Snuzie Cube

[DrewsBrews]

Today I marked the mid wall location on the side walls to line up the framing properly. Then I precut a bunch of the framing pieces. Basically prepping for the side walls to be in place.

 

[DrewsBrews]

Any suggestions on glue to use to adhere the side walls to the floor? The 1/2" floor plywood acts as a cleat that the side wall will sit against while the bottom edge of the wall will be directly on top of the pine frame. I doubt the joint will be gap free so I worry regular wood glue would have difficulty forming a strong bond down the full length. Though a construction adhesive may see too much squeeze out to bond properly as well. Probably going to screw from underneath up into the edge of the 3/4" wall (predrilling to prevent lamination splitting).

Gorilla glue maybe? or does wood glue still work in these situations?

 

[Bezoar]

I used Loctite PL Premium - expands as it cures and fills gaps. Gotta clamp well or weight it down.

By the way, I ordered that 8 foot NAPA awning - It got praise on another forum and the price can't be beat!

 

[DrewsBrews]

I thought more and decided to go with pocket screws instead of screws up into the end of the plywood. I know it is technically the better option and in this case any creep from the screw angle would actually pull it into the joint. I have a harbor freight pocket hole jig, but have had a lot of really bad tearout when using it on plywood. I purchased one of the basic Kreg kits today. Hoping the jig has better support around the hole, and the fresh bit should help too.

Still debating on the adhesive. Tightbond still has a slight lead for me since I have experience with it long term, but sounds like there is a vote for construction adhesive. Anyone else?

 

[Graniterich]

Perfect fit titlbond, may be a gap Pl all the way!

 

[DrewsBrews]

Drilled 29 pocket holes today, and cut holes for the wall vents.

Doubled up on either side of the door

 

[aggie79-HILO]

Looks good!

Regarding the adhesive, PL Premium has a much longer working time than Titebond. In August in Texas, Titebond has a working time of about 5 minutes. When I built my teardrop, I used PL Premium because of the working time and not because of gaps or loose tolerances.


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[DrewsBrews]

Funny enough, that is the same conclusion I came to this evening when talking it out with my father.

While applying the canvas under the floor I found just how quickly even watered down TB will flash over out in the sun and heat. That would probably compromise the joint anyway since I can't realistically apply the glue and get the wall in place and all the screws installed to lock it down in time.

Good to hear Im on the right track. Thanks guys!

 

[DrewsBrews]

3rd dimension achieved!

With the help of a good friend the wall install went pretty well. The second wall did manage to creep a bit while we were finding square and installing the brace, but fortunately that was caught only a few screws into the install... Unscrew bump it back into place and re-screw. Did end up using PL premium and am impressed with it. I adjusted one of the braces within an hour and the wall already seemed to be self supporting with solid resistance to movement. Thanks for the suggestion guys!

Todays heat tempered my excitement a bit (humidity pushing the heat index into triple digits), but I did rummage around for the fenders and plop them on the mounts to get a look.
I sat inside and the thing does feel extremely tall. But that height is somewhat necessary in order to maneuver around comfortably on knees to the single door.
Near the top, down each side, does feel like wasted space to a certain extent. Thinking of potentially adding more storage up there. Though I am still very mindful about weight creeping in.

 

[DrewsBrews]

Got started on the spars. Trying to think ahead and strategically place 2x2s where shelves, counter, and cabinets will mount as well as where two sheets of skinning will butt up to have a satisfactory nailer/glue surface. Im already finding some things I might go back and add. oah well, as long as it happens before it is covered. Part way in I decided it would be much easier to go ahead and add the blocks as I go.. fighting the lazy urges to not get the saw out.

 

[DrewsBrews]

Not much real work done to speak of recently. Been brain storming on trying to get the last of the warp out of the side walls. One wall was cupped quite a bit while the other was very minimal. After the spars for the mid wall were installed it split the difference. So it is better but not perfect. Im thinking of using ratchet straps to pull it in place, then after interior skin is glued and dried the strap can be removed. Leaving a very close fit from the skin to the side wall.

 

[DrewsBrews]

I did the ratchet strap idea while installing the blocking... Put straps surrounding the cabin mid wall and added a ~16" block on one side to put pressure mid way down on the outward cupped side wall (should have snapped a pic, I could re-enact it if needed). Didn't take much force to correct, and the blocking seemed to take up the slack and keep the change permanent. Then today I did some initial cuts on the interior skin to get them more manageable to move around. Fortunately the skin for the mid wall (sleeping side) fits well with straight/square cuts. There will be an additional piece up top and the seam will fall right behind the cabinet bottom. My thought was to potentially install the interior skin as spars are installed. That way it would be more manageable to maintain square one section at a time; then lock it in place with the skin sheet and move to the next section, preventing it all from being tweaked in a way that would require difficult cuts later .. Also might end up easier to maneuver the sheets in while not fully enclosed with the spars.

