So here are the metal surfaces.
The pebbled metal has some small dents and dings. They are harder to see. Any smooth glossy metal is going to shows marks much clearer. And I wasn't at all certain I could hide them completely.
I got to work hammering gently and harder, with a piece of flat steel underneath, turning the metal as needed. There were some stretches that couldn't be fixed and the main exterior lower dents now look better, but are still visible. I'll probably make some sort of "kick plate" like is found on many residential doors. Perhaps with a Lil' Queeny name tag or something. ;)
Now what about the wood frame?
Well, the metal firms it up of course, but I wasn't real excited about the staple fastening, especially as some were rusting at the bottom. And the wood wasn't real bad, but it did have some weaker appearances.
I wondered, did the window need wood framing support? Probably not. Too much wood might make the door heavier than necessary.
I decided against a larger frame, instead keeping the same basic dimensions as original, but with a few strength improvements.
These tops and bottoms could be one board.
And I should use one board for this whole run: lock-set, dead-bolt, and door hold open.
So I found some suitable boards that were just cluttering up the shop anyway, and ripped them up on the table saw.
It felt good to get back into the wood. :)
Here are the new boards laid out on the old frame template.
The pieces are not a full 1.5" like a 2x4 or other 2-by dimensional lumber. The aluminum frames are 1.5" and they need to span not just the door wood frame, but also the thickness of two sheets of metal. Therefore, the wood frame was 1 3/8". Table saw work. And these things had to be very straight, as well as an absence of twists, bow, warp and knots.
I measured and laid out center lines for door hold open bolts, dead-bolt, and lock-set.
Then marked top and bottom of the support board and marked it.
Then after checking the aluminum frame screw hole placement, I marked for the framing screws, so as to not interfere with the door hold open bolts and lock-set drill holes.
Did the same at all four corners.
Then I drilled pilot holes, glued surfaces, and screwed the joints together. Looks like I forgot to get close-ups, but here is the final product.
Then I got this thing up on the bench and checked square and flat. To check square you measure kiddi-corner both ways and even out the difference. In my case, the distances started out 1/8" different from each other. So I had to squeeze one kiddi toward its corner by 1/16". Which added that lost 1/16" to the other kiddi, or to the corner, I forget which one it went to. But to help me do that I screwed blocks to the bench, made a framing jig in other words.
The flat was also out a little bit. One corner came off the bench by about 3/16". In the tight jig, it held the frame flat. Then gluing the metal in place and allowing it to set-up good overnight kept it flat, once it was removed from the jig.
I also squeezed the center of the framing by 1/8" to get a proper width for the overall door, and placed a screw into the bench where it wouldn't interfere with drilling my lock-set center-line hole later.
I used a basic brush-on contact cement for the metal edges and the wood framing and had DW help me lay it down in proper placement.
Didn't get pictures of that.
Next day, I cut foam board to fit and assembled the rest.
The other day I bought another full sheet of 3/4" polyisocyanurate (the store label calls is polyiso and I've called it polycyan, but in essence, it's the same stuff I've used throughout the rest of the camper. It has a much higher R-value than does regular or other lesser and various foam boards, making my door just above R-value 9, which is kind of cool being metal and all. It really isn't 3/4", it's a little less, which fit my needs well as I was filling a cavity just under 1.5".
I doubled it up and cut my pieces. Leaving this much left over to finish that last bathroom wall.
Here is the first piece contact cemented in place.
And how it looks doubled up through the window opening.
And my finished door.
With close ups.
I think today I'll drill for the lock-sets, and sand the metal, maybe paint. And I'm going to put on my Merle Haggard's Greatest Hits CD. He was one of my defining heroes - may he rest in peace.
