CrowsWing , So long and thanks for all the fish.

[rand_98201]

this seems to be the build that resembles what I would like to do the closest so far I believe.Mattering on final height of the trailer or I should say ground clearance.

[WhitneyK]

Hey I’m back!

... I notice nobody has mentioned anything about the lack of chassis under this trailer. We are still waiting on our custom aluminum trailer. ...

Liz,

Not common, but not uncommon either. I, like yourself, built my saddle before a had a horse. In my case, the "horse" was dead and needed to be brought back to life. I just welded the chassis to fit the box. Seems to have worked.?. If there is a "next time", I'll probably have my trailer before I start.

By the way, lookin' great! I really like where this one's goin'. Have fun!

[Elizabeth C.]

(this post was reposted after a large portion was lost in the move)

Sooo….. we started the cabinetry last weekend. . After 2 days of work all we had to show were the bare bones of the bottom galley cabinet. In all fairness this cabinet was quite complicated with areas for both a refrigerator and the stove/oven combo and three other drawers. First I had to measure the stove to determine the size drawer needed, then we sized the refrigerator for its cabinet, from that the middle drawers were determined. The bottom cabinets will be frameless, so I edged the plywood with 1 ½” red oak.


Galley full of cabinet carcasses.

The real problems came when I tried to make the stove drawer from Baltic plywood, the bit tore the ply terribly sending splinters all over the place. This is what it sounds like when dovetails cry! We then tried using the kreg jig to make the drawer, the end result was strong but not very pretty. I gave up in disgust. The only bright spot of the weekend was stopping at IHOP for breakfast when we went to pick up more lumber ( Yummm New York Cheesecake pancakes, who knew?).

After shopping online for pre-made drawers the price convinced me to buck up and try again. I surfed some wood workers forums and learned that plywood can be difficult to dovetail, so I decide to buy some solid pine instead.

Another weekend came and back into the garage I went. Saturday morning my hubby had to work so I was on my own. I plugged in the ipod and got busy. Since the hard stuff figured out last week, this weekend was much easier. I built the frames for the top of the cabinet and the piece that separates the middle drawers. All these pieces were faced with oak. Then I pieced together the electrical chase out of ½ inch plywood. After placing it at the back of the cabinet I realized it was 2 inches too tall. I still have no idea how that happened. Rather then getting upset, I just dissembled it, ripped it to the new size, reassembled it ,and it was fine. Whatever.






On Sunday we built the upper galley cabinet. This cabinet has a center section that goes through the bulkhead, providing room for a wine rack. It took us most of the morning to get it knocked out.



Once in place we checked out the inside of the trailer. It was unclear that there was enough foot room under the cabinet. To be sure, we put the foam mattress in the trailer to test it. It was very comfortable , we could have taken a nap except for the cold draft blowing through the garage. Unfortunately we determined the space would be a little tight under the cabinets. There would only be about 10 inches of vertical foot room. We measured and taped out higher cabinets , making them a little deeper at the same time.



The new design gives us 12 inches of foot room. We then went to town for our weekly trip to Lowes and bought the pine for the drawers and then we called it a day.



On Monday, after taking the daughter to the dentist, we started back on the cabinets. Using the new measurements we built the lower bedroom cabinets then the upper one.






Gathering my courage I got the dovetail jig and the material together for the stove drawer. The solid pine routed much cleaner then the ply. After screwing up the spacing on one side, I got my act together and manage to get all four sides done. My hubby declared that it was time to quit so we could go grocery shopping. Not wanting to go hungry this week, I agreed to stop, for as much as I like to build stuff, I like also like to eat.


Getting jiggy wit it.


Drawer so far.

Next week I hope to get the rest of the drawers dovetailed and dadoes put in for the bottoms. I also want to start on the face frames for the upper cabinets in the galley and bedroom . We shall see…

Until next time, Dr. C-Dawg

[S. Heisley]

You're doing good! I'm looking forward to more!

[Captain Monkeyshines]

Forgive the really lame-O first post, but I have been lurking for quite a while. I've looked at just about every build thread here, and I think, when this is finished it is going to be one of the finest teardrops around. You are really lucky to have a spouse so willing to help you along on your project!
Have fun!

