De-Construction of the Inkwell

[Lynn Coleman]

Well the time has come to take apart the Inkwell. We've had a lot of good years but being our first build we found many mistakes. The deconstruction process will begin in a few weeks. (We're still recovering from the loss of our youngest son.) Anyway, I was looking for suggestions on the best way to take apart the trailer. We are going to save the cabinet doors, ceiling trim and the windows, door and as much of the interior material as possible. We also hope to use the frame again with the next build.

Apart from a sawsall (sp?) do you have any suggestions? We screwed the sides to the floor and frame when were were building it. The frame is heavy duty aluminum and we used aluminum screws to prevent rusting.

Also were still brainstorming on the design of the new trailer which I believe will be called the Inkwell 2.

Lynn

[Steve_Cox]

Hi Lynn,

Nice to see you here. I think after you remove the parts you want a combination of sledge hammer and pry bar would be good deconstruction tools. Saws are good for making little pieces out of big pieces. Taking the ink well apart will be a good opportunity to learn how to make a better ink well

[bobhenry]

Perhaps you can use your writers talents to describe what and where you feel the mistakes were made and the results that later became a problem.

Many could learn from your experiences and we could all share ideas as to how best to attack such a problem.

[Lynn Coleman]

Bob some of the mistakes were:
Construction outside and the wood warped before fiberglass was applied.
Flat roof and the seams in the fiberglass on the roof led to leak
Front window was home-made, leaked around seams in the window frame and leaked down inside the front panel.
Rot happened above the rear exterior door on the rear wall it was a storage area for outdoor items that went under the bed.

For better weight distribution we feel the bed should be in the front of the trailer and the heavier items around the axle.

That's a few of the items off the top of my head.

Lynn

[mikeschn]

Lynn,

I'd sure like to learn how to deconstruct a trailer. I have one in the backyard that is begging to be deconstructed. Short of taking a sawsall to it, I have no idea.

Mike...

[starleen2]

Electric Chain saw worked pretty good for me

New demolition tool

Kit anyone? Ready to assemble

[Wild Bill]

Did you store it outside as well? Album shows a 2007 build so you got at least 4 camping seasons out of it. How did you seal the corners of the roof? I would rather learn from your mistakes than make them myself. I have the alum trim with the rolls of putty like the RV industry uses. I plan to have a slight bow in the roof. Was water standing on the roof? Was it painted or sided with something? Thanks for your help. Bill

[packerz4]

so sorry to hear about the loss of your son!

[Lynn Coleman]

so sorry to hear about the loss of your son!

Thanks, we're doing fairly well but it is an incredible loss.

[Lynn Coleman]

Did you store it outside as well? Album shows a 2007 build so you got at least 4 camping seasons out of it. How did you seal the corners of the roof? I would rather learn from your mistakes than make them myself. I have the alum trim with the rolls of putty like the RV industry uses. I plan to have a slight bow in the roof. Was water standing on the roof? Was it painted or sided with something? Thanks for your help. Bill

Yes, the Inkwell was stored outside as well. We started building in Jan. 07 and we camped in it in Mar 07. The corners are not leaking they were sealed with fiberglass. Prior to the glass we layered the corners with 1/4" ply inside, 3/4" corner and 1/4" ply outside, held together with Titebond III. We clamped both sides (right and left) together and used a plane and sander to have the curve equal with each other. The roof 1/4" ply extended to the outer edge of the sides, leaving no room for water to travel down the interior of the sides or corners. As for the flat roof pooling, yes we had one spot that did and it was the first to rot through. We caught it early enough and were able to fill the rot with epoxy and repaint. We used a rubberized roof paint.

The sides were painted but here are a few of the things we did wrong. We covered the sides with fiberglass resin but we did not use the cloth. We should have. We used bondo to level out the imperfections in the the wood, which you can do but...bondo doesn't bond to wood, so the surface can't be sanded down to the wood without having the fiberglass resin on it before apply the bondo. I hope that makes sense.

The Powder Puff did many coats of epoxy and they've had no trouble with leaks or rot. They built around the same time we did.

Hope that helps.

Lynn

[Lynn Coleman]

Electric Chain saw worked pretty good for me

Good point. We'll be getting a new one of those soon. Paul just burned out the one we purchased the other day when a tree fell on the house. I like the idea of the chainsaw more than the sawzall.

Lynn

[justageorgiaguy]

Just watch out for nail/screw bits from the chainsaw, it would throw them a lot worse than a sawzall.

[Kevin & Sandy]

Just watch out for nail/screw bits from the chainsaw, it would throw them a lot worse than a sawzall.

Yep, a hidden screw would be pretty hard on a chain. Get a good selection of Sawzall blades and have at it!

Also, sorry to hear about your loss, I can't imagine what you must have gone through.

[justageorgiaguy]

Of course you could always remove the tires and just set it on fire, lol. Might have to rewire though.

[Miriam C.]

Chain saw works. Well almost. I would try a drill with a screwdriver bit attached, first! Safer and for me would have been faster!