surface on the table, and a piece of angle iron as the clamping bar, I was able to make the 90-degree bend needed. The clamping action of both the front plate (again, more poplar stock) and clamping bar is achieved with various C-clamps.
The idea is to hold the material firmly during the bend process to avoid movement and a mis-bend or poor edge. The angle iron is set up so the bend can go beyond 90 degrees, allowing the material to spring back and settle into a perfect bend. If the angle iron was set on its flat edge, you couldn’t bend beyond 90, and the piece would bow out at the bend.
A drawback to setting the angle iron on its two edges is the potential to mar the surface due to the outside edge’s pressure (an actual metal break has a flat clamping surface). You could set the angle iron flat with the angled portion to the rear of the brake to create a flat edge and reduce the chance of defacing the material.
This brings up a good point: The process of restoring things is a learning experience that involves experimenting to learn what works best. ■
Using your head, you can work around problems such as making a deep bend on sheet metal. This requires a quickly made, yet fully functioning sheet metal brake.
With items around the shop (lumber stock, C-clamps, and angle iron), You can make a bend that would require tooling much bigger than you have available.
Some important tools used for this restoration cover metal, wood, and finishing. For metal, quality hand shears, a bi-metal hacksaw, and assorted files are essential. As for powered tools, sheers (either pneumatic or electric) make quick work of cutting large sheets of aluminum; a metal chop saw is needed to cut steel frame members; and a grinder with assorted wheels (cut-off, wire, and grinding) gets a workout cleaning rust and prepping for welding.
A metal brake (used for bending sheet metal) and a pneumatic shear might be out of the budget but can be worked around by either outsourcing the job or using some creative engineering with clamps, steel straightedges, and routers (a rotating cutting tool). Also important to metal working is a variety of hammers: ball-peen, claw, and auto-body hammers and dollies. The more, the merrier.
Ideally, woodworking tools and metal tools do not replace one another. A hammer used on metal should not be used on wood, as the shavings, dust, and oils associated with metal fabrication permanently contaminate porous lumber. The same goes for saws, sanders, etc.; it’s best to keep metal-working tools separate from woodworking tools. However, in some instances, it may be uneconomical to purchase two of everything. If needed, you may cross tool genres; just be mindful that the chance for frustration due to object contamination and/or tool damage exists.
Standard woodworking tools such as a handsaw, pull-saw, hammer, and chisel are essential to the building process. Likewise, power tools such as a jigsaw, circular saw, router, belt sander, and orbital sander, along with a pneumatic nailer, are vital to any carpentry work. Also visible here are standard wood shop equipment such as a table saw, bandsaw, drill press, joiner, and dust collector.
In the world of woodworking, an important tool to consider is a sander. Well, let me rephrase that: sanders, plural. Not only do you get a workout using handmade sanding blocks, you will also use a random orbital sander, a belt sander, and a drum sander during this restoration. The random orbital is used heavily in prepping wood surfaces for finish; belt and drum sanders come in handy when shaping the curves that define vintage campers.
A good router is useful in many instances, including trimming laminates and tracing damaged paneling. Also using that same router mounted on a table is handy for many cabinetry and interior trim projects.
As for saws, of course, a table saw, a miter saw, and a bandsaw are the backbone of any wood shop. Equally important are a couple of good handsaws, including a flush-cut pull and a fine-finish.
General shop equipment to consider is good work lights, droplights, and flashlights. Keep in mind that you’ll be working over the course of a year or more, and lighting requirements change with the seasons. Being able to effectively light your jobsite and task at hand is essential to precision and tight tolerances; it also directly affects the amount of fatigue and amount of time that goes into a camper restoration.
Finally, a well-stocked cleaning station with a quality vacuum, broom, dustpan, scrub brushes, degreasers, and detergents ensure a clean workspace. These items also help guarantee a quality finish, whether it’s paint, stain, or varnish.
Fasteners
During a camper restoration, you use a variety of fasteners, from carriage bolts to grabber screws to rivets. During assembly, camper factories used particular fasteners for specific jobs. If your goal is a period-correct restoration, reusing or replacing these fasteners with the correct size and style is important for authenticity.
In 1940, about 85 percent of U.S. screw manufacturers licensed the design of the Phillips-head screw. However, during the post-war travel trailer boom, many factories still relied heavily on the slotted-screw design. The 1952 Airstream Cruisette featured in this restoration used button-head slotted screws extensively, both metal and wood.
There are a few key differences between wood and metal screws. Wood screws have widely spaced, medium-depth threads, whereas sheet-metal screws have sharper threads that are deeper and closer together. Although you can use a sheet-metal screw in wood (nonstructural instances, such as a light-switch plate or light mount), using a wood screw in sheet metal does not produce a secure or flush fit.
Another important screw used in vintage campers is the oval-head style. These come in both Phillips and slotted heads and were commonly used on trim and hardware; the soft dome curve gives interiors a welcoming, less industrial feel and does not snag fabric or potentially cut skin.
During disassembly, noting the sizes and styles of the screws used is paramount when it comes time to reassemble, if you wish to retain the vintage feel and construction techniques of your restoration. Even if your goal is a custom camper, paying attention to screw style and proper usage is important to building something that’s special and professional.
One of the most common fasteners used in vintage campers are screws and, as expected, there are many varieties. In a Show Camper, using the correct screw for the job is the difference between an award winner and a dud. Phillips-head wood screws, wood screws, pan-head sheet-metal screws, self-tapping hex screws and oval-head screws are seen here.
Vintage campers used specific rivets for various reasons, such as fasteners with a helical ridge. While blind rivets were available at the time, the required additional steps to assemble and associated higher cost made them less common than buck rivets or solid rivets. This, however, changed when pneumatic blind riveters and preassembled blind rivets became the preferred fastening system in the 1970s.
At the left is an air hammer and bucking bar used to set solid rivets (the small pieces seen to the right of the bucking bar). In the center, a fan tool helps mark evenly spaced holes quickly. Above that are hand and pneumatic pop-rivet tools. Under the fan tool are some 1/8- (copper) and 5/32-inch (black) Cleco tools. Next to them are assorted pop rivets
