DIY Campervan Kitchen Cabinets (With Built-in Seat!) | Transit Van Conversion E32

[@liquidmuse6941]

What a clever tip I noticed at 19'49! Excellent tip for all kinds of work.

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Those washers come in pretty handy! Good to have a few different sizes depending on the gap, we've found beer mats with a hole in the middle work pretty great too! (Depending on the number of beers drunk to get the mat) 😄

[@skalman2262]

I've seen lots of DIY builds, but these are on a whole other level. The "professionals" have a lot to learn from your thoroughness and eye for detail. If you build a van for sale, I will buy it.

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Thank you very much! And it's an interesting offer, but one build is quite enough for now! 😀

[@JackFalltrades]

I'm amazed at Abi's drafting skills. I'm lost without software... and I can still remember people drafting by hand at a large tech company!

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Haha thanks 😀 We would be lost without our notebook, we love to jot down our ideas in it and it's nice to have everything to look back through too 🙂

[@SmithyScotland]

Thank you for taking the time to explain why and how you're doing things

[@SelfBuiltStories]

No problem! We try to get a nice balance of explaining what we're doing and why and then actually doing it 🙂

[@patrickmaloney6440]

Another cracking installment :-) Router tip no 103: using the flat side of the base plate isn't always the best way to get a straight cut... all it takes is a slight twist and you will get an unwanted wobble in your cut. If you use the round profile of the base plate a twist doesn't matter because the blade is always the same distance from the guide whichever way you twist it...

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Cheers! And thanks for the tip, that actually makes a lot of sense 😛👍

[@olivetrees342]

Omg! You guys are amazing. The detail and quality of your build is truly something to behold. The way you engineer your way through the problems you face is so inspiring. Well done and thank you for sharing your knowledge with us.

[@SelfBuiltStories]

You're welcome, thanks for watching! 🙂 We find with every project there's always a few things that crop up along the way even after all the research, so we like to film it and share the whole process and if people find that useful that's great 😊

[@foryoutosee6997]

The best thing about this video (and the previous ones) is the care and attention you give to everything you do in making your project: materials, cat, tools, paint, film... Well done! Hats off! (I know what I'm talking about: I also have a camper.)

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Thank you very much! We do like to take care to get everything right so hopefully it'll be a nice space to be in and last a long time on the road. And glad you noticed the cat, he likes to be involved and is always wandering by to see what we're up to! 😛🐱

[@fathead1968]

Kitchen build, just amazing!

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Thank you! We're very happy with it 😊

[@Bugs1953]

Love watching you two proper van builders not a sponsorship led vlog. Thankyou keep it going.😊

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Thank you, we will! 🙂

[@normm.7265]

The rabbet joinery - brilliantly precise. Lovely work.

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Thank you 😊

[@JackFalltrades]

Thanks for sharing when your plans don't work out. I've often had it happen to my projects. Nice to know I'm not alone! 😀

[@SelfBuiltStories]

No problem, it often doesn't go to plan first time especially with this kind of project, so we try to show the changes and mistakes along the way 😛

[@kbro6625]

This is one of the most meticulous builds I have seen, your attention to detail is incredible. I’m sure the finished van will be amazing.

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Thanks! We pretty happy with how it's turned out so far, if a lot of work 😛

[@ciccorilla]

Amazing. One thing you have made abundantly clear is having all the correct tools at your disposal makes the build so much easier and enjoyable. I didn’t think I needed a router, but it looks like a game changer, and a table saw, a drop saw, nail gun etc etc…

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Thanks! Yeah we've definitely acquired a few more tools as we've gone through the build. Had never used a router before but now it's one of our favourite tools, not sure how we would do some of the stuff without it now! That and the table saw, chop saw and jigsaw. Think those 4 are the standouts for us that we wouldn't want to be without 🙂 Oh and plastic trim tools... for some reason we seem to have at least one need for them for pretty much every project 😄

[@Macktheknife11]

That's a piece of precision engineering, absolutely love it. Another great video, as always, guys. The end must be just about in sight now.

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Thank you, we're quite happy with it too! 🙂 Yeah it was definitely nice getting this one in, it felt like quite a turning point having so much of the structure built out now, makes it much easier to visualise how everything's going to be. Still got a fair few bits left, but they should be more of the satisfying bits like getting the cooker working and having running water. It's funny how so much effort goes into the bits that don't actually improve our use of the van if we took it out for a trip, it's all about the last bit of effort at the end actually getting everything connected up 😀

[@adventure_onthedaily9851]

I can't decide if you should both quit your day jobs and become bespoke cabinet makers or jigsaw puzzle designers. It looks so good! Looking forward to part 2.