 

[DrewsBrews]

I know there is minimal movement down the grain of a board (spars), but should I be very mindful to maintain a small gap on either side of the interior skin? I currently have the sheets cut ~1/16" smaller than the interior width; purely for ease of install around any minor inconsistencies in the side wall plywood. Should that suffice? It would be a real bummer to pull the trailer out of storage for the camping season a couple years from now and find buckling.

 

[DrewsBrews]

Kinda gave up on this for a few years, then I got a letter from the city about it so I had to take it back down to the frame to store it out in the open in the driveway for a while.

Finally getting the itch to do something with it again. But scaling back to something much more easy/quick to acomplish.. Since the frame is so large I can do half storage box to mount a rooftop tent on, and half decking/utility trailer. That way it could fit bicycles, or a motorcycle, or a mini golf cart like the collapsible Kandi cart. Not a huge fan of tenting anymore, but I could still fit an AC unit in the stortage box and plumb it up to the tent to make the hot days less miserable.

 

[RBB]

Finally getting the itch to do something with it again. But scaling back to something much more easy/quick to acomplish..

Could you build and store the wall frames "inside" then when all the sides are complete, get a few buddies around and knock the thing together in a weekend?
Pop a "For Sale" sign on it when you have it in the yard.
Around here, I can only have a "project" visible in my driveway for 3 days, however, I can have an item FOR SALE for up to 2 weeks!
Neighbor did this with his boat!
Who knows, for the right price, you might even find a sucker, i mean an interested buyer, to take it off your hands for the right price... North of $10k I'm sure!

 

[DrewsBrews]

Unfortunately the disassembly was rather destructive. So I burned that bridge for myself. In the end I don't have the time to invest that much work into this project anymore. Too many other things need attention.

I ordered a tent from Benehike, but dispite it appearing to be a California based company (and supposedly shipping form Cali) the charge went direct to a Chinese company. I received no further communication for weeks after the initial order so I had to dispute the charge.

I ended up ordering a TentBox Lite XL shipped direct from Amazon. Looks like they are a UK company and are heavily pushing the product over there. They offer other accessories like a cold weather liner that has me scratching my chin (The wife might go for that). The tent arrived today, but freezing rain this evening so I covered the box with a tarp for now. I'll mount it to some cross bars over the truck bed so we can get familiar with it this spring while building up the trailer.

I found Menards carries 1/4" UV stable HDPE in 4'x8' sheets (white or black) for a very reasonable price. 10lb lighter than an 1/2" ACX sheet. I think I'll build up a metal skeleton over the trailer frame to rivet or screw plastic sheet sections to. As long as the steel is painted there should be little issue with water ingress compared to wood products. Not ultralite construction, but the tent is only ~165lb and I have 1400lb total spring capacity to play with. I've towed aprox that weight from Cinci to Denver and back with a 1.5l so I know the worst of it. https://i.imgur.com/GEZjdZc.jpg

 

[DrewsBrews]

I mounted the tent over the truck bed temporarily to be sure we don't miss out on any camping oportunities for now.

It is a 6ft wide one. So at least I'll be gaining an additional foot of mattress width compared to the original camper idea. Comes with a nice n firm 2" foam mattress that stays inside when folded. Should be able to fit a topper if needed too.

One pet pieve of mine with tents is how much light they let in. Not this one.. Appears to be completely opaque on this overcast day. It is an absolute cave! Will be a hotbox in full sun though. Win some, lose some.

 

[S. Heisley]

The nice thing about the way this is set up is that you still have room under the tent floor and support boards to store your kitchen supplies, etc. Good thinking!

 

[DrewsBrews]

Testing old gear and trying out new stuff on the way to being ready for this season: https://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=76731

Had a day warm enough to pull the tent out and have the wife climb in and out. As I suspected she didn't like the height and I'd need to help her with the transition between the tent and ladder (in and out). Oah well hopefully this is temporary. On the trailer it would be only a couple feet drop.

The cross bars bow and feel bouncy with the tent on em even though it is just over half their weight rating. I plan to reinforce them with some steel square tube.

 

[DrewsBrews]

I built an e-trike for my wife to putt around the campground. But needed a way to transport it until the trailer is done. So I built a hitch mount from some spare 2x4" lumber and the square tube from a hitch basket. Hopefully it says "don't hit me" loud enough to avoid becoming a hood ornament.

Did some cutting and welding for a skeleton frame to build the storage box.