Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I am getting ready to start my fist build and have been doing much research on these boards. I want to buils a small TD 40 x 80 with 3/4" plywood walls and no galley. This seems to me to be the simplest method and still relatively light weight.

My question (first) is about wood sealer. I have seen a recipee for a sealer made of MP ... 75% Mineral Spirits (common paint thinner ) and 25% Polyurethane varnish. Would this work as well as CPES as it would be alot easier to find. f you used the sealer prior to gluing, would it affect the glues strength? Can common Bondo still be used as well as an automotive paint/primer? Would it work well enough that I could just round over the side plywood walls and keep the roof and end grains waterproof?

I am not sure how my project will work out but I am sure this is the place to ensure I get the best results. Tkanks in advance.

Sealing the ends before gluing is a good idea, but this will force you to use a glue with properties similar to epoxy. Regular wood glue will not adhere well to the end after it is sealed.

Another consideration is how you are going to finish your trailer, if you are going to paint then using bondo will be okay but if you are going to stain/dye then varnish you need to stain/dye after you have glued and before trying to seal the ends.
Some sealers do penetrate deeply and allow staining/dying you just need to read the labels.

To us the most important part of the build is sealing the wood. All your hard work is gone and just a pile of rotted wood soon if you don't protect your wood well. This is not the area to skimp. Just about everything can be found on the internet, so that shouldn't have to be a stopper for you. We live in a TINY town in the middle of Nevada. We used epoxy from Raka, at www.raka.com. And were very happy with both the service and product. Others have had wonderful success with west marine systems. I had never used epoxy before, but the learning curve wasn't bad and I am pleased with the results. I'm no expert, but I don't think the recipe for mineral spirits and poly varnish would be very effective. Poly varnish doesn't last in the weather. We used marine spar varnish over the top of the epoxy to protect it from the sun, which will have to be maintained periodically.

Debbie

...glue first then seal or you will havvta use a poly based glue such as Gorilla Glue...your formula for the sealing poly will work BUT you will need 3+ coats...why...because as the mineral spirits evaporate out, they will leave micro pores for water to enter...PLUS, it will havvta be covered by some sort of UV protectant...using Bondo/auto paint is acceptable over the poly sealed wood...remember, it will only look as good as the effort spent on preparation(as is the case with most finishes)...myself, I would(and did) cough up the extra bucks and use RAKA's non-blushing epoxy and go from there...................
madjack