It's Ended, RIP. Update 11/13/12

[Catherine+twins]

Between working days now and working weekends, I haven't had a lot of time for the trailer for nearly 2 weeks! The kids decided that a regular door knob would be just fine, and in fact, it does work out fine on a 2" door. But when Peter, my dear step-dad, and I got to work on it, we found his old reliable (operative word OLD) router had a broker collet (I would have used the term collar) that holds the bit in. Working out a "fix" that would make the router work just this once took the rest of the one day I had to work until Sunday. But by then the new part should be in anyway.

Oh, well, we have been having quite SEASONALBLE weather for a change, cool and windy, so I wouldn't have been as comfortable working on the trailer as I was last month when we were having June-like weather.

Got a laugh today. I had a morning meeting with dear son's teaching team, and while we were waiting for his speech teacher to make a copy of the paperwork, I was chatting with his reading teacher and home room teacher about scouting and camping. Speech teacher came back in on the tail end of that and commented that someone in her neighborhood was BUILDING a camper, and wasn't that neat! Writing teacher said, "Oh, yes, Ricky (ds) has used that in two writing assignments, telling all about building the camper." Speech teacher was amazed that WE are the ones building it, and wants to stop by while we are working on it this Sunday. She hadn't connected it to Ricky's family project before, as she lives outside of our school district. Yup, we are building it at DSD's house, still. But it should come back to our house at the end of the month.

Catherine

[Catherine+twins]

I haven't taken a picture of the current problem because you have to see both sides of the door to appreciate the problem. But it was a LOL situation, two weeks in a row!

Okay, so we are installing hard points (1/2 inch plywood plates) in both sides of the door where the doorknob will go. Measured the outside of the door, marked the wood on the door's edge for reference, and routered in the space for the plywood insert on the door's exterior. Flipped the door and routered in the space for the plywod on the doors interior. Only on the interior the edge matched up but the plywood was below the mark, not above. Didn't realize it until I had glued both sides and was clamping it up--and the wood I was clamping with didn't cover the plates on both sides.

Okay, the glue was there and it was already expanding, the only thing to do at that point was let it set and deal with the problem the next time I could work. DSD and I laughed about it and had a glass of wine.

Next time we could work, we routered out the mistake (which had swelled out of place because I couldn't clamp it right because it wasn't where it was suppose to be) and the same amount again, cut a new ply plate twice the size, applied glue and tape, and clamped it all again.

So today I went over while the kids were at soccer practice, ready to sand down the over-glue and get the doorknob installed. Sanded, trimmed, everything looked great....until I flipped the door over and discovered that the plywood plates STILL DIDN'T MATCH!!! Now we have a double-sized plate on the interior matching its top edge to the bottom of the plate on the exterior!!!

Where's the smily drinking Scotch? Beer just doesn't do it for this.
When DSD came out, ready to cut the doorknob hole, and I explained the situation to him, he just kept repeating "No! No!" But he was also laughing at our mistake. So anyway, instead of installing the doorknob and hanging the door tonight, we once again routered out for the plate (YES, WE MADE SURE IT IS IN THE RIGHT LOCATION THIS TIME) and I glued it AGAIN and clamped it AGAIN. No soccer tomorrow, so we will go over as soon as the kids finish homework club and have another go at SANDING IT DOWN, INSTALLING THE DOORKNOB, AND HANGING THE DOOR!

I have a friend who has volunteered me to help cook lunch for an event on Saturday, so we won't be working on the trailer as much as I wanted on Saturday. Guess we'll be doubling down on Friday night and Sunday! Then we'll pick up the last few pieces during the evenings next week, because we need to have it camp-able on Cinco de Mayo for the Cub Scout camp-out!

Catherine

[GPW]

C+T. sometimes the little things take as much time as the Big things ... details ...

If I have to locate a hole in a panel , a small pilot hole first helps with alignment and measurements... a “registration” point

Wonder if there’s a merit badge for trailer building ... should be huh ???

[Catherine+twins]

Okay, we're down to the wire. The camp out is this weekend, and I need to button this thing up! So this weekend we FINALLY got the doorknob installed and filled out the door frame, which was just a bit too wide.

Then, while we were waiting for the primer to dry on the door and frame, we installed one window and got the other window frame ready to slap the second one in tomorrow after work.

