Summertime Benroy Build- Finally named: The "Towster"!

[Babartlett]

Thanks for the tips KC! That will come in handy. I agree that working on a bench is worth the any extra a trouble.

[Babartlett]

Im currently framing my composite walls and I am having to confront my door design.

I would prefer for my doors to be rectangular with a radius at each corner; similar to the pre-built doors that you can buy. I was hoping to achieve a 6 inch radius at each corner but I know that that may be a stretch for the aluminum trim.

Please let me know if you have experience or opinions regarding how sharp flexible T molding can be bent without curfing it.

Thanks!

[KCStudly]

Can't say from first hand knowledge what the minimum is for unmodified, but from what I have seen the trick to getting it tighter is not kerfing. Some people remove a portion of the inside flange to get it to bend tighter. Check out The Atma Travelear. You can see how Dave did it here.

[Babartlett]

I have had lots of time to work on the trailer since my last post. One of the tow vehicles broke down and I missed two days of work waiting on parts!

I was trying to figure out if I wanted to use Titlebond II or Pl Premium as the major adhesive for the rest of the project. I obtained some of each and decided to do my own little test. I glued together pieces of my baltic birch and hard insulation in 5 different configurations: 1/4" ply clamped to 3/4" ply, styrafoam clamped to 1/4" ply, two pieces of 3/4" ply butted together with pocket screws, 1/4" ply fastened to 3/4" ply with 18 ga brad nails, and two pieces glued together without any clamping force (to simulate a gap). After sitting overnight, I removed the clamps and tried to break the bonds. Of the ones that I pulled apart I could not tell a substantial difference. Even though the polyurethane was probably stronger, they both made very strong bonds and would sufficiently strong for the high surface area of sandwich composite wall construction. I decided to go with Titlebond II for the rest of the project. Two big reasons are that it is easier to clean up and is much much cheaper!

This is by no way controlled or scientific, it manily just gave me confidence to go with the cheaper alternative!


Basic frame taking shape! I decided to rip the 3/4" baltic birch into 2 1/2" wide strips to avoid buying pricey poplar boards. I was surprised how well it substituted! I used kreg jig pocket screws and barely had any splitting.


Fiancee Mary Beth and camping companion Layla help to model my progress so far!


Got the rigid insulation cut out! I also got the door jams cut out and installed. I decided to go with the 6" radius for the door after all. I think that it will be work the extra effort. I willy probably change my mid later though haha.


Preparing to attach the outer skin to the frame. This was definitely a stressful procedure and Im glad that its over!


Looks like the current camping equipment isn't obsolete yet!

[Breytie]

I have had lots of time to work on the trailer since my last post.

Lucky you! Or is it?

Even though the polyurethane was probably stronger, they both made very strong bonds and would sufficiently strong for the high surface area of sandwich composite wall construction. I decided to go with Titlebond II for the rest of the project. Two big reasons are that it is easier to clean up and is much much cheaper!

I too prefer PU where small areas need to join or waterproof join is required.

Looks like the current camping equipment isn't obsolete yet!

Traditional clamps, very handy to have around. Around here they often are shaped to look like bricks and bags of sand!
It looks very good! keep the ball rolling!

[Ron Dickey]

you are flying looks really fine, good job.

always good to see someone who has most of it figured.

Ron

[oakinteriors1]

Fellow kayaker you are doing an excellent job...

[S. Heisley]

I like the shape of your teardrop and I especially like your fur-covered inspector!

[Tommy2tone_1999]

Love the floor storage compartments I put 2 in my build too.

[Babartlett]

Thanks for the kudos everyone!

It has been a while since my last post. I missed a couple weeks of working on the trailer due to traveling, work, and being sick. Now that I feeling better and also behind, I am more focused and driven to get this thing finished so I can use it already!

Starting to lay out the wires inside the composite wall. I used a 1/2" router bit to make a grove for the 14 gauge speaker wire that I am using for all of my DC.




