Between track saw and jigsaw, I’ve cut the 1⁄4” maple ply to fit, and test fit in the van. A good Thanksgiving project. I’m quite pleased with the tracksaw, although the Makita instructions are pretty brief and limited. I’m not convinced I’m getting the precision that it’s capable of, but it’s good enough for this project.

tracksaw

I did need to trim some of the polyiso to fit, so my measurements and CAD drawings aren’t quite accurate. I guess that’s no longer too relevant without access to a CNC machine to replicate them, and they were close enough that a bit of work with a knife convinced them to fit. The holes for the tie-down points are almost all in the right location, so now I need to purchase and cut the discs for the tie-down points.

I haven’t talked about my plan for tie-down point reinforcement before. Since I’m attaching the floor only at the tie-down points, and the tie-down points also need to be solidly attached to the frame in order to be usable, I don’t like the idea of just having a plywood and polyiso sandwich with the tie-down points bolted through it. Instead I’ve cut 2” diameter holes in the polyiso, and will put 2” diameter and 1” tall cylinders under the plywood at each tie-down point.

I got some 1” HDPE (cutting board material) from TAP plastics, and used it for both tie-down disks and edging at the doors. I also the 2” diameter disks from 1” HDPE using a hole saw and hand drill. Unfortunately, HDPE is very easy to melt, so for many of the disks, the process was very slow. Near the end, I discovered that cutting each disk slightly overlapping the previous one allowed the swarf from the cut to escape, which dramatically reduced the melting and binding. It would have been much more fun to cut these out on a CNC waterjet if I still had access.

2" diameter disks