Finally, a Table that Works

[Jack]

After spilling one too many glasses of wine, the stock table went to Goodwill. I made a plywood prototype first and when that worked well, I bought a piece of the FWC particle board and a length of "I" bar and fabricated what you see. It is very. very stable, big enough to hold two full size laptops, swings down for travel or up for access to the lower compartments, can be easily removed, and it is position so that one can still cook with it up.

An extra bonus: the clips for the stock table pillar now hold a fishing rod in a round case, secured with bungee cord.

Additional photos at http://www.swsgroup.com/FWC/Table

 

[simimike]

Welcome to the forum Jack, Very clever idea. I'm constantly amazed by the ingenuity of the folks on this board. good pictures too! Keep us posted on any future mods.

Cheers,

Mike

 

[Jon&Sue_DeArman]

So many neat ideas that "Don't Work on a Ranger"; however, I sure like the extra 2 foot of space I have.

 

[cabezon23]

Keep it simple

Hey Jack,

I like your solution, very simple and easy. Funny thing is that I have also been working on the table issue, but came up with a different solution.

It looks to me that the cabinets are not the same, but still similar.

As I have an ATC camper I just had to post it there:

http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/showthread.php?t=960

 

[DLN]

Jack,
Welcome aboard. I knew I'd seen your table and camper posted in the past. Stan posted pictures of your setup in the "Better Table Placement" thread that is on page 10 of the forum.

 

[DirtyDog]

I wish I had seen this before - well done Jack! There are so many great ideas for usable tables out there - I am at a loss as to why FWC and ATC refuse to improve on their silly table design.

 

[Ted]

We ran into Jack on our Holiday trip through Oregon. He has done several top notch projects on his camper. His work tends to be simple but effective. I like the way his solar panel tilts. When we get one, I will probably follow his mounting technique. Thanks for sharing another nice project, Jack.

 

[Bseek]

so maybe he should share

Could we talk Jack into sharing his solar panel installation? I am sure we would all like to see.

 

[Jack]

One of the things I like about Cabezon23's solution is that it divides the large space under the sink into two more useful compartments.

Bseek,

I've updated my original posting on the solar panel: http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1360

 

[bsharp007]

I hope FWC is listening.

I'll second that, I almost forget that I even have a table, it's completely unusable and sits in my garage brand new. The couch on the FWC Eagle is also almost unusable as the bottom cushion constantly slides forward because the bench underneath is too narrow. I wonder if there is a fix for this?


I wish I had seen this before - well done Jack! There are so many great ideas for usable tables out there - I am at a loss as to why FWC and ATC refuse to improve on their silly table design.

 

[chnlisle]

The mod I did to raise and reinforce mine seems to have solved the sliding forward problem. Its also easier to load with the cushions higher and way easier to ge into the bunk. In DD reprise of the german couples table and mods it appears they raised their settee to the sam level.

http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2000&highlight=settee

 

[Jack]

The couch on the FWC Eagle is also almost unusable as the bottom cushion constantly slides forward because the bench underneath is too narrow. I wonder if there is a fix for this?

bsharp007,

Yes, there is fix, and it took about an hour plus a trip to the hardware store. It actually makes the Eagle bench seat quite comfortable.

The riser is a piece of 1/2" aluminum channel screwed to 1/2" square wood. The channel just sits on top of the front edge of the bench box. The lid extensions come to about 1" short of the edge of the cushion. Since I used rough plywood and didn't finish the edge, I put duct tape over the edge to keep the backs of our legs from being scratched when pulling back into the cushion when setting up the table.

 

[camelracer]

I installed ribbed rubber carpet runner on the top of the benches. This doesn't completely solve the cushion problem but it helps quit a bit. It also helps when you're carrying cargo on top of the benches.

 

[bsharp007]

Couch

Some nice modifications for the couch, looks like an easy fix, thanks!