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Haha, thanks a lot, making one set is enough work though 😛 Looking forward to doing something that doesn't involve quite so much custom woodwork 😀

[@adventure_onthedaily9851]

@@SelfBuiltStories I thought it couldn't get any more custom than your bulkhead, but I was wrong!

[@SelfBuiltStories]

@@adventure_onthedaily9851 Haha yeah, somehow it's managed to get progressively more involved each time 😅

[@jess4mathews]

OMG ❤🎉 you guys are doing a totalky fabulous job on this transit!! Woohooo Yes the thinking through parts are lengthy and complicated...be glad your doing that a planning pace vs just blasting through... it seems your in front of the curve because of it. I'm 68 yes old with none of these experiences or skills and it can be a bit overwhelming 😮 don't give up...keep notebooks and diagrams etc... last but hardly least I really just can't thank you enough for sharing. I sub'd in from the first video of yours that I came across. Epic efforts & Epic results 🤗👏👏👏🎉🥳

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Thank you so much! 😊🥳 Yeah any big project can easily get overwhelming, there's a lot to think about. We definitely have a lot of notebooks full of doodles and diagrams! You've very welcome and glad you're enjoying the videos, there should be more to come soon 🙂

[@bliss_ventures]

Hi lovely people, just wanted to say your an inspiration. My partner and I are soon to embark on our own van build journey and are so impressed by the attention to detail you apply to every project. You both deserve to be very very proud of yourselves.

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Thank you very much, we are both very happy with what we've been able to build so far considering we started with no experience 😊 Hope that you enjoy your project, what van are you going to be converting?

[@halfabee]

Interesting to see what other people are doing on their van conversion.

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Cheers, yeah we always find it interesting to see how everyones van is a bit different!

[@no_worries_van]

Very satisfying watch all those pieces fitting together to make a whole system of storage!

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Yep, it was really nice to see it coming together after all the thinking and planning! 😀

[@alexknightwrc]

11/10 for attention to detail and craftpersonship! Amazing stuff guys.

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Haha, yep always a team effort, thanks Alex! 🙂

[@pinkbsl7972]

The shot at 11.20 is gorgeous 😍

[@SelfBuiltStories]

We were quite pleased with that one! There was some building work being done on the house at the time so we had a rare opportunity to mount the camera on the scaffolding and get an aerial view over the van, and the weather happily decided to play along for once too! 🙂

[@russ_vee_jr4199]

Great design of this cabinet and another great build. Many nice features especially the pullout panels. I like the inleting and interlocking sections. May i say it again, another great build......

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Thanks again! Took a lot of work to build but having used it for a while now we're really happy with all the space we have :)

[@finjafrohlich3717]

Wow, well done! You have put a lot of thinking into the kitchen. Congrats it turned out so well. 👍👍👍

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Thank you! 😊

[@du7ch384]

Hi Tim and Abi, I know the internet is full of experts and poor advice but I just wanted to say I enjoy your enthusiasm and a great build on the van but please don't run sheets through the table saw from the side push them from behind, use a push stick if that makes you feel more comfortable on the final parts, table saw kickback is real and will bite and is a lot more likely when passing timber from the side of the blade and binds, I don't say this to criticise but to help you be safe and save you from something when it happens is very quick and scary, be safe and love the kitchen area.👍

[@DB7PHiL]

Agreed and wear safety goggles when using power tools, I've noticed, sometimes you do and sometimes you don't..... Liking your methodical approach :)

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Thanks for the thoughtful comment, we try to be safety conscious with everything we're doing but are always happy to learn about better and safer ways of doing things. We always try to stay completely clear of the blade and so thought that standing behind the fence at the side would actually be safer than being front on with it to the left or right of the blade, as our thought process was that if it grabbed the blade it would likely fly back more on the line of the blade. We've just spent some time watching some table saw safety videos after reading your comment as we obviously don't want to take any unnecessary risks and for sure there are things we can improve. Right at the end of this one he talks about standing to the side behind the fence as we've been doing it, as a possibly safer way to do it. Would be interested in your thoughts, here's the part: kzbin.info/www/bejne/m4bbaaKKfqZ_o8k. Again thanks a lot for the comment, we do try to make sure we're always wearing goggles and have masks we use when we're sanding a lot, but it helps to keep refreshing what we're doing and avoid getting complacent

[@du7ch384]

@@SelfBuiltStories Glad you at least looked into the safety of a table saw as a semi-pro kitchen fitter I'm quite familiar with table saws and always push the work through the saw from behind and straight through, it's 100% easier to keep the cut straight to the fence and be in total control of the piece being pushed through including the feed speed. Kick back is a lot more likely with a slight twist against the blade and standing to the side makes that a lot more likely. It all comes down to confidence. Besides the above l Iove the progress you've both made and look forward to watching your journey and van coming along. It's a quality top job guys. Albeit not fun in the winter.

