Joe's Teardrop Build

[JoeGrz]

OK it has been a while since I have posted. I have made some progress and went bouncing around Colorado for a few days. Before I left for Colorado, I did manage to get the inside skin on each of the skeletons. Here is the first middle interior piece going on.

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the water filled buckets were a good idea for additional weight. Unfortunately, even half full, when you hit something lifting them, they still spill. I got it cleaned up, added the other pieces and trimmed one while the glue dried on the second skeleton

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When I returned from Colorado, I trimmed the second one and added the foam insulation to the voids.

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The first section of exterior skin has been cut for both sides. I need to put the stop blocks on the skin so I can glue the skin on to the skeleton reasonably aligned. The glue up will be an early morning activity this weekend. The temperature has been in the 107 degree range the last few days. Hopefully, the temperature will drop down a little more than the 100s they are calling for now. Either way, getting out early while it is still relatively cool, will hopefully give me a little more work time with the glue.

[tony.latham]

The temperature has been in the 107 degree range the last few days.

Brutal... It's been in the 80ºs here in Idaho.

Tony

[JoeGrz]

80s are what I saw in Colorado last week. I sure miss them as well as the nice cool mornings. It is supposed to be around 100 this weekend. Cooler but still very hot.

[JoeGrz]

Slowly making progress. I have two walls that are skinned on both sides. Not a picture that really showed anything so I passed on it this time. What I did learn with this step is that the plywood does not slide around as well when there is glue between the two sheets. The first exterior, I thought was lined up. Apparently I missed or moved it when I secured it. I was looking at it after it dried and it just didn't look right. Sure enough, it is about 1/2 inch off on the leading edge. The extra on the bottom was easy to correct with my template and the router. The top isn't so easy. I read ahead in my guide and there is some blocking that will go along the edge as well as the end of the ceiling joist. I will build up the area before the final bed liner covering with either thickened epoxy or wood filler with an epoxy layer on top. Unfortunately, at the rate I am progressing, I have a couple months to figure this out. The picture below shows the two outer skins one on top of the other and you can see what I am talking about

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I did order fiberglass and epoxy this morning. Everyone else must be making their teardrops as well because Raka was pretty well picked over in the fiberglass cloth department. In the book, the sides are covered with 2 oz fiberglass cloth and 4 oz on top. Tony said 4 oz because he could get that in 60 wide. I could not get 2 oz. I could get 4 oz in 50 wide and 6 oz in 60 wide. After reading the book a couple more times, I deduced that the cloth is basically something to hold the resin and not a structural feature. I ended up going with a 3.2 oz Style 120 that was 60 wide. What little I could find said it was an aerospace material. definitely overkill for what I wanted but it was more cost effective than the 4 or 6 oz cloth. I hope the tighter weave isn't a problem.

To keep the project moving while I wait for UPS, I started thinking about the floor. The surface of the floor is 1/4" / 5 mm underlayment. Reading another build journal, there was a discussion about the water resistance of underlayment. I looked into what I have available at my local box stores and both are for interior applications. So I'm wondering, should I continue with underlayment on both sides of the floor platform? The epoxy should seal the wood. Should I use the BC exterior that I can get? or should I use BC on the exposed bottom and underlayment on the interior top?

[tony.latham]

Slowly making progress. I have two walls that are skinned on both sides. Not a picture that really showed anything so I passed on it this time. What I did learn with this step is that the plywood does not slide around as well when there is glue between the two sheets. The first exterior, I thought was lined up. Apparently I missed or moved it when I secured it. I was looking at it after it dried and it just didn't look right. Sure enough, it is about 1/2 inch off on the leading edge. The extra on the bottom was easy to correct with my template and the router. The top isn't so easy. I read ahead in my guide and there is some blocking that will go along the edge as well as the end of the ceiling joist. I will build up the area before the final bed liner covering with either thickened epoxy or wood filler with an epoxy layer on top. Unfortunately, at the rate I am progressing, I have a couple months to figure this out. The picture below shows the two outer skins one on top of the other and you can see what I am talking about

