Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Howdy all,

My wife and I are building our first teardrop following the Kuffel Creek plans. We've hit a little of a snag as of this past weekend. We're to the point of installing the roof spars and I can't get the ash or fir called for without taking a weekday off of work to go to a proper hardwood store. I can get red oak at the local home depot and/or lowes. Would the red oak make a suitable replacement for the other materials?

Thanks,
Noah

Red oak will certainly be strong and will hold fasteners. You may want to consider poplar. It is slightly less expensive and is located next to red oak at the BORG (big orange retail giant) and the blue version of the BORG.

I used poplar for mine. It's easier to work with and cheaper than the red oak -- and it's right next to the red oak at Home Depot.

BTW, even though the poplar is softer than the oak, I still pre-drilled anywhere I used screws.

CD

Red oak is an overkill.

Pine is fine! Hmmm... I gotta remember that next time I need a new signature line.

But really, I've build all my teardrops with pine spars. I just make sure there are no large knots in the spars, and no knots in the end where I put the screws into the endgrain.

Mike...

I also used pine for mine. (that rhymes too )

Red oak is overkill and more expensive.

I used yellow pine for roof spars,

Just stay away from the balsa...

Wht oak is my fave for structural apps but I'm with everyone else on this one -- pine be fine (and everything for there is fair.

An interesting note -- spruce is used a lot in aircraft construction due to strength per weight, but fir isn't far behind -- you can get that at the big box as well

Good luck finding straiht 1"x2" pine at the BORG. I bought a 12' piece of 2"x12" and had them cut two pieces 62" long out of it, the spars will be ripped out of these.

Straight(er) 1"x2" poplar should be available at the BORG as well.

Edit:

After thinking about this, I can see why red oak might be your choice, at my local box stores, most of the red oak is really straight.

Good point DH...

I rip all my spars from 2x10 or 2x12s.

Mike...

dh wrote:After thinking about this, I can see why red oak might be your choice, at my local box stores, most of the red oak is really straight.

Not always. I used red oak for my cabinets and I had a heck of a time finding really straight 1x2 and 1x3 red oak at the BORG. I would go through an entire stack to just find a few boards that were perfectly straight. Of course, YMMV.

oak (red or white) is way too expensive unless you're going to leave it show.. poplar is notoriously unstable and will warp. it rots very quickly too.. your best bet is to buy some 2x spf (spruce- pine- fir) and rip your pieces out of that like others have suggested. that way you can get clear straight pieces with no knots.. another option is LVL.. laminated veneer lumber.. it's like plywood but all the grain is in one direction.. it's fantastic stuff.. it is made for load bearing applications (beams/joists/rafters etc) so the glue line is good and it will not warp or twist..

planovet wrote:

dh wrote:After thinking about this, I can see why red oak might be your choice, at my local box stores, most of the red oak is really straight.

Not always. I used red oak for my cabinets and I had a heck of a time finding really straight 1x2 and 1x3 red oak at the BORG. I would go through an entire stack to just find a few boards that were perfectly straight. Of course, YMMV.

you won't find it anywhere.. unless you are very lucky.. that goes for all woods really.. if you need straight and flat it's called jointer/planer..

mikeschn wrote:Good point DH...

I rip all my spars from 2x10 or 2x12s.

Mike...

That’s why I was suggesting fir – it comes in bigger pieces to whack off what you need (2X10, 2X12) which is 1 ½ thick so you can get 1½ X 1 inch stringers, which I think would be fine.

I have also used 1x10s in a a pinch, and ripped it 1 1/2" wide. As long as there are no big knots... so you end up with 3/4 x 1 1/2.

Mike...

I used furring strips except where the galley hinge is going to attach. Red oak for that.