferable anyway, for both natural light AND ventilation. So we got those coming - which is good. ;)
But as far as work goes, I played some more with the dinette post.
Remember these parts from a post or two back?
I was thinking the two post mount flanges were from the floor of two different campers, so I picked the best, finished and installed it. Then it dawned on me the other was for the table end. I had been thinking there was another flange on the table I got from the parts camper, but there was no additional piece - this was it. And the silver ring is simply a protective flange for the raised floorboard at the dinette.
You won't tend to see such quality parts and durable pieces in today's campers. Once the wood is worn from the pole (without a flange ring) then you're expected to buy a new camper. Kind of a reflection of our whole society and "how we roll". Sure it creates economy, but what a bunch of wasted resources and trash we create in the process.
Like it has been said, for every action there is an opposite and equal reaction. Perhaps someday we'll discovery a better understanding of what we call the "law of physics", one that perhaps doesn't have such opposite and equal BAD reactions to what we see as GOOD actions setting it all off, but until we do - maybe we should look at each of our own PERSONAL actions and alter them when we can to encourage lesser BAD reactions. Or not. I mean we still enjoy our freedoms - at least for now.
But I digress. Lil' Queenie came with a modern style post, perched precariously on the larger diameter mount still attached to the floor. The donor camper had an original post and table mount. Probably also a floor mount, but I wasn't interested in dumpster diving for the donor floor mount flange as down there, in those recesses, the donor had rodent smells and nastiness that wasn't going to get salvaged by THIS hantavirus susceptible human being! No thank you Joe!
So once I realized my mistake I swapped the easily interchangeable aluminum studs and kept the better one for the table mount. Then I cleaned up the remaining flanges on the wire wheel and with sandpaper, gave them a good coat of rust neutralizer, a new brand which acted as an excellent primer as well, and got paint on the pieces.
The under table mount got the basic black gloss, and the floor flange ring got a dark bronze to go with the rest of the interior.
At the same time I steel wool-ed the post. I found an old "instructional" sticker on the upper end of the post. I could read the word "push" but not much else. Being in poor condition, it got cleaned off.
I'll probably get a couple coats of clear coat on these today and then set them aside for now.
