Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

it is so much fun watching a foamie being built!

I am SO TIRED!!! DSD teased me today about only working 1 1/2 hours on the trailer, but that was in addition to an hour picking up a 2x4 and some more primer at the lumber yard. AND I have to put in 8 1/4 hours at work tonight, ending at midnight, and I worked 8 1/4 hours LAST night, ending at midnight.



Okay, done whining. On to the wining.

Okay, when we last met I had not yet made the final cuts on the door. Here it is, with canvas wrapped around from the sides and the paining started. Tomorrow I plan to start the framing of both the door opening and around the door itself. But I still don't know what I'm doing about the latch. Any suggestions?


Here's a view from above, showing the roof and front painted, and the curb side started. The kids don't have school tomorrow (we're having late spring weather, so the school district is letting the kids take a built-in "snow" day to start spring break early), so they will be painting some more.


And finally, from this angle it is starting to look like a real camper! Fortunately you can't see all the bugs stuck to the paint. Oh, well....


Having this camp-able by the Cub Scout camp out on May 5 is looking more and more do-able!!!



Oops, I need to put something in the crock pot for the kids' dinner, so I have to run!

Catherine

i know you can do this! may is a whole month away. i like your shape also.

Now I hate to put a bug atop the cupcake , but feel I must mention the height to width ratio.... Might be careful in strong cross winds .... A wider wheel stance would really help with this ... or basically keep All the cargo /weight on the floor ... (500lbs of Kool Aid for the scouts )... crumbs for thought...

Yeah, I don't think I will go to Slow's Wyoming gathering this year, just don't trust those winds. Do you think a foamy will have enough strength to look like this one after it goes over?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pandora_6666/3514759574/

Sunday will be windy here again, so we'll see how it goes this time.

Catherine

C+T , actually I’ve flipped mine over a number of times during the construction ... on purpose ... no problems ... never tried it with the trailer on ... which seems quite steady ... Good thing , on a Foamie , most of the weight is the trailer part and not the cabin ... so a low CoG is assured ...

Okay, we are already having Red Flag warnings (no outside burning or work that will cause sparks) state-wide here in NM, so I'm thinking we won't be having fires when we go camping later in the spring and summers. Friday was a lovely day, and my last working evening shift for the foreseeable future, so I practiced baking bread. It was supposed to be focaccia, but in order to get the nice crispy crust that my kids like on the bottom, it needs to start out screaming hot (500 F) and bake at 450 F. My solar oven happily reaches and holds 350 F in our sunny southwest weather, but not much higher. So this ended up just being a round loaf of regular textured bread. I mean, it was still a good home-made bread, just not what I was aiming for.



But back to the real stuff. Here is DD Patsy, trying to break a scrap off of the door over her knee. It only has canvas on one side (we're thinking of leaving the other side bare as a "Truth Wall," at least for now). She did finally pull the canvas away from the center of the foam, and was able to break it.



Gluing the wood to the door sides.



And gluing the wood to the door frame. More trailer bondage.



I pre-drilled pilot holes for the screws to install my piano hinge on the door and door frame when all of the glue is dry. I plan to dry-fit everything before installing the hinge, as I expect to make a few trim cuts and some sanding to give myself fitting ease. Still need to figure out my door latch.

Catherine

The camper is looking great but I must say, that solar oven is COOL er HOT! 2 thumbs up for the oven. Did you make that or is it factory? Tha camper IS looking good.
Frank

yes your camper is coming along nicely. and how cool to bake bread that way.

The solar oven is a commercial one. I've had it for years, probably more than 10. I'm pretty sure I bought it before the twins were born, as I haven't had much money to spare ever since.

It's a Global Sun Oven, available at various sites on the net. But this was easy to find:

http://www.amazon.com/Global-Sun-Oven-S ... B00286KQ1W

I cooked most of my kids' dinners in January with the solar oven, then left them on warm in the Crock Pot when I went to work. Then in February my DSD left for his trip and I started working on the trailer in his garage. So I've only used the Sun Oven about 4 times since January.

Catherine

C+T ... Looking Good !!! Coming along !!!

I just love to cook in my Solar oven , especially in the Summer , cause’ it doesn’t heat the house up , and it requires No fuel (electric for me ) .. And I dare not mention what I paid for mine ...

GEEZ, GPW, since getting to know you on this thrifty thread, let me guess what you paid for it. HMMMM Still . OK, i bet it was FREE!!!!

C+T, That trailer is coming along nicely! The bread sounds delicious. You now have my mouth watering. Think I'll need to break out the bread machine! YUM!!!

As far as a latch, there are RV supply stores (brick and mortar stores and on-line stores) that sell various latches, they can be quite pricey and you might have to mess with them a a bit to fit them to the door thickness. If you want simple, how about a dummy knob with a barrel bolt or something like that? simple but relatively cheap!

http://solarcooking.wikia.com/wiki/Cate ... oker_plans
Here’s mine ... one of them anyway ... http://solarcooking.wikia.com/wiki/%22M ... Box_Cooker

Progress feels good, eh ?
Now that my own 'Project Glacier' has gotten walls, I can see the finish line...

I'm going to have to make or buy a solar oven - I don't think I've heard much bad about them and they fit in well with camping.
I use my slow cooker a lot and there's nothing like coming home to the smell of a roast or a stew that's been slowly cooking all day. Do the solar ovens work indoors or does the glass of a window interfere with it ?

It's great to see your kids getting into the build !

Solar cooking works Great !!! Only thing , it doesn’t “brown “ ... but it also doesn’t burn , and you don’t have to stir the pot ... Put it in , go away for a couple hours ...Done !!!! If you use a windshield shade , you already have the makings of a Good solar cooker http://solarcooking.wikia.com/wiki/Wind ... lar_Cooker ... Makes Coffee/tea too, and pretty quick ... and pasteurizes water ... I’ve cooked everything in mine from hoppin’ John to chocolate chip cookies ...