I routed my interior 1/4" birch skin to be offset the thickness of the ceiling from the top edge. This allows the roof spars to sandwich the interior 1/8" birch headliner to the interior skin and hopefully create a more seamless joint. For a more attractive finish, I decided to use a dado joint for the wall dividing the cabin and galley.



It gets tricky where these two routing procedures meet on top of where the galley hinge spar will be located.


With the electrical installed in the walls, its time for some glue!


After my hands got tired of squeezing out all of that glue, I invented the redneck caulk gun! It actually worked pretty well!


This took a lot of planning and every clamped I owned. I quickly went out and bought more clamps..


After the glue dried I mounted the walls to start dry fitting everything else on the trailer. It felt good to finally get into the third dimension!


Here is another view of my offset interior wall skin.


Planning where my roof spars will be.


All of the spars installed!



Close up of how the 1/8" birch headliner will be sandwiched in between the roof spars and the interior wall.



The spars for the top of the roof. I doubled up the sticks used to support the roof fan. I used the same technique to create a solid base on each side for the Yakima 42" roof rack rails to mount to. The bases can be seen running parallel to each wall. All of the roof spars were installed using pocket screws.


A gift from the wedding shower this past weekend. The giver had NO idea that I was even building a teardrop trailer!!

[noseoil]

Nicely done! Your joinery looks first rate, simple, strong and well thought-out. I like the dado joints and aft-bulkhead at the galley, should be a nice stiff box. How are you planning on fastening the bulkhead wall?

Will be a nice camper when it's finished. Good progress report, thanks for posting. Target weight yet?

[Babartlett]

Nicely done! Your joinery looks first rate, simple, strong and well thought-out. I like the dado joints and aft-bulkhead at the galley, should be a nice stiff box. How are you planning on fastening the bulkhead wall?

Will be a nice camper when it's finished. Good progress report, thanks for posting. Target weight yet?

It's amazing what a camera can do! This is my first time extensively using a router and finer woodwork in general so I am spending a lot of time trying to get everything just right. There are many other parts of the build that I have chosen NOT to document haha. My bulkhead will be the same sandwich construction as the walls to provide additional insulation to the cabin as well as run wires. To fasten the bulkhead I will use 2" coated deck screws installed from the exterior on each side. On the top and bottom I will use pocket screws on the cabin side. Both pocket hole locations will be covered up by the cabinets and basement.

As for target weight, I would love to see under 1,000 lbs dry but I would be happy to be at 1,300 lbs loaded. I will be sure to post the weight and cost when I finish up!

[Gunguy05]

Looking great. You are definitely moving along quickly.

Once question. How are you going to get the roof in between the ledge and the bottom of the spars?

The reason I ask is I thought (at least initlaly) from the ledge you were designing, that you were going to put the roof in first, then the spars on top. It's been done before, aka. the "inside out" method of construction.

Just curious..looking good though.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Brian

[McGuffin]

Hi There,

Great work on the trailer so far - and fast too.

Just re-reading about the 6" radius. I'm going for the same on my doors. In fact I cahnged them fro 4" radius to 6" radius after talking to aGrant Whipp fro Lil Bear. He says that 6" bends on the "T" molding is achievable. Dave Mc Cammin got away with the 6" too on the Travelear.

Regards,


Larry

[Babartlett]

Looking great. You are definitely moving along quickly.

Once question. How are you going to get the roof in between the ledge and the bottom of the spars?

The reason I ask is I thought (at least initlaly) from the ledge you were designing, that you were going to put the roof in first, then the spars on top. It's been done before, aka. the "inside out" method of construction.

Just curious..looking good though.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Brian

Hey Brian!

Now that the walls are structurally complete I am in the process of dry fitting the roof and bulkhead. I like to have all of my screw holes set before I glue so that the members will find the same alignment that I had before. After I am happy with the fit I will take everything apart and then stain/ finish any relevant surface. Once everything has been finished laying down, I will reassemble with glue, and it will be set for good!

So yes I will install the headliner before the outer spars. I just used a small piece of the 1/8" birch to find the right gap so that I could get all of the pocket screws set without the headliner in the way.

Good eye!