Northwoods Progress

[Bigwoods]

Thought I would start a new thread for the Northwoods since I hit a milestone today and am past the start phase.

Walls are up!!




Chief Inspector looking around. He is actually sticking out his tongue at me.



This is the axle carrier. I left a 3/4" space to carry the wall. There is just enough gap to insert the wall. The wall will hide the wood frame supporting the floor.



The wall is in place, totally supported by the carrier.






If you remember the front support I added, it will support the front corner of the wall. Needed a little more muscle, so it is not seated yet.




And what is really cool is the I have a set of Kerry's fenders. WooHoo! I had to set them on the tires to get an idea of how they will look. I am very pleased. They are made very well and are just terrific! I can't wait to get to the part where I am mounting the new fenders. They will be a snap to attach.




For the very observant, the plans were changed by Mrs. Bigwoods. She likes the back of the baltic birch more than the front. Now she says to make it a woodie and with our Northwoods theme, the knots on the back of the birch will look like knotty pine. I might give that a go, undecided at present.

I need to cover the carrier some how. Making a woodie might be just the ticket as I can cover it with trim. They stick out past the fenders just a bit.

This is the floor, before wall went up.



All suggestions are welcome. Paint or Wood Side? Any opinions? Paint would be lower maintenance.

[madjack]

...looking good ...wood covered in epoxy, covered in auto clearcoat is about as maintenance free as you can get.....
madjack

[mikeschn]

BW,

I like the knotty birch!!! Your build is coming along nicely.

MJ, do you have an example of that auto-clear coat over epoxy?

Mike...

[toypusher]

Greg,

Looking great! I personally like the woody look better that the aluminum and my next one will be a woody. Keep it up and you will be done in no time at all. You may be able to get some 'fender welting' that will fill the space between the fender and the sidewall that is caused by your axle carrier. If not, get some round, hollow tube (maybe small PVC or something similar) that you can make standoffs (or spacers, if you will) where your fasteners go.

BTW: Thanks for the cudos on the fenders. I'm very pleased that you like them.

[Bigwoods]

Progress is continuing on the Northwoods. I have the spars on the front and am starting to work on the galley area. I decided to step back and reconsider my needs. So far all is gonig well.

Things that I would do differently on the build so far are cutting out the sides and the doors. That was harder than I anticipated. If I were to do it again, I would get a better jig saw. I strayed from Mike's method and tried doing it with a router. I think the jig saw would have been better.

This is the front view.



A view from the back.


I'm getting pretty good at removing junk from my hands. Between the evil black goo and constuction adhesive, I have to get it off my paws since my hands are always close to people eyes and faces when I work. Not so good to have gooey stuff on the hands when I am handling people contact lenses. (Now I just have to hide the cuts, pinches and scrapes)
This is one of the most enjoyable projects I have ever done.

[Miriam C.]

Lookin good Greg. The goo is easier to keep off than get off. I use examin. gloves for the really bad stuff. Mineral spirits are hard on the skin so vinegar gets my messes.

[madjack]

BW,

I like the knotty birch!!! Your build is coming along nicely.

MJ, do you have an example of that auto-clear coat over epoxy?

Mike...

...everything that Doug builds ...................................

[Bigwoods]

Hello everybody. Still working hard on the tear. I am getting the galley together and find that is slow going for me. I am enjoying the build very much. The galley is requiring much more precise carpenter skills.

I will post some pictures as soon as I get the mistake hidden from view.

[Bigwoods]

Still working on the galley. A neighbor was looking at it as I apologized for my poor cabinet making skills. He said the difference in a goocd carpenter and a poor one is that the good one knows how to hide his errors. I am in that phase.

I have been very fortunate to find some nice wood on the place. I sure am glad that I bought a planer at an auction. Giving it a workout on some pine and cedar.

Pix to come. {After I try to hide mistakes}

As everyone had said I was suprise how solid everything becomes as the build progresses.

The Generic Benroy plans are wonderful for a first time builder.

[NightCap]

You're at the point which was my favorite. I loved doing the galley. Have fun with it.

[Bigwoods]

Here are the first pictures of the galley area. I don't claim to be a cabinet maker and have scrounged a lot of materials. I have not applied any finish yet. The center of the upper cabinet is open. Don't know what to do there yet. I had a stain window, but Mrs. Bigwoods put the stop to that. Probably a good idea as I am sure it would shake to pieces.


This is the 110 V. pulg in that was installed.





[img]http://www.tnttt.com/gallery/image.php?image_id=22511[img][/img]

[Miriam C.]

Very Nice Greg! Thanks for the bubble oil fill up. Did you buy the cabinet doors? They look like shutters in the picture.

GitRdun

[Bigwoods]

Miriam,

They are shutters. I had about 16 of them that I bought at an auction years ago. Still were in plastic wrappers. Kinda tied of moving them about. The shutter part may not hold up, so I'll put something in the center if they fall apart.

My daughter thought they looked better with the rod in the back, so that's how I did them.

[Juneaudave]

Follow this link to a builder that puts clear coat on his kayaks....The results look so good I have to figure this guy shoots in a booth!!! Toquenatch

[toypusher]

Greg,

That's really looking good! Can hardly wait to see it done.