[@SelfBuiltStories]

@@du7ch384 Thank you! We're pretty happy with how it's coming together now 🙂 And yeah the Winter months are definitely tough to be outside with the biting cold and weather. Fortunately we've done a lot of the big construction we need the space outside for, so hopefully can spend a bit more time in the van with the heater on! 😀

[@bryanmclean5128]

Hi guys, just wanted to say you are both a real inspiration. I've been building my crafter for 10 months now but you two work so well together and leave a quality job behind you. Great entertainment and hope you build another one after this as I for one don't want to lose the channel 😀.

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Haha, thank you! One van is enough for us to build at the moment though, we'll be happy to finish this one and be on the road 😀 We might still film some of our travels and things but haven't really decided yet! Hope your build is going well 👍

[@peterfinch3548]

I love your ingenuity. They look like well thought through and beautifully constructed cabinets.

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Thanks very much 😊

[@tommotomlinson3370]

Outstanding , professional cabinet maker standard 👌👌

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Thanks a lot! Probably a fair bit slower to build though 😀

[@craigmacdonald4987]

1:35 I love the pen and paper drawings, I wish I could do 3d modelling on the computer, but I just can't. I'm quite jealous of your artistry lol. ☺️

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Haha thank you, we love a good pen and paper drawing! 🙂 We did do an initial layout design in SketchUp way back at the start but find it so much quicker and easier to just grab the notepad

[@craigmacdonald4987]

@@SelfBuiltStories 100% agreed! 👍🏻

[@SelfBuiltStories]

😄

[@JackFalltrades]

Hey! Good to see you guys again!

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Cheers 😀

[@FBall-im8ui]

Wooden matches! Just do it eh! haha brilliant. you guys are great no pressure no do it this way or else. too funny keep it up, Thank you

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Haha cheers, worked great for fixing the issues with the weaker wood 😄👍

[@Lukedormer]

I love how simple you made your base cabinets. Definitely copying

[@Lukedormer]

Sorry simple may be the wrong word. The way they all slotted together was tidy

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Cheers! Yeah we're really happy with how they turned out and they give us loads of space 🙂

[@philwilliams23]

Incredible attention to detail and problem solving! You two are amazing!

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Thanks so much! 🙂

[@BdManus]

Beautiful kitchen design, you really put a lot of thought into your design. I love that you make it easy to service things with the hatches. Great video.

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Thank you, it did take quite a lot of thought this one 🙂 We wanted to just go out and build the kitchen nice and quick but we found it made us think about lots of the other projects down the line as is typical, but we're really happy with the end result 🙂

[@nickielawrence9370]

I really enjoyed watching this episode, the work that went into building the kitchen cabinets was incredible 😊I have to say I think your van is going to be the best van out there.

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Wow thank you so much, really happy that you enjoyed it 🙂 There are some great vans out there and we'll be happy if ours ends up a nice liveable space to enjoy lots of time on the road 😊

[@dalegreenacre2635]

Good idea to leave space to remove your diesel heater. If it's a Chinese diesel heater you will need to remove it at some point to clean or replace a part in the future

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Cheers, yeah that's what we were thinking, we wanted to make maintenance of any of those bits in the kickplate area doable on the road, without having to take all of the cabinets out first!

[@robhilton716]

Wow, quality work again. Great build, great teamwork.

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Thanks Rob, Happy Christmas! 🙂🎄

[@RooMonroe]

Well done

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Thanks!

[@ianstjohn4506]

Another superb video, thank you. Your attention to detail and amazing construction skills are a delight to see. A huge amount of work must have gone into that and how you manage to condense all that down into a very watchable and enjoyable video is brilliant. Can't wait for the next instalment

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Thank you very much! It always takes a while to edit it down so we're glad that people enjoy the end result 🙂

[@ninahudson2238]

It's a pleasure to watch your videos. Everything you do is perfection from the build to the filming and editing. Would you consider a Q&A at some point when the build is completed?

