More crooked carpentry

[Shearwater]

Just noticed that the high door over the pantry was mounted crooked. Don't they use a jig or something to insure hinges are mounted properly? I'll drill out the bad holes, insert some dowels and remount. For sure a first world problem; I'm not down our 5.0 by any means. We are loving this camper. It's a huge step up from our Scamp 16. But still...

[fudge_brownie]

You sure that’s not roof slant?

[gbaglo]

Looks like the picture is framed poorly.

[Shearwater]

It's hard to see in the pic unless you zoom in, but the right side is 1/4" higher than the right. I'm one of those folks who walks into a room and starts straightening all the crooked artwork on the walls.

[cpaharley2008]

When you purchase a hand made item, there is always human error involved. Imagine if every Escape looked the same.....as if they were made on an assembly line....?

[Steve Clark]

Now I see! It’s not the alignment with the roof, but the alignment with the lower cabinet door!

[Fender]

I can see that I need to get a lot fussier about stuff.

[johnnyv]

Cmon people that trailer should have never been shipped. Somebody should be in the unemployment line unless Stevie Wonder works there. Sorry Stevie !

[Shearwater]

Not sure I buy that argument. Building out these interiors shouldn't be that much different that installing kitchen cabinets, especially since these are all the same. Using a jig to drill hinges, handles would seem to be a standard production process.

[splitting_lanes]

Can confirm that no jig is used.

I relocated our counter extension to the end of the counter and had to straighten out the hinges and move the fire extinguisher down an inch. They should make templates for these add-on items so they are exactly the same in every trailer.

[WillyB]

Any idiot with knowledge of these two most basic carpentry tools can become a "craftsmen" for under $20.

[Iowa Dave]

I cannot see any flaws in our 2013 21. Probably there but I’ve never noticed. Ours is the #6 21 built.

Reace told me personally that he closely supervised the construction on that first run of trailers. Three prototype trailers were originally built. Then the series of 13 trailers followed. This was in the Fall of 2013.

We’ve been extremely pleased and feel fortunate to own this trailer both for Escape’s attention to detail and the care, maintenance and modifications done by the original owners. We are happy campers.

I’ve owned and was raised in a 100+ year old house. There were a numerous construction flaws and resulting challenges. We patched them with love and gave thanks that we had a clean, warm, dry place to sleep on those iIowa winter nights. Never thought we’d have all the nice things we have now when I was growing up. Wouldn’t change much from my younger years even if I could.
Always liked the food at the Thistle Dew Cafe run by my Mom.

Photos are
1. Our camp at Shelbyville Lake COE earlier this month

2. Butterfly milkweed, Pale purple coneflower and Rattlesnake master all in bloom among the Little Bluestem in our prairie.

Have a great weekend and enjoy camping if you go.
Iowa Dave

[Patandlinda]

Originally Posted by WillyB

Any idiot with knowledge of these two most basic carpentry tools can become a "craftsmen" for under $20.

[uthorns]

"Any idiot with knowledge of these two most basic carpentry tools can become a "craftsmen" for under $20."

You'd have to go to the flea market here in Texas to get those for under $20

[Ooshkaboo]

Originally Posted by WillyB

Any idiot with knowledge of these two most basic carpentry tools can become a "craftsmen" for under $20.

I respectfully completely disagree, not sure of your abilities but I, as I’m sure many others have had multiple experiences with hiring people with various degrees of talent. One must know what side of the material should be face up and cut with what type of blade, on and on…
It can take someone quite some time to acquire journeyman skills.

There are now even websites such as Angie’s list devoted to helping people find capable help. Those who are qualified and will show up, get the job completed and not leave your dog pregnant and your home setup for a robbery are getting more and more for their work, as there are less and less of them.

I have found like never before young people who are raised in homes that allow them to do little that doesn’t involve some type of screen have now become adults.
These new creatures are not able to deal with simple task such as lawn care, yet another reason for my rents to go even higher.

I’m sure in Canada as is here, good help is hard to find and hard to keep.

[Jwinfrey]

Looks like the right side hinge is bent. You can’t see the base where it’s screwed to the cabinet face. If the right side was lower, it would be lined up and the hinge would be visible..

[Shearwater]

Originally Posted by Jwinfrey

Looks like the right side hinge is bent. You can’t see the base where it’s screwed to the cabinet face. If the right side was lower, it would be lined up and the hinge would be visible..

Nope, the left hinge is mounted slightly lower than the right.

[Fender]

My experience with installing this type of hinge is that the first screw in each hinge needs to be perfectly dead centre in the hole and driven in straight. If not, as you drive the screw in it will pull the hinge slightly in one direction or the other.
A square, level or even a spacer block on top of the other door won't guarantee the door goes on straight if care isn't taken with driving the screws.

[Centex]

Originally Posted by Fender

My experience with installing this type of hinge is that the first screw in each hinge needs to be perfectly dead centre in the hole and driven in straight. If not, as you drive the screw in it will pull the hinge slightly in one direction or the other.
A square, level or even a spacer block on top of the other door won't guarantee the door goes on straight if care isn't taken with driving the screws.

That's where those "journeyman skills" mentioned in a previous post come into play. Using a well designed jig to drill pilot holes for hinge screws assures that the hinges and doors will be correctly positioned every time.

But that requires not only the tools but the knowledge of how to design and fabricate a jig that locates the pilot holes correctly to start with; for example, with an overlapping door it's a poor jig that relies on a potentially out-of-square opening to index its location. And no, not "any idiot" (mentioned in another previous post) has that knowledge or those skills.

BTW, there are spring-loaded center-punches designed for use with hardware having countersunk holes which will ensure 'perfect centering' every time when properly used.

[Doug2000]

Well I have had my trailer 2 years now and haven't had one issue at all.

Unfortunately, Escape ramped up production too fast and probably hired too many green employees as the Covid frenzy started. When that happens, quality and productivity suffers. Fortunately still better than a Forest River. The only thing good about Forest River is Warren Buffets return. He owns them.