Leaderboard

For those of you interested in my craft of making cutting board, I though I would do a quick overview of the process. It all starts with templates for the sink, in this case 2017 Elite II. A top cardboard template that is cut to the finished size, faucet location/cut-out and corner details are establish. I second template is made for the bottom which is use to hold the cutting board in place by dropping down into the sink bowl. Once these are checked for fit, I can make as many as I need knowing they will all be the same. Rough saw 1 1/4” thick Cherry and Maple are select and measured for total board feet need to build all the cutting boards. The board are then milled on the jointer to establish a flat bottom side and then passed through the planer for a perfectly flat board. The final thickness is 7/8”. These are then ripped down on the table saw – Cherry to 2 1/3” and the Maple to 1/4”. [attachment file=IMG_0859.JPG] With all the milling done the boards are then arranged in the ship decking pattern and glued together with food safe, water proof glue. These large panels are then cut to rough size cutting boards. Using the top template the corners are rounded and faucet location are cut on the bandsaw. The final size is cut on the table saw for last minute adjustments. The bottom template is then use to mark the bowl location and the wood is removed from around the edges at the router table. This allows the cutting board to sit inside the sink and not move. Last step is sanding and more sanding and more sanding. 80, 120, 220 and 320 grit sandpaper are used. The final step is a coat of mineral oil and they are done. It takes about 3 days to make a run of 4 cutting boards. Some people have ask why I do this? And think I am a bit crazy. It's not for the money for the wood alone cost what I charge. It is for the love of working with wood and created something I can share with others who value my craft. Over the next few week I will begin shipping these board to their new Oliver Owners. I hope they enjoy them as much as I did making them.

Today, headed east on US Highway 1, just outside Ellsworth ME eastern city limits. Burgundy and gray stripes. Black TV. I was driving the white Chevrolet truck, waving with both hands, not pulling a trailer. Does anyone here belong to it?

If you want something quite a bit stronger than a tension rod, google "load bars", or go to any truck stop and they will have them. Truck drivers use them to hold their cargo in place, they're very strong and extend out to 9 feet or more, they have rubber feet on their pads and shouldn't mar the floor or the ceiling.

Amazon lists a number of "floor to ceiling tension rods". https://www.amazon.com/J-H-Smith-Co-5264-Indoor/dp/B00EO7FIKM/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1529413673&sr=8-10&keywords=floor+to+ceiling+tension+pole Bill

I used to be much more impatient and wanted instant gratification on all endeavours. Many of the things that stand in the way of adventures and dreams have value of their own and are worthy of being in the way of other things. Like raising a child for instance, or pursuing a career. Having someone tell you what you must do is ridiculous. The best they can offer is their own experience based on their own priorities and the results of those decisions. After camping all my life, I have come to the conclusion, for me and at this stage, that a trailer is excellent. A little cabin that offers so much, yet can be parked, unhooked and left behind to allow side trips. A place to get out of the worst weather and be so comfortable. The ability to stop anywhere and be there. I have also realized, at least for me, that things take time and time makes them better. I now try to not look for the completion of the project, but at the process of the project. This has helped me build a much better house, for instance, that took about seven years to build. Or build a cruising sailboat and live the dream while building it. I had never had a boat and didn't know how to sail, but while building it, I was able to learn a tremendous amount about everything involved with building, rigging, sailing and cruising. Then it was time to go and the adventure unfolded in front of us. Unforgetteble. The only problem is if you stop making progress. Even as you prepare for your adventure, you are living the dream. Of course, all adventure includes some risk and we will never be prepared for everything. So we all must find the best balance between "go now" and "wait until absolutely prepared for everything", which isn't possible. While dealing with other priorities, we have the perfect opportunity to prepare for the next adventure that must wait for it's time to arrive. Dream, imagine and prepare. I don't worry so much about waiting too long. None of us know when the end will arrive and completing an adventure isn't really the goal. But looking back on so many fine times, learning so much and making such good connections with others, certainly gives a lot of peace. I want to keep travelling, but I'm not in a hurry to go. I just don't want to get so weak I can't do it and realize I missed the chance. Adventures always turn out to be far richer and different than I could ever imagine while in the planning stage. Preparing and going just start the wheel rolling. Then the real fun and experiences come along and make it all so worth while. Because of that, I do very little planning or reservations or set dates to be places. Come up with a rough outline and go. Play it by ear. Have a few definite goals along the way. Judge when you are ready to head back. It's good to go and it's good to be home.

I agree with John that the search function on this forum is inadequate. I have complained about it several times before. In an earlier post, Jason said that the searches are ajax based and searches are performed in real time. I am not a programmer, but I have worked with IT specialists in developing my department’s web site, and my understanding of ajax searches is that the search results are shown as you type, and the search results narrow as you continue typing. This type of auto-complete, based upon text strings within the website, is enormously powerful. You see this auto-compete in a Google search. Clearly the Oliver Forum search engine does not do this. I do want to provide a short tutorial on Google searches. Really good information HERE, and maybe too much information HERE. John provides a good suggestion But there is a better way. If you put “site:” before olivertraveltrailers.com, as in “site:olivertraveltrailers.com” you limit the search to that one domain. You can exclude hits with specific words. Suppose you search for “propane tank” but you get a lot of hits about barbeques, then you can exclude barbecues with a minus sign before the offending word. The search would be “propane tank -barbeque”or even “propane tank -barbeque -bbq”. You can use quotation marks to demand an exact match. Suppose you search for quick connect in the search “site:olivertraveltrailers.com quick connect” and you find pages with both words (or only one of the words) anywhere on the page. A search for “site:olivertraveltrailers.com “quick connect”” demands the consecutive words, in a phrase. (I hope you are not confused by the nested quotation marks; the outermost marks delimit what is going into the search field.) You can also use the Boolean Operators AND and OR in your searches. Examples: “”quick connect” AND water” “”quick connect” AND propane OR LP” You can also use asterisks as wild cards in your searches. If you go to FiberglassRV Forum, you can search the entire post, or search only the title. Searching the title can be an excellent strategy. We cannot do that with the Oliver Forum search tools, but there is a work around with the terms intitle: and allintitle: For example, “site:olivertraveltrailers.com/ lubrication intitle:jacks” finds pages with the word "lubrication" and with the word "jacks" in the title. Note that the singular jack did not work, because the title had jacks. Hope this helps.

I had a leak in the older style faucet with separate hot and cold handles. I was able to go to Home Depot with the cartridge and match it up with some careful looking. The ceramic inserts were the same on several faucets, but the cartridges were different, so I got a couple of them and will just re-build mine. To get us by until that time, I cut a small piece of electrical tape into a circle and stuuck it in the valve. That stopped it temporarily, but might not work on the single handled model. I don't like that there is no access to the plumbing in the bathroom. The whole trailer must be shut off to make a repair. I'm also concerned about the flex hose disappearing into the abyss with no access. Best thing would be to come up with a way to get in there easily, like hinges on the door, or something. And then install valves on the lines for servicing.