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Thanks a lot, it takes a long time to build, film and edit everything so it's great if the end result is something enjoyable 🙂 Yeah possibly when the build is finished, for now we happily answer any questions left here 😊

[@wrxs1781]

Good update, your planning is to be admired, a router table would be handy but your probably finished by now.

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Cheers, and yeah that would be nice for sure, the router has become one of our favourite tools. Although we'd probably take a big indoor heated work area before that 😛

[@wrxs1781]

@@SelfBuiltStories That is my problem, dealing with the Canadian winter.

[@SelfBuiltStories]

@@wrxs1781 We feel your pain! At least the days are getting a bit longer now!

[@edwardburroughs1489]

Awesome build. Im gonna pass on a youtube tip: don't use the flat edge on that router against your guide, its easier to use the curved bit as its a circle so the radius just rides along the guide at a point. Also you should treat yourselves to a compressor and a nail gun!

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Cheers! Yeah we started doing that later on, counter-intuitive at first but makes it a lot easier to avoid the bit wandering 👍 Haha we did have to bash in quite a lot of pins, so maybe if we started building more vans but happy with just the one for now 😀

[@mundodebandeirante]

very good your videos. I'm building a camper and the information is very important.

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Thanks! Hope your build is going well 😊

[@nirwin]

Well, that's very neat indeed! Could have sworn you were pros with all that neat joinery!

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Haha, cheers! It took a lot of work 😛

[@AK-ic1yj]

Awesome work you two!! Beautiful sink :D

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Thank you! 😊

[@JackFalltrades]

Good engineering skills, Tim. Always thinking about what could go wrong and what you might want in the future. 😊

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Haha thanks, always good to be prepared! Sure there'll always be new things we think about doing down the road so like to keep our options open 😛

[@bergmichel]

Looks nice, great job! All this things i haven't done yet. I'm looking forward to see the next episode! :) Greetings from Germany

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Thanks a lot! Good luck with your own build ☺️

[@GazzaView123]

I've been following since your first upload. I very much doubt if professional van converters would be able to do better! Great work!

[@JackFalltrades]

At this point, they could qualify as professionals! 😀

[@GazzaView123]

@@JackFalltrades Good point!

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Haha thanks guys 😄 It's nice to see how we've come along since the beginning, although each next project is always a completely new challenge. Professionals would steam through it much faster without so much thinking time probably 😛

[@steveburnham4578]

Another fantastic, entertaining and informative video. I love the way you work together. We built out our van a couple of years ago and after using it for a while and finding what does and doesn't work for us, we have almost finished gutting it for a refurb. We are going to use your extending bed design and will base the shower concept on your tanked cabinet. Thanks for doing such a great job.

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Thanks very much! 😊 That's cool, hope that it works out well for you and really glad that you're getting some use from our videos 🙂

[@iddondepths]

Very good effort, nice eye for detail. Well done 👏

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Thank you 😀

[@georgemurphy9910]

Hi Tim and Ali you guys sure did a beautiful job on that van it looks beautiful🎉 🎉🎉🎉

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Thanks so much! ☺️ Took a while but we're really happy with it!

[@hedleypepper1838]

Nothing against Craig's screws but tongue and groove is proper 😊 good job. And the plus is how much lighter the ply is .....

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Cheers! Yeah we like them for speed as routing all the channels takes a long time, but it's pretty satisfying when it all slots together for sure 🙂

[@chiefdruid666]

Great work as always 😀😀

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Thanks a lot! 😊

[@geraldgooding7430]

Great work again guys loving your build 👌

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Thank you! 😊

[@RetroMods]

Excellent progress👍👍

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Cheers! We were very happy to get the kitchen mostly built, completes it a lot more 🙂

[@passenger3]

I've seen one of your videos a while back, I didn't know you were still going 😃 I've subbed

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Thanks 😊

[@gnarlybadger690]

Fantastic job, skills 👏👏

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Thanks!

[@newvannoplan756]

Hi guys, wow nicely coming along, great work, keep it up.

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Cheers! We will try to, starting to come together a lot more now 😀

[@zampa4ever]

Seriously impressed with your attention to detail. Although I’m watching the videos in a somewhat random order you haven’t changed the way you’ve gone about each step. The 7 P’s seen in practice.

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Thank you very much! We wanted to take our time to get it right so we enjoy using it. Now sure what the 7 P's are though? 🙂

[@zampa4ever]

@@SelfBuiltStories The 7 P’s are Proper Planning and Preparation, prevent Pi*5 Poor Preference. Army saying. The civilian one only has 6 P’s.