[Elizabeth C.]

Thank you, Captain Monkeyshines ,

One of my favorite people in the world is also a captain, his name is Morgan!

And yes I am very lucky to have such a wonderful spouse, we make a great team. He is the brawn, I am the brains and we both are easily amused.

By the way we heard from the metal shop on tueday ,they say they will have our trailer done ASAP. Hopefully that means within the next month. We shall see.

Later tater,
Dr. C-Dawg

[Captain Monkeyshines]

Thank you, Captain Monkeyshines
One of my favorite people in the world is also a captain, his name is Morgan!

Yar! E's one of me favorite Captains too!

[campmaster-k]

Fun build thanks for making it fun.

Makes me want to build again. Ahhhhhh Not really.

[Elizabeth C.]

So its the end of another weekend. I thought I would update everyone on our progress.

On Saturday I spent most of the day playing with the dovetail jig. I managed to get all four drawers and the middle cabinet milled. I made a few mistakes. The jig I used is so basic that there are many different ways to screw it up. I think I discovered most of those ways. I'm glad I used pine instead of maple or some other expensive wood.

Before stopping for the night I used a dado blade on the table saw to mill the dados for the drawer bottoms.


Drawer sides awaiting assembly.

On sunday we cut the drawer bottoms out of 1/2 inch plywood. Then it was time to assemble. We used some titebondIII and a rubber mallet to help convince everything to go together.


Just beat it!

Once checked for square, the drawers were set aside to dry. Then we started on the faceframes for the upper cabinets.


Inner cabinet frame.

That evening I was able to take all the opening measurements and I placed a order for the doors and drawer fronts from http://www.rawdoors.net. I don't think my nerves could handle making raised panel doors, so we budgeted them in to be mail-ordered instead.

Today we rebuilt the faceframe in the above picture, after I realized that the widest I could order a door was 24", not the 25 inches I would need for the initial opening. Oh well I guess the first one was just a rough draft.

We spent some time this afternoon sanding the drawers. Boring but necessary. They still need a final sanding but so far so good. The drawer with the notch is for the camp chef oven.


Glad that's done!!!!!

The rest of the afternoon was used to clean the garage and burn the trailer trash. That's it for this week.

"As long as the world is turning and spinning, we're gonna be dizzy and we're gonna make mistakes."
Mel Brooks

Later dudes and dudettes.
Dr. C-dawg.

[WhitneyK]

....The rest of the afternoon was used to clean the garage and burn the trailer trash. That's it for this week.

Later dudes and dudettes.
Dr. C-dawg.

Wow, maybe I need to move to Virginia? In Indiana, it's illegal to burn trailer trash, we just have to put up with our neighbors and hope they don't raise too much cain.

[TJinPgh]

That's why outdoor fireplaces were invented, lol.

[Captain Monkeyshines]

That's why outdoor fireplaces were invented, lol.

Yeah, but you have to be able to fold the big ones up to get them to fit.....that's why bonfires are better.....


I like your drawers C-Dawg! They look very nice

[Elizabeth C.]

I like your drawers C-Dawg! They look very nice

Thank you Captain, I worked very hard on my drawers.They look so nice because my husband spent alot of time sanding them smooth.

We got some good news this week ,we have recieved word that our trailer chassis will be completed in the next few weeks.


Happy Happy Joy Joy!!!!!

Soon we will have wheels!!!

We'll keep you updated,
Peace out,
Dr. C-Dawg

[Captain Monkeyshines]

Good woodworking takes lots of sanding. Good thing your husband is good with his hands.....

"I don't think you're happy enough!"

Congratulations on the real wheel potential! I'll be interested to see your chassis

[Elizabeth C.]

Sorry for the long pause. I have been very busy lately. I have almost a month of build write-up to catch up on. Hopefully this next weekend there will be more for you to see. We just heard last week that the chassis will be delayed another week. I'm too sad to write tonight.
The sun will come out tomorrow....
Later dudes,
Dr. C-Dawg