Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

The stain on my fenders suck, and the only thing that will make me happy is to add an additional luan skin to the top and one side and start over-- probably just varnish it.

I may have enough luan left over from before, but since it was so exciting finally locating that FIRST piece, I hope I have to buy another one!

Ira,
would paint be out of the question?
Or do you have your heart set on stain.

Best to do it the way you want it. Only that will make you happy.

If you do need more Luan we hope that you go to a DIFFERENT store so that you will have another saga to share with us all.

Walter

I am so enamored by Roly's all-wood teardrop that I should have gone this route in the first place.

For me, paint ain't gonna cut it when compared to the wood look.

What screwed me up were these 2' by 4' sandy handy panels (finely sanded ply) that I got at HD and that I'm using for the fender sides:

They simply don't take a stain reasonably. The luan tops looks FINE, but the sides are just horrible. They don't even take VARNISH in an acceptable way.

Ira wrote:I am so enamored by Roly's all-wood teardrop that I should have gone this route in the first place.

For me, paint ain't gonna cut it when compared to the wood look.

What screwed me up were these 2' by 4' sandy handy panels (finely sanded ply) that I got at HD and that I'm using for the fender sides:

They simply don't take a stain reasonably. The luan tops looks FINE, but the sides are just horrible. They don't even take VARNISH in an acceptable way.

You might want a sanding sealer on there before the stain/vanish.
It's supposed to even out the rate of stain on soft porous woods.
It's just a thought.
good luck!

You treated Larry Luan just like he was any other sheet of ply goods. He was really a good sheet, you know. We felt like we knew him personally. I have half a mind to turn you into the ASPCP (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Plywood).

If you only lived closeby....I have a sheet of 1/4" luan in my garage that just needs to go away!

Hey IndyCubbie,

I AM close by and I can always use more luan. Not quite to that point yet, but I am getting there.

So you need another piece of Luan. Let's call it "Lillie" this time.
And you need to lay it over the existing Luan.
So Lillie is on top of Larry.

Ok, I'm game.

Ira, I stacked 20 sheets of 1/4 inch lauan down the lumber isle of Lowes, and the lumber manager asked me what I was doing. I told him not to worry, I just wanted 5 sheets that matched each other and I would put them all back when I was finished. Seemed to work for me. Ha Ha, I just left them scattered on the floor...............Naw just kidding.

I had no problem with the stain, just brushed it on prior to adding the pine trim. Seemed to work out just fine, but am glad I got the plywood from the same batch of product. As an aside, I am much happier with the Spar Varnish that I applied last time than I have been with the Varathane. It just seems to cover better and has much more shine. (plus it is 5 bucks cheaper then the Varathane.........surprise)

Roly, not fretting the finish on the next one, just using house paint!!!

Roly, the 1/8" luan I had/have for the top skins is no problem--it's the 1/2" ply I'm using for the stuctural sides.

I bought two of these finely sanded "handy panels" that were 2 by 4--so I paid more because I didn't want to shlep a 4 by 8 sheet. It's THAT material that totally sucks--it's so finely sanded that a stain or varnish brings out NOTHING. Not only doesn't the grain show through, but there are a few spots where the glue that they use to laminate the piece comes right to the surface.

And you see these little spots that didn't take ANY stain--it's like spotted with a few light dots.

So I'm also covering the SIDES with the new luan.