[@SelfBuiltStories]

​@@zampa4ever haha cool, good to know! cheers 😀

[@JohnYoung-m4j]

What a great job guys, it looks really nice and I think you are both very clever. What are your real jobs? Looking forward to the next part now take care Jon🇦🇺🥴🤗😂

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Cheers Jon! And our traditional jobs would be a software engineer and nurse, but for now we're taking a break to travel in the van. Glad you're enjoying the videos 🙂

[@petewarby7158]

Another great video, your van is shaping up to be an outstanding machine! Fantastic workmanship.... sorry... workpersonship 😂

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Thanks a lot! It''s nice to see it start to come together a bit more now 😀

[@MrRwp1]

“Extraordinary work” people, inspired. 👻

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Thank you! 😊

[@notguilty1467]

hi guys. you both are clearly putting a lot of thought into this and i don’t want to be rude i’m just curious. what will you do about cooking fat and smoke getting into the cabin? also by the way if you have trouble with rigidity you could always try small triangles of timber in unseen corners. give you something to fix to. if you are unsure what i mean have a look under your tables and furniture in your house.

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Thanks :) And what we're going to be doing is putting some doors over the hatch behind the cooker, which will be part of the splash-back when closed that runs all along the bulkhead wall. And then for ventilation we put the maxxfan right above the oven which will always be on when we're cooking, and probably cracking a window open a bit too if the weather is decent. And thanks for the reminder about those structural triangles, we haven't needed anything like that yet but it's good to keep all the ideas in your head as you build 🙂

[@sigma6725]

TIM AND ABI. .💑... YOU ARE DOING PERFECTLY WELL. ... PLEASE UPLOAD VIDEOS ON REGULAR BASIS. .. FOR BETTER GROWTH OF YOUR CHANNEL. ... ALWAYS IN SUPPORT WITH YOU. ..❤

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Thanks! 😊 We don't have any schedule really as each project is different and some take a considerable amount of time to plan, build and then edit. This one and the shower build were particularly involved 😛 So we just make them whenever we have the time but are really happy and humbled by people enjoying them 😊

[@sigma6725]

@@SelfBuiltStories IT'S ALL RIGHT... KEEP IT UP. ..❤

[@SelfBuiltStories]

@@sigma6725 Thanks, we will! :)

[@sigma6725]

@@SelfBuiltStories DEAR TIM AND ABI WAITING FOR NEXT PART. ... WHEN WILL IT GET TO BE UPLOAD. .? 👍

[@SelfBuiltStories]

@@sigma6725 Very soon! 😉

[@bparker6442]

i love all your work and have followed all the way through. please please get rid of that jack! they are lethal. get a bottle jack fits in the same space.

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Cool, thanks :) And the scissor jack came with the van, what about them do you think makes them unsafe? We've always had that style on the car too if we need to change a wheel and never had any problems

[@greatescape7735]

WOW! You guys could/should keep your designs for sale

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Haha thanks, not sure they're detailed or to scale enough to sell but we do like the collection of drawings we have building up as a nice memento 😊

[@JackFalltrades]

I always wear a eye protection, hearing protection, and a mask while sanding. A leftover N-95 mask will do the trick. 😉

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Yeah we do usually wear masks if we're sanding not by hand, and have a few pairs of goggles we try to remember to wear most of the time for power tools but sure we slip up sometimes. We try to only work to the limits of our abilities though

[@robertedwards87]

ive just got to say you guys are a insperation to all us future van builders and i love your videos,but althou i havnt started building my van yet im thinking about using dowls in spruce instead of pocket holes as glued dowels seem a lot stonger than pocket holes when used with soft wood

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Cheers, really glad you're enjoying all the videos 🙂 And yeah that's not a bad idea, we only had a few pieces of the spruce so it wasn't too bad to make them all work in the end. Good luck with your upcoming build 🙂👍

[@StevenDavisPhoto]

Plywood on a table saw. Haha. Well it worked. In the future you can put the plywood on a pieces of hard foam and cut it with a circular or track saw.

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Haha, that sheet was definitely the biggest we put through it. We use the circular saw a lot too but always prefer to use the table saw if it's a smaller bit we're cutting off, we find it more precise and less faff than having to measure and set up a fence 😛

[@lfcdunc01]

Hey , for cutting out your access hatches at the base , do you 1. Make a template 2. Router out hole then 3. Cut new piece from separate bit of week to fit more flush?

