Monday, July 13, 2015

I did a lot in the toilet!

Not because I had a dicky tummy though. I spent yesterday getting supplies and cutting wood for my bus toilet. Today I started construction.

The late start didn't help for it was a full 3pm before I started. I had been so excited about the closeness to the end of major construction that I didn't find it easy to get off last night. Indeed it was almost midday before I woke! Then I had to tend the wolf pack while m'lady went to the doctor.

It was another day of 115f in the bus and my first problem was my 1\4 inch drill was not long enough to go edgewise through my 2x4. Thus was addressed by drilling half inch recesses in the wood to make allowance for the heads of my lag screws. Between that and putting the top and bottom of the toilet frame together, I was busy.

I need to cut another cross member between the poo bucket and the cat lit bucket but that's a task for another day. I should also put some form of bar in behind the poo bucket to stop it sliding back. That's something that needs to be in place to catch descending goodies.

Having run out of lag screws I found I needed four more and if I install the other two supports then I'd need another 8 on top. I have a feeling that I've over engineered the toilet to the point it'd hold an elephant. That's fine though. The last thing I want to do is to fall into a pot of freshly steaming nastiness or even worse, stale, whiffy nastiness.

I bought some plywood yesterday with the intent to make a top for the toilet. This will hinge forward to allow access to Hersheys Pot of Gold. This might be necessary if I have to put a lid on the pot between uses. Cutting two holes, the first was easy - its the hole from which to scoop cat lit. Thanks for the idea, Eric! That was easy to cut - I simply lowered my circular saw in place and cut the square then finished the corners with a straight saw. The oval hole is trickier. I started by cutting a square out then started using a jigsaw. Oh boy, that took forever and the light went well before I finished. It looks like I'll be working on the toilet for a couple more days!

The plywood will hinge forward. I'll put a back, sides and a front on the toilet. There will be a hinged lid on the access to the cat lit. I'll have to wait a week or two before painting as the wood is rather wet still. There is no bottom because I want easy access to clean inside and to clean spills off the floor. I probably won't bolt it down. It's heavy enough that it likely won't slide much. If necessary, I'll find some way of bolting it in place with easily removable bolts.

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