[Ran D. St. Clair]

I love Angle Brackets

I just spent most of a couple of days making about 260 angle brackets. That’s about 23 feet of 2” x 2” x 1/8” thick aluminum L channel converted to 1” L brackets with two holes on each side. Why so many you ask? And so begins my theory of cabinets.

Most RV’s are made pretty much the same as your standard home kitchen. Cabinets are purchased pre-made, and installed. They are a little pricey, but considering all the work that goes into making them, it is more than worth it. Also, they come nicely pre-finished in a variety of attractive styles, with various doors and hinges to meet most any need. It’s a very practical approach, and one I recommend, but of course I am not doing that.

Your typical cabinet is a box. Lower cabinets typically have an open top for installation of a countertop, and they probably have a raised floor, which implies a couple of inches of lost storage. They also have a front face, which looks nice, stiffens the side walls, and provides a place to mount the doors, but restricts access somewhat. Inner shelves are somewhat optional, and they often have a system of pegs and holes, or even a steel track, for mounting shelves at different levels. Depending on the shelf mounting system the shelves can be somewhat loose to rattle around, or they can be wedged pretty tight.

Upper cabinets are similar. Some designs are flush on the bottom, but many have a top panel that is inset and inch or so below the top of the frame. They are designed to mount on the walls, but in most houses the ceilings are high enough to leave a gap between the cabinet top and ceiling. This gap is often filled in as a matter of visual design, or it can be left open and is sometimes used as a top shelf for rarely used items.

When the cabinets are bolted together the adjacent walls are doubled, representing a loss of space, but it is generally worth it for the modular design and simple installation. Sometimes it’s a bit of a problem when the room isn’t square, but filler panels and moldings can cover a lot of sins.

In my case, the entire inside of the living quarters is already a carefully constructed box of ½” plywood. There is no need for a cabinet back as the wall will serve.

Cabinet verticals are just ¾” or in some cases 1” plywood from floor to ceiling. It’s more of a book shelf concept than a cabinet, though the countertops and at least some of the shelves are full standard depth (or more). The verticals are somewhat sculpted, meaning they don’t necessarily go from floor to ceiling in a straight line. They are pulled back to open up the sight lines and reduce the sense of enclosure. This integrated top to bottom structure is much stronger and well suited to pounding I expect the back of the truck will endure. Each vertical is tied to the floor, ceiling and back wall with angle brackets, typically 6 of them for a full height vertical wall.

The countertops, and shelves are simply inserted between the verticals, and mounted with more angle brackets, typically 4 each for a larger shelf, and as few as 3 for a small or narrow shelf.

The brackets are almost always under the shelves or countertops where they are hidden from the normal angle of view. Some will be visible beneath higher shelves, though I expect that they will rarely be noticed. Each bracket is mounted with two #10 self tapping screws per side, 4 each per bracket. The idea is that every shelf is permanently mounted but easily remounted to suit different requirements.

There is no face frame on these cabinets. The plywood end grain may be covered for a smooth appearance, but it is not intended to be structural. The openings are therefore completely unrestricted to maximize storage space.

In a home application I might be tempted to forgo cabinet doors altogether. It seems I am always leaving them open, and they just block my access to what is inside. I realize that most people consider them a requirement just to reduce the visual clutter. In an RV they also serve the important function of keeping the contents in the cabinet as you bounce down the road.

I plan to have doors for all but the smallest shelves, which will have a substantial lip, 1” or more, to help keep the contents in place. I will also be using the soft rubber shelf liners to try to reduce the pounding. Some additional bungees, Velcro, wedge bars, or whatever may be needed depending on the specific items.

Deeper shelves, not entire cabinets, will have doors, but they will be hinged on the bottom and open like the tailgate of a truck. They will close with strong magnetic latches on each side to keep the contents in place. They will not attempt to cover the entire opening to the shelf above but will typically be about 8” high and leave at least a 1” gap to the next higher shelf. There will be no need for handles as the top of the door will be its own handle. The doors will be plain flat ½” plywood because I like a simple style and because it’s cheap and easy to make.

I realize that this design will allow some visual clutter to show, but it will also allow me some visual access to the contents without opening the doors. When a door of this sort is open full access to the interior space is available.

Counter tops will have neither a lip nor doors, though they may have a slight bull nose to help keep things from falling off. This strategy works fine when they are level, but I fully expect my truck will not be level much of the time. The implication is that I won’t be leaving loose items on the countertops. It’s just as well since countertop space is extremely limited and it is best that it not be cluttered with loose items. The microwave and other small appliances will be hung from the shelf above whenever possible.

I will have lots of shelves. Every spare bit of wall space will have an appropriate shelf. The entire space above and behind the toilet, for example will be filled with shelves, which is why I need so many brackets. One downside to this plan is that there is very little open wall space. I am even thinking to cover the front of the refrigerator and freezer doors with a mirror so I can have something close to a full length mirror. Who knows, it might even be a good diet aid.

Floor cabinets generally have a toe kick to reduce the strain on your back when working over a countertop. With open shelves all the way to floor, and the floor being the bottom shelf there is plenty of toe kick room, however I don’t want things on the bottom shelf (floor) sliding out and getting underfoot. Therefore I will be installing a vertical toe kick (or base board, or bottom shelf lip) to keep things where they belong. Obviously it will be inset from the edge of the countertops like any toe kick.

Normally kitchen cabinets are installed before laying the final floor, in my case standard vinyl flooring. Since the floor is also the bottom shelf of my cabinets, I will be reversing that order. The floor will be laid while the box is empty and all the cabinets built on top of it. One advantage is that there will be no convoluted shapes to deal with while laying the floor. There should also be no seams anywhere. Replacing the floor would be a pain, so I will be sure to select a very durable flooring material with a pattern that I can live with. Fortunately, if it lasts 10 years then it probably won’t matter, at least not to me.
Countertops are 37” high for use while standing, and desk tops are 29” high for use while sitting. Either way they are really just shelves. I haven’t decided on the countertop material yet. I am fine with Formica, but the typical particle board construction is heavy and may not be well suited to take the pounding. I may just laminate my own on plywood, or I may consider something like Corean.

I will be making and installing a few drawers, just below the countertop or desktop. These will all be shallow as are often useful for silverware, cooking tools, or office supplies. They won’t be fancy, just an open top box with a front face and a handle. They will sit on a shelf just below the countertop, constrained with short verticals on either side, and will all be longer than they are wide to minimize any tendency to wedge and jam. I don’t see any need for fancy rolling tracks for relatively small and light drawers. A couple of strong magnet latches on either side should keep them closed.

Cabinet finish will be very simple. Pretty much everything will be white latex interior semi gloss. I may consider water based polyurethane for extra durability, though repainting with latex is cheap and easy.

You may think that all that white will be boring, but I have my reasons. I dislike dark colors in enclosed spaces like cabinets. They just suck up the light and make it hard to see. Since my entire truck is an enclosed space, with no windows, and the only source of natural light is via the ceiling exhaust fan opening, I want that light to bounce around as much as possible. I am also paying for light with electricity and gasoline, so I don’t want to waste it. If I feel the need to add some color there are lots of easy ways to do it besides paint. It may not be honey walnut with burl accents, but I grew up poor and latex suits me just fine.

The overall visual effect should be simple, linear, and Spartan. I don’t expect that many others would particularly like it, especially the female sort. A part of me considers that a bonus. Fortunately, I have only one person to answer to and that’s the way I like it.

To be continued…