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Hey, so we drew the shape on the base for the hole we wanted to cut out using a square and something road to get nice corners. Then we cut those out with a jigsaw. Then routed a rabbet all around the lip to have a surface for the lid to sit into. Then for the lid, we had to use a new piece of wood, so we placed it over the hole and then drew round it from below through the base piece with a pencil to get the right shape. Made sure it was the right size to allow the mating lip then jigsawed that one out. Then routed the rabbet around the edges of the cutouts. And lastly just added some finger holes. It took a bit of work! But very happy with the result and they've been really useful 😄

[@matthiaslechien7738]

Hi guys, I really love your videos, this is so much quality ! I was wondering if you had a link to buy the same sink than yours ? This is the exact one I was looking for ^^ Thanks :)

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Cheers! And sure, we have this sink: www.thismovinghouse.co.uk/product/camper-van-belfast-sink/. We really like it 🙂

[@karlJenkins_the_reverend]

Hi guys, that all looks amazing. Question - what thickness ply did you use for the sides and drawers?

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Cheers! And we used 12mm ply from Wickes for the cabinet, which comes out around 11.5mm. For the drawer sides we wanted to use up the leftover ply we had that was lining the van when we bought it. That was around 8-9mm. And for the drawer bottoms we used 6mm birch ply for extra strength. HTH!

[@karlJenkins_the_reverend]

Awesome thanks, I had thought about using 10mm ply to save weight but don’t think it’ll be sturdy enough. Thanks for confirming. Your build looks amazing by the way and your vids are really helpful a bad inspiring

[@SelfBuiltStories]

​@@karlJenkins_the_reverend Thank you very much! 🙂 Yeah we found 12mm to be a pretty good compromise on strength vs weight. It's still only just on the borderline of being able to take a 1" pan head pocket hole screw though so we mostly routed the joins. We did think about doing it more of a stick built style with a timber frame and then 3 or 6mm ply for the walls, but wanted to build it as a standard cabinet to maximise space. And also doing some rough back of the envelope calculations we figured it would be more swings and roundabouts on the weight saving too. We have built like that with thin battens in places where we didn't need as much strength though, like the wardrobes and bench seats that are covered with 3mm ply. 👍

[@Theonebaddude]

Do you guys know about what Kreg Jig calls their pan head screws? The head is a little smaller so with a bit of jiggery pokers you can use pocket screws with ½ inch plywood.

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Cheers, yeah we discovered them in one of our previous projects so we have a nice stock of the pan heads now and they're much better. But we found that with the poplar ply we were using this time even then they didn't quite work. The 12mm birch ply is really nice and consistent and comes out 12.5mm, whereas the poplar was a little bit more varied between 11.3 and 11.6mm. And just that difference meant even the pan heads were proud even after all the jiggery pokery we tried 🙃 We did use them like that in the kick plate part as they're all hidden so didn't mind them being proud, but wanted to have it a bit neater for the cabinets 😛

[@Theonebaddude]

That is thin, I have had to adjust the stop collar to get the 1 inch pan head screws to not be ‘showing’ on either end, good luck.

[@SelfBuiltStories]

@@Theonebaddude Cheers, yeah it was the thinnest we reckoned we could go to keep the weight down while still making a nice stable cabinet :)

[@dnewman6037]

Hi. Enjoyed the video. Can I ask, where did you get your kitchen sink please? Thanks 😊

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Hiya, glad you enjoyed it! And sure, we got it from www.thismovinghouse.co.uk/basins/ 👍

[@marcjoanmiquel4210]

Hello team! Amazing video! One question about furniture. How thicker is your plywood? Are you using 12 mm playwood grade BC or AA?

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Hello! Cheers, glad you liked it 🙂 We used 12mm poplar/eucalyptus ply for these cabinets. The grade wasn't the best, BB/BC so it took quite a bit of tidying up the voids with wood filler (and removing staples) but it was a lot cheaper and lighter than the birch plywood we used for the fridge cabinet. Really happy with the end result if it did take a little longer. HTH 👍

[@supportingchampions]

Great videos. What do you think of the Bobil van hybrid air and water system?

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Cheers 🙂 And we really like it, we haven't got ours plumbed in yet of course so can't comment on that, but it's all nicely thought out and looking forward to getting it in. We've met the bobil team at a festival and know of their kit in other vans and have heard only good things so far 👍

[@supportingchampions]

@@SelfBuiltStories Thanks so much for the reply, that's reassuring!

[@SelfBuiltStories]

@@supportingchampions You're welcome!

[@SeanHarrison88]

What thickness ply did you use for the doors and did you have any issues with hinges if you used 12mm? Cheers!