20200719_182443 Small.jpg

I did order fiberglass and epoxy this morning. Everyone else must be making their teardrops as well because Raka was pretty well picked over in the fiberglass cloth department. In the book, the sides are covered with 2 oz fiberglass cloth and 4 oz on top. Tony said 4 oz because he could get that in 60 wide. I could not get 2 oz. I could get 4 oz in 50 wide and 6 oz in 60 wide. After reading the book a couple more times, I deduced that the cloth is basically something to hold the resin and not a structural feature. I ended up going with a 3.2 oz Style 120 that was 60 wide. What little I could find said it was an aerospace material. definitely overkill for what I wanted but it was more cost effective than the 4 or 6 oz cloth. I hope the tighter weave isn't a problem.

To keep the project moving while I wait for UPS, I started thinking about the floor. The surface of the floor is 1/4" / 5 mm underlayment. Reading another build journal, there was a discussion about the water resistance of underlayment. I looked into what I have available at my local box stores and both are for interior applications. So I'm wondering, should I continue with underlayment on both sides of the floor platform? The epoxy should seal the wood. Should I use the BC exterior that I can get? or should I use BC on the exposed bottom and underlayment on the interior top?

I would suggest the BC exterior just to be safe.

Tony

[JoeGrz]

While waiting for the fiberglass to show up, I went ahead and started the floor. I started by constructing the 3/4" plywood cross members. Since they are constructed of stacked pieces of plywood, I cut several strips 3/4" wide and glued two of them together. The next day, I laid out the the frame and set my miter saw to cut each cross member the same size. When I was sure that I had the frame square, I fastened everything together with the gusset plates.

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I glued each panel down one at a time. I set the first piece, weighted it down, then stapled it in place. After the first panel was secured, I repeated the process with the second panel and then the third. That completed the first side of the floor platform. I then flipped the platform over and removed the gussets. The next step was to add the foam inserts. Once those foam inserts were placed, it was ready for the next side to be covered.

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The last thing I did this weekend was cover the frame and foam with the plywood following the same process as the first side.

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Tonight, I went around the edges of the floor platform with the router and trimmed the floor panels to the match the frame. I also filled the holes in the exterior wall panels with wood filler. Tomorrow, I will sand the walls smooth. Friday morning, I will fiberglass the first wall.

At least that's how I hope it will fall out.

[tony.latham]

The next step was to add the foam inserts...

yy

How hard was the 3/4" foam board to find?

Tony

[JoeGrz]

How hard was the 3/4" foam board to find?

Tony - 3/4" Foam board was readily available in both our big box stores. I think I got the foam I used at the blue one where I could get the White EPS made up of the little beads or a true foam board. I don't recall which type the other one was but I went with the white one with the beads because it was a little cheaper and basically a filler to take up space. On the other hand, I will probably find little white beads in the garage for months to come.

I fiberglassed the first wall today. I would say that I had mixed results. Here is the picture right after I applied the epoxy

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On the positive side, all areas but one appears to have adhered. On the down side, it is not a smooth surface. I guess the wood sucked in a bunch of the epoxy because I can see and feel the fabric texture in some places. I also found that the epoxy ran off the edge of the wall on to the cloth that hung over the edge and, in some places, on to the floor. I guess if I had known what I was doing, I could have seen the issue. Here it is after the edges have been trimmed

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You can see along the bottom edge of this picture where the edges don't have that nice shine as well as some of the center areas

Tomorrow morning, I will try to do the second wall. To avoid the epoxy running on to the floor, I will put some scrap 2x4s beside the wall and see if that helps. Also, this wall used 7 cups of 4 pumps resin/2 pumps hardener. I may try to go a little slower, use a bit more resin and not move on until I think the resin has stopped soaking in.
I am not sure how to proceed with this wall though. I have adhesion of the fabric which I think is the end goal. The surface isn't great but I will be covering it. So, do I go back and try to repair the surface or do I let it go and not worry about it since it is going to be covered by the bed liner

[tony.latham]

I can see and feel the fabric texture in some places.

