The Coddiwompler

[S. Heisley]

Have a good Thanksgiving!

 

[eLink]

I finally picked up the plywood parts from the shop. Now it really begins!

 

[lfhoward]

That’s cool! Sort of like an advanced LEGO set. Enjoy the assembly!

 

[Tony Latham]

What did the CNC machining cost?

Tony

 

[eLink]

What did the CNC machining cost?

Tony

I purchased the BB ply and milling service from House of Hardwood in Los Angeles.
Total for the plywood was $800
CNC Service for 10 sheets was $750.

 

[Tony Latham]

Thanks for posting that. Those parts sure look good and I look forward to following your build.

I'm sure you've put at least 80 hours of think-time into how you are going to assemble it, but have you seen how Oregon Trailers does there's?

[youtube]FMN8g4QUs3A[/youtube]

I thought it was interesting.

Tony

 

[eLink]

I'm sure you've put at least 80 hours of think-time into how you are going to assemble it, but have you seen how Oregon Trailers does there's?

Tony

More time spent (and wasted) than I know, considering that I started designing more than a year ago.
Oregon Trail'r is definitely one of my inspirations. I wish I could build it sideways like they do, but I don't have the room or the man-power to lift and flip the whole assembly. It's hard enough just moving the 5x10 floor alone!

 

[Tony Latham]

It's hard enough just moving the 5x10 floor alone!

I get that.

[youtube]f9zh8GgOTtg[/youtube]



Tony

 

[eLink]

Working on the underside of the 3/4 ply floor, here are the 1x sleepers and 3/4" insulation. Next comes a layer of 1/4" ply. It's already pretty heavy and I don't really need it, except to build up the floor height a bit. Coulda gotten away with a lighter sandwich floor, but I wasn't trusting my skills while designing it.

I'm guessing there will be a lot more hindsight to come as I build this thing. Oh well.

 

[eLink]

Got some more work done on the floor assembly. Dusted off my old finish nailer FN250b, which is now known simply as "Finn" (get it?), then glued and nailed down two sheets of 1/4" ply. Trimmed the edges with a brand new router. Used pocket holes for the first time ever to attach the footwell. Worked very nicely! Then installed the bottom panel of the footwell. It has a rabbeted edge, and it fit like a glove. Very gratifying to see the glue bead out of a tightly fitted joint!

Lessons learned for the day:
Not all boards have exact measurements off the shelf. I found that my 1x3s were slightly thicker than my 1x2s. Different run of the mill I guess.
Could not rely on the bit that was included with the router. Had to buy a more robust one.
Discovered that we have a Personal Gallery to upload photos. Giving it a try here.

 

[swoody126]

just an image to dream about

 

[eLink]

Yep!
I'm hoping this camper will give some purpose to my normally aimless wandering.

 

[swoody126]

Yep!
I'm hoping this camper will give some purpose to my normally aimless wandering.

might that be comfort and security ?

 

[eLink]

Being busy at work is a good thing. But it means less time for this fun stuff.
Rear skirt installed with round-y tail supports.
Bolt-head recesses have been drilled with a 1" dia. forstner bit. (really impressive tool, thanks forum!)
1/8" thick Cross-member spacer strips glued down and held with finish nails.

I thought I would try out the spar urethane "mix" on the storage box... just to get a feel for it. Soaked right in! I'll give it another coat before painting the entire bottom side with fence post paint.

Always remember to clamp your mating pieces before screwing down pocket screws! This was a careless mistake that could have been fixed if I had noticed before the glue set. No biggie though, this will get covered by plywood skin.

 

[Graniterich]

Love me some clamps! Things move on me otherwise!

Sent from my Lenovo TB-8304F1 using Tapatalk

 

[eLink]

If I do end up installing a single table leg base in the footwell, it will require some backing. I added 1x boards, insulation and a sheet of 1/8 ply over the top.

Coated the entire underside with Black Beauty fence post paint.

After flipping the floor over I marked the bolt holes using dabs of white paint on the end of a bolt. I'm using 12 carriage bolts. Thought I was pretty clever and accurate, but a couple of the drilled holes were out of alignment. Will need to do some extra routing to get the bolts to drop in.

 

[eLink]

Thankfully, I have been able to work from home during the epidemic. But I still cannot seem to find enough time to work on my camper.
I had intended to get it inspected at DMV as a stock flatbed trailer. But since that office is closed indefinitely, I will just build it and take my chances once it's done.
Went ahead slid the springs back 6", flipped the axle and checked the fit for the new 15" wheels. Interesting to note that the bed height ends up about the same as stock.

What is the consensus for keeping the stock M10 U-bolts for the underslung axle? I noticed that some people are beefing them up.

I discovered this back when I was assembling the frame...Always measure twice, or three times...

Since the frame width had been reduced by 2", I figured I would simply drill new center-bolt holes 1" inboard on each side. Turns out that the stock locations were off-center by almost 1/2 inch! So I had to grind one of the holes a little wider.

 

[eLink]

I repurposed the last cross-rail from the kit to support the stabilizer jacks. I don't know if they will be useful once I'm actually camping, but they should keep things sturdy while I'm building.

I didn't believe that carriage bolts would strip out of their holes... I was wrong. The first one I tried started spinning before I even got close to tightening it! Had to widen each counter-sunk hole to accommodate a torque washer, and this simple jig helped me do it quickly.

Now it's finally all bolted down!

 

[eLink]

Headboard and tongue storage box installed!

The headboard is the only thing that will get stain. It came out darker than I had imagined, but not bad. Everything else will be clear poly.

This bumble bee seemed attracted to the PL Premium. He did not go away for a long time, and would not respect social distancing!

 

[eLink]

I found out it's actually a California Carpenter Bee. That may be why it was interested in the fresh holes in the plywood.