Now I know that for the next one, I want to install two windows per side. This looks a bit wimpy in that big wall.

Catherine

[GPW]

WOW !!! Nice !!!

[Catherine+twins]

Yea! I would say it is campable! Okay, we need to finish the door jam just a bit, and I need to work on the skin some more. Oh, and I need to take some time off work this week to get the license plate. But check this out!

Dear step-dad thinks he is taller than I am (we are exactly the same height) so he installed the windows and much of the door because he could "reach" it. But I appreciate the help! This way I could stand back and give directions, not to mention holding up the weight (yeah, foam!) of the door while we were hanging it.




So we have a closed box, and hopefully at least one bench completed by Saturday!



Catherine

[GPW]

Catherine , I don’t mean to express this in a disconcerting way , but what about all those bubbles and wrinkles ??? Did you try Ironing them down with a hot iron and press pad ??? Worked for me ...

[Catherine+twins]

Catherine , I don’t mean to express this in a disconcerting way , but what about all those bubbles and wrinkles ??? Did you try Ironing them down with a hot iron and press pad ??? Worked for me ...

Yeah, that was the result of using a very light-weight drop-cloth fabric in places, and working in a VERY dry environment without enough assistance. The fabric/primer combination dried almost on contact, making re-positioning very difficult. And when I could reposition, the fabric stretched and went back down unevenly. I found that the medium weight canvas drop-cloth on the roof came out almost perfectly, though. Obviously that is the stuff I should have used the whole way. OTOH, that did end up with wrinkles going over the edge on the rounded portion of the front.

I have removed the fabric completely from the door. Right now it is just painted foam. The rest of the back wall will get the same treatment later in the summer, and then I'll re-skin it. I don't think there is any use trying to iron that part down. But I will try the iron bit on the front.

Catherine

[Catherine+twins]

We went CAMPING!!!

Dear son's Cub Scout pack had their spring camp out on Saturday. (We all praised our event planner for scheduling the camp out on the night of the Super Moon. Oh, uh, hmm, yup, that was on purpose! ) Here we are in the parking lot of the Bandelier National Monument Ponderosa Group Campground.

As expected, the May 5th night at 7800 ft above sea level in the southern Rockies was cool, even chilly, but we stayed in the low 40s. (Last year we woke to 29 F on Sunday morning!) We even squeaked in under the fire restrictions and were able to light them up for a while. But the wind picked up at about 8:00 pm, so DS bailed on the tent and slept in the trailer with DD and me. I had my cot, but they were sharing DD's air mattress, so they were a bit cramped. Yup, the interior needs work! I definitely have to finish the bunks.

Fortunately, I parked the trailer so that at midnight I reached out, swung the door open, and managed to wake the kids up long enough to ooh and ah at the Super Moon before I swung the door closed again. Oh, uh, hmm, yup, that was on purpose, too!

We had a good time, but when it came to a picture to remember it with, the kids got shy.


BTW, 5 tours so far!
Catherine and Twins

[Wobbly Wheels]

That's great that you made the camping trip Catherine !
The DS had a warmer spot to retreat to which is SO important to keep kids "into" camping.

Don't worry too much about those wrinkles: cut them through their highest point with a sharp pair of shears and glue 'em down. Some heavy compound (spackle, lagging, fairing compound, etc) will blend them in.
At least...that's how it works with glass cloth....

[GPW]

C+T ... So how did it tow ???

[bonnie]

Well done! Great pictures. I can't wait until I can say, it's campable.

[Catherine+twins]

GPW, it towed great! I mean, I definitely felt it back there, but it didn't drag me down starting up or push the car when stopping, like the old pop-up (1500 lbs dry weight ) did behind my Outback about five years ago. I was going 65 on the road to the camp ground and it felt solid, no sway, no bucking. I haven't weighed it, don't ask, but I can still move it around by myself pretty easily.

I saw reflectors in the dollar racks the last time I was in the local hardware store, so I picked up two packages. You can see them on the sides of the trailer. They weren't really required, as the trailer is only 64" wide, but it seemed like a good (and inexpensive) idea. It actually is narrower than the "hips" of my car. My wing mirrors see around it with no obstruction.

Catherine

[GPW]

Catherine , that’s Wonderful !!!

[S. Heisley]

Congratulations on your first camp trip under the super moon...wonderful!
I suspect that you're going to have a lot of fun with that trailer.