No big deal. As you know, you can add epoxy to that without sanding as long as you can feel some tack. Otherwise, you'll have to scuff it before adding.

The surface isn't great but I will be covering it. So, do I go back and try to repair the surface or do I let it go and not worry about it since it is going to be covered by the bed liner

After the walls are fully cured, run a random orbital over it and see what it looks like. If need be, add some thickened epoxy here and there for a fix. Don't assume the bed liner will hide anything.

But It looks good to me.

Tony

[JoeGrz]

Placed the epoxy on the second wall today. Only used 6 cups to cover this time. I guess I don’t have as many thick areas. I will hopefully get the surfaces sanded this week and see what the final product looks like. No pictures this time since it looks like what I have already posted. The only difference being that the main piece got cut wrong so I have the backside out. I didn’t realize that underlayment had a good side and a bad side until after I cut it.
The wood with the epoxy coating is real pretty. Almost makes me wish I was building a woody

[JoeGrz]

I finally had the time and felt like doing something tonight so I was able to run the sander over the first side. Only the first side because the rain decided to come in after a few days of threatening. Funny the way that works.
Here is what the side looks like

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I noticed a couple things while looking over the work as I put the side back in the garage. First, I did not get the fiberglass perfectly trimmed around the edges. Watch your power cords. I noticed some cuts in the insulation that I am going to have to go back and tape over.
Second , I have high and low spots in my finish. Some of those low spots did not get touched with the sander.

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The areas in the picture above that are not white/cloudy are the low spots that I discovered. They are not really visible when looking at it other than by the sanding but you can feel it when you rub your hand over it. I have a couple options. Sand a little more with the 120 grit. I will tilt the sander on edge to run the edge into the low spot. This option won't make the surface perfectly level but it should be, I think, "within tolerance" knowing that the bed liner will have some texture. The second option is to put a more aggressive grit, 60 or 80, on and try to level the entire surface. After that, I could leave it as is since I believe the goal of this step is to provide a surface that the liner can grab on to. If it needs to be smoother, I can go back over with the 120 grit. In the end, I need to have the surface scuffed with minimal untouched spots. I,fortunately, don't think any of the areas are deep enough that i need to go back and fill them. I am interested in hearing any cases for going one way or the other. Or if there is something else I did not think about, I would like to hear that too.

[tony.latham]

If it needs to be smoother...

I see a couple of other options. The first is mix up a batch of thickened epoxy, wipe it down with acetone (for a better chemical bond) and then run the epoxy over it with a squeegee.

The second option is to touch those low spots up the best you can with the sander, prime, and then fill any needed low areas with spot filler.



White primer will really make the low spots jump out.



Tony

[JoeGrz]

I have been away for a while so here is where I stand. I have sanded both sides down and still have valleys to be filled so I pushed forward with the walls and will fill the valleys on the sides with the thickened epoxy while I am working on the floor and the stand for construction. Two weekends ago, I cut out the hatch sides out of the wall. Of course, despite my best efforts, I managed to push the jig saw blade out of the guide and have a slanted section in the rounded area of the cut out. Here is the picture after the hatch side has been cut out and the spacer has been put on and trimmed down.

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Then I added the 1/4" piece that forms the galley wall. Here is it glued with the weights holding the wall down.

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It is B/C plywood since that is what I had leftover from the floor. I was hoping to trim it down but the guide bushings that I thought I had could not be found and would not have been the right size. Amazon to the rescue. the template guide showed up today. The time in between was spent driving around Colorado with a touch into Wyoming. It included a night of camping

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This trip emphasized the need to get the trailer done. The air mattress is no longer adequate for our older bodies. The other thing is that the Forest Service can't be relied on to maintain their pit toilets. This is the first time I have ever come across one with a sign on it that says it's full.

This weekend I hope to trim the galley wall, square up the dados and add the shelf support. If I get those things done, I will look into what I need to stain the inside of the walls.

[tony.latham]

The air mattress is no longer adequate for our older bodies.

I hear you. You wall looks good from here.

Tony

[rjgimp]

Looks good so far Joe!

Sure is nice to have the author of that certain book available to answer a few questions, eh?