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Hiya, we used 9mm birch ply for doors and added strips of 6mm around the edges, making them wide enough to cover where the cupboard hinges would be. So we had 15mm in the band around the edge. Then we used standard 32mm cabinet hinges, but it was a bit tricky to drill the hole to the right depth without going through the other side because the spade bits we were using had a pretty long point on the end. It worked (just!), but we had to keep stopping and being really careful to make sure we were exactly at the depth we needed. But if you have a drill bit that has a smaller point of just a few mm then it would be pretty easy 👍

[@SeanHarrison88]

@@SelfBuiltStories amazing thanks! Would you advise going with 12mm for the frame and 18mm for the doors/drawer fronts then because of the hinges? A carpenter we were talking to suggested 12mm might warp /not hold the hinges on their ien

[@SelfBuiltStories]

@Sean Harrison 18mm would definitely be more robust and resist warping better but the balance is the extra weight and if you have enough allowance for that. For us we wanted to keep weight down as much as possible so went for the thinnest where we could still use hinges and fastenings. Also depends how large the areas are you're covering. So we have 9+6 for the doors (and fridge cabinet drawer fronts), and for the rest of the kitchen drawers we went lower and used 8+6 (8mm leftover van wall ply + 6mm birch ply strips). It's working well for us so far, no issues with the drawer fronts. For the main cupboard doors there's possibly a bit of warping but we don't really mind, the van is exposed to some quite wide ranging temperature and humidity changes so we figured some movement is inevitable but we have strong magnets on them so they all close and hold nicely. You could look at poplar ply as well which is a lot lighter, we'd consider getting some of that if we were doing it again but for a lot of it wanted to keep costs down and reuse what we took out the van at the beginning 👍

[@YoGalTimz]

amazing work! where is the cooker from?

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Cheers! And it's the Voyager 4500, there's a link to it in the description 🙂

[@YoGalTimz]

@@SelfBuiltStories thank you 🙏🏽

[@SelfBuiltStories]

@@YoGalTimz No problem 👍

[@MrCornelius93]

Where did you get your sink from? I can only find ceramic mini Belfasts?! Keep up the good work, live the clarity of your videos! :)

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Hiya, we got it from here: www.thismovinghouse.co.uk/basins/. We love it! And thanks, glad you're enjoying the videos 😊

[@MrCornelius93]

@@SelfBuiltStories thank you 😍

[@SelfBuiltStories]

@@MrCornelius93 No problem!

[@jacquesbeaudoin9706]

What was the width of Baltic birch you did use that was just thick enough for pocket holes? And what screws did you use?

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Hiya, we found that 12mm BB is *just* thick enough to use the 1 inch pocket hole screws, as long as you set and drill it precisely. And you need to use the pan head pocket screws, which have a slightly smaller head. The 12mm BB we found to come out around 12.5mm, whereas some cheaper hardwood 12mm ply from Wickes was more like 11.5mm, and that difference was enough to make the heads stick out even with the pan heads. Not a big deal depending on where they are though. In some places we have them flush on the floor so couldn't have them stick proud at all, but in other areas just like in the cabinet kick plate area that was fine. HTH! 👍

[@passenger3]

And thank you for taking the time ⏲️ 🙏 to give us all the product links. Bless you guy's

[@SelfBuiltStories]

No problem! Thanks for watching 🙂

[@Meandmissy]

Hi thinking of getting same cooker what’s the total depth of the cooker in the unit thanks

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Hiya, the base part is about 30.5cm deep, but there is also a 4cm spacer that's permanently attached to the rear to make sure there is adequate ventilation and it's never right up against a wall. So around 35cm depth would mean the base is completely seated, but with the door and controls overhanging a bit. Or around 38cm if you want the whole thing to sit flush in the unit. We have it about 38cm back, which also leaves the base 3cm from the front edge of the shelf, just enough space to use the front screw holes to secure it with a little angle bracket. HTH! 👍

[@lucyfergusson4070]

Did you guys just put the oven directly on the plywood? Is there any need to insulate it? I’m at this stage right now and just was wondering?! Thanks!

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Hiya, no we lined it with 0.5mm aluminium sheet, as it needs to be mounted on something non-combustible: kzbin.info/www/bejne/joe6mIZtrNyEmrMsi=iLsXpnpHQ_54OOX7&t=632 . There's also an air gap around the sides as well 👍

[@youtubehandol]

I notice your floors are creaking a lot. What would you do differently to avoid that?

[@RetroMods]

I didn't notice. Point out an example

[@youtubehandol]

@@RetroMods you're not my real mum!

