hey all

[jdgile]

still lurking, but i thought i would get a profile and make myself known.

I would really like to build a weekender from Mike's plans. I just spent an hour or so mocking one up on 1":1' scale out of balsa wood. Helped answer a lot of questions on how i want it to be built.

budget is really the issue with building it. Presently i live in eastern Washington, and the availability of cheap materials is non-existent. I would like to build this for $800 tops, but i think i might be dreaming a little on that end.

Anywho, just thought i would say hello.

[Ageless]

Greetings from the Wet Side. Depending where in E. WA; if there is construction going on; they sometimes toss out some good stuff. You can keep an eye on Craigslist also. 4800 gonna be hard to do unless you van find free stuff

[Senior Ninja]

Just my two cents, you could build the shell now and the interior later. After closing hours you could visit the cabinet shop trash or the carpet store. I carpeted my friend's van from the carpet dumpster. Much or the carpet from around the edge of the room is little used. Have you told your friends and family what you're doing? Have them on the lookout for free or low cost materials, too. Lots of times paint stores will have one of a kind or returned paints for sale at deep discounts. Construction and remodeling sites? Our high school had a night woodworking class where students bought wood for cheap prices. Several people here have been given old popup trailers and used the running gear and frames as a base for their T/D. Where there's a will, there's a way.
Good Luck and welcome to the madness.
Steve

[jdgile]

Steve, Ageless;

Thanks for the replies,

800 is gonna be a stretch, and i think what that means is more time on the build. I will most likely produce the shell and galley and leave it at that for now. No electricity or water or anything like that.

On the Palouse there is usually a camper being given away on craigslist at least once a month. So many of the parts will be salvaged from this yet existent trailer.

Still scheming...

[Senior Ninja]

There you go! That's the spirit. You're on the right track. If I were still in Spokane I could help you more. This'll have to do for now.
Steve

[afreegreek]

commercial millwork shops are a good source for cheap and free materials.. shop space is too valuable to keep scrap/ leftover/ odd materials piling up and good material is often tossed in the dumpster.

[scaramoche]

Well im like you, money is tight, very tight. So about a year ago i decided to slowely start getting materials. I would hit construction sites, and ask if i could go threw there trash(i love dumpster diving now). Doing this i got all my woodstock(except for 2 pieces of ply), some lights(new), and funny enough a microwave, toaster oven, and some drawer knobs), as well as a box of misc stuff.
I also hit the salvage yards, specifically a U-Pull-it(very cheap, and allows you to browse). Here I got stoplights, a airvent(off a van), some trim, and well some more odd's and ends, total cost there around 40-50(cant remember but it was cheap).

Lasty I picked up my trailer, which was listed for 400.00 for basically free. I traded a video camera i got as a gift 2 years ago(worth aorund 200.00 then, now maybe 100). I also got paint, primer, a bucket of bondo, etc FREE of Craigslist.org. Ohhh also got some wood from there as well.

[Senior Ninja]

Great work guys.
Good ole Yankee ingenuity.
There's gunna be no stopping you now.
Can't wait to see your pics.
Steve

[Alfred]

Wow! You are building an impressive inventory of material! Looking forward to following the progress on your build! Keep us posted!

Al in Asheville