[@SelfBuiltStories]

We haven't noticed any creaking to be honest, but we do wear particularly squeaky shoes sometimes 😛

[@youtubehandol]

@@SelfBuiltStories 0:56, maybe it IS shoes though! 👍

[@SelfBuiltStories]

@@youtubehandol Haha yep, see what you mean, don't worry that is most definitely Abi's shoes. They were very squeaky and made some of the filming tricky 😅

[@RoaminRob]

hello guys been following and copying some of your build :-) just wondered by using this method do you think the cupboards (joints) will withstand all the uneven road surfaces etc? speed bumps lol its one of my main worries for the future of my van build 🙂

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Hey! We don't have any particular concerns about it breaking at the joints from the method we used, from what we understand wood glue is generally stronger than the wood itself if it cures properly. There is definitely a difference in quality between the birch ply we used for the fridge unit and the ply we used for these ones though, it's just a bit less straight and true and more fiddly to work with, but we feel that they're still pretty robust. And a lot lighter than the fridge one 👍😛

[@RoaminRob]

@@SelfBuiltStories cool, my build is a tester for me, living in it now too, hoping to build a more professional build the next time 😋

[@SelfBuiltStories]

@@RoaminRob Cool, are you needing to do all the work and keeping all your tools inside too then? How are you finding living and building in it at the same time?

[@RoaminRob]

@@SelfBuiltStories I did about 80% of the build and then moved in. I have used one saw and one screwdriver for most of the build haha old school build 🤣🤣

[@SelfBuiltStories]

@@RoaminRob Wow, good job! Means you get to enjoy the fruits of your work a lot quicker too 😃

[@megandennington1306]

what size ply did you use for the built in seat

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Hiya, we used 12mm ply for the whole cabinet (which is actually around 11.5mm). And for the seat we also added some rails underneath it with some pieces of whitewood at the front and back to add a bit of strength spanning the gap 👍

[@videodomination]

Hey guys, how are you tackling weight to keep it under 3.5t

[@youtubehandol]

This transit takes 4.9t

[@videodomination]

@Gordz does not matter what the vehicle can take, your standard licence will only allow you to drive 3.5t

[@SelfBuiltStories]

We're always mindful of it and have been taking the van to the weighbridge at various points so we know what our budget left is and keep track of what goes in. We try to use lightweight materials so for this one we used 12mm ply which was the thinnest we could imagine actually getting to work, and for the more skeleton cabinet we didn't put any walls on as we're using the cladding that's already in as the backs. So basically just trying to be conscious of it all the time, but still get in the things we want. We wanted a nice Belfast sink so looked around for a while to find one out of resin. And one of the reasons for going for a recirculating shower was to keep the amount of heavy water we need to carry down too. It's definitely tricky to always have to think about the weight but on track so far and fingers crossed it will come out on target for the final weigh in 🤞🙂

[@youtubehandol]

@@videodomination Countries kilometerage varies, then. No issues in aus with the jumbo van. I've ordered one.

[@SelfBuiltStories]

@@youtubehandol Yeah for us we can only drive up to 3.5t on our licence, unless we take an additional test 👍

[@Samjackson-w3l]

Can i ask how you connected your gas?

[@SelfBuiltStories]

As it happens that will be the next video video actually 😎👍

[@Samjackson-w3l]

@@SelfBuiltStories hurry up im 2 days from fitting it all haha!

[@SelfBuiltStories]

​@@Samjackson-w3l ah haha sorry, going to miss that deadline. It's mostly edited but we keep getting sidetracked by the scenery in Norway 😄

[@youtubehandol]

Eyyy

[@SelfBuiltStories]

👍😛

[@punjabseth260]

👌🏻🌼👍

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Thank you 🙂

[@MegaAlex1959]

she is God...thank you...

[@SelfBuiltStories]

🙏

[@zampa4ever]

I hope you have replaced the spare tire. Dangerous condition. It looks like it was on while the tracking was out.

[@SelfBuiltStories]

All the tyres were legal but yeah towards the end of their life for sure, we're replacing all of them very shortly actually before our next trip which should be a nice upgrade! 👍

[@호로날두]

The furniture seems too weak to car vibration.

[@SelfBuiltStories]

We tried to build them as thin as we could to save space and weight but still strong, they've survived hundreds of miles on the road now with no issues :)

[@PtangPtangBiscuitBarrelSmith]

Ok You can stop pretending you are not pro cabinet makers.. C'mon fess up. ;-)

[@SelfBuiltStories]

Haha, thanks :) You learn a lot building a whole van out that's for sure 😄