Tucson tortoise: Edit for photos

[KCStudly]

Looks good!

[noseoil]

Worked on prepping for the assembly of the walls, deck & cabinets this weekend. Hopefully, next weekend will be about the right time to start putting the bigger stuff together. Still lots of little stuff to do, but I'm hoping it's nice out when it's time. The glue just dries too fast sometimes with 5% humidity. Did some prep to have things ready & hoping it goes smoothly.

Added some 1/8" skin to the AC box & then added a couple of 1/2" "dummy" sides for the bending of the 1/8" birch when it's time to put it on. I just used a glued butt-joint to make the box last weekend, so I wanted to have a bit more strength in this area since the AC unit itself weighs in at 35# and will be bouncing up & down with the trailer.


Dragging again due to the heat! I lit the grill & the thermometer is under a steel roof near the grill, UGH! Decided to take a break now as it's too warm for work outside (never should have looked at the thermometer, but it's only 101 in the shade today fortunately). Time to cool off now & let the grill do it's job. Cooking up some pork loin chops & chicken thighs for dinner tonight. The front porch I'm working under has a steel roof as well, but thankfully the grill isn't too close to the build & porch. The roof does get a bit warm & the ceiling fans just stir the hot air. Can't wait to get finished & go up to Flagstaff, Colorado or even Alaska at this point. Rains are due in July, so only a month of dry weather left for now. Next "season" is hot & muggy with mosquitoes. Gotta love Tucson in the summer.........

[low-n-slow]

You are way too excited about this heat! I keep wondering if the weathermen/women here have been out in the sun to much, as they were giving the count down to the first triple digit day. I am all about counting down to the next time the highs are in the 70's
Your tear is looking good though. I can't wait to get back from vacation and get started on mine.

[noseoil]

Thanks Jason, appreciate the feedback on the build. About the heat, I work inside now so I'm not really big on being out in it like I once was for too many years.

On a lighter note, Dude was out and helping me again yesterday. He mostly sits & stares up at things to make sure I'm doing it right, but it needs to be 100 to get him moving & motivated. When I brought in the chicken (4 1/2 hours on the grill, tender!) I took a piece out for him to enjoy. He seems to like BBQ chicken & cherries. Later in the summer, it's prickly pear fruit for his signature gooey purple look. All in all he's a pretty good supervisor who never says much but keeps an eye on things.

[noseoil]

Finally, a little assembly is starting. Here's the aft view with the upper & bulkhead in place. Used 2 1/2" screws & glue to fasten the walls down into the rabbet joint for the final assembly, screws from the bottom into the side frames. Pulled up pretty well. The 1/4" bulkhead is slotted into the sides, glued & screwed from outside. All of a sudden it looks like a Benroy!


Driver's side, aft corner. It's still up about 1 1/2" off of the frame, due to some 2x4's it's sitting on. I'm using them as stickers while I work. Can't do the skin with the tongue box in place, so I have to slide it fore & aft for screws, wiring, etc. until it's ready to bolt into place for good.


Headboard. The center opening above the back of the tongue box is for the air conditioning unit. Narrow shelves at the outside are for the charging ports, glasses, keys, etc. Other openings are just a bit of extra storage. Need a couple of sticks of molding to trim out a couple of gaps at the bottom where the mattress will sit (8" of foam). Held the sides in a little and fit it tight to the faceframe, so it's tight where it shows and gaps a bit behind there. Will make some small corner molding for the two lower edges. Design change as I was working prompted an "oops" moment but molding will take care of it well enough.


Footboard / entertainment shelf & storage. Backing is open for the PD4045, so there's access behind the TV screen to get to the wires for everything. Electrical chase is below the cabinet, shore power feeds from the driver's (right hand in this picture) side.

[dales133]

Looking awsum mate and coming along nicely are those holes in the top of the galley ventilation?

[Sheddie]

Looking good Tim
I'll bet it's a proud moment standing back and seeing if take shape
Won't be long now
Keep up the momentum.

[noseoil]

Thanks for the kind words guys. Yep, happy with things so far & nice to see it taking shape for a change.

The three holes above the center section of the galley are indeed vents. I'm thinking the electrical stuff will make a bit of heat sooner or later, so the three holes will allow the hot air out the top of the electrical chase, while the cooler air is drawn up from below (your basic thermal-siphon). Didn't think I really needed a fan for this, just a way to let any extra heat dump out the top of the electrical area. The PD4045 has it's own internal fan, so a bit more airflow should help things in general. The CD deck will make a small amount of heat as well, but not too much.

[noseoil]

Working in the galley now. Still lots to do, but it's moving along. Here's the stove & cooler in place, dry fit as usual just to check things & make sure it all fits together.


The counter being roughed in for its fit around the stove.


Still need to finish these strips with some urethane, along with the side runners for the stove & cooler, but I wanted to check the hole alignment & prep for the hatch. The hinge will arrive next week & I'm getting closer to this part of the build. The doors, hatch latch & a couple of other things all arrive soon.

[S. Heisley]

This seems to be a well thought-out teardrop build.
I don't know how you work in 109 degree heat; but, it's looking good!

[noseoil]

The heat really isn't too bad if you start early & work into it gradually from early morning (when it's still "cool" out). Starting at mid-day or early afternoon just doesn't work for me. I usually cut off at about 100 degrees or so, but some days I work a bit later into the afternoon, depending on where I am that day with my list. In the shade with a breeze or a fan running is about what it takes to make things work. In July the humidity will spike, then it gets pretty nasty. Morning temperatures will be around 80 & muggy, then it just gets hotter into the afternoon.

Worked on the galley counter this morning. Finished up some edge work on the blank, cut laminate for sizes needed (edges & top) & glued it all up. Had enough to do the two side tables as well, so they're laminated now too. I wanted a hunter green laminate, but there wasn't any to be had in town as a rem, so I settled on a neutral blue. Nice thing about the solvent based contact cement in this weather is that it dries pretty quickly. Worked until about 12:30 and decided to call it quits for outside today. The counter is installed now!

Also glued the 1/2" strips in place for the hatch seals, along with the side runners for the drawer guides (stove & cooler). I put a couple coats of urethane on them all earlier this week, so they were ready once the counter was set & in place for good.

Tomorrow I'll look at the list and see what I want to work on next. Need to run a few errands now. As always, thanks for looking. tim

[KCStudly]

I like.

[noseoil]

Working on the headliner now. Started at 4:30 this morning to avoid the heat, or at least try to avoid it. Yesterday did a couple things in the galley, then moved to the front area & started on the headliner. Had to glue two panels together as it needed to be over 9' long (5' X 5' X 1/8" baltic birch). Did the front panel first & cut out for the air conditioner which will live in the headboard. Measured the 2nd panel for a fit & then joined the panels together. When I got home from an errand, one of the milk jugs I use for weights had fallen over & was gently leaking on the center of the panel. It made a fair sized puddle. Fortunately it's dry & hot still (only 108 yesterday & cooler), so a few minutes with the fans running cured the problem well enough. At least it was leaking on the back side & I'm not doing a stain finish, so no worries. I stained the front section at the headboard last night & did a coat of urethane this morning when I got up.


I think Murphy must be keeping an eye on the build for me. I bought some unbleached canvas 5' wide last week, to use for the section between the upper cabinets & walls. Figured the color would go well with the wood tones. Last night I ironed it out & it seemed a bit narrow. I measured it and, yup you guessed it, the 58" wide cloth is 5' (?). Ah well, looks like I'll need to do some trim along the edges at the walls, but that's OK. I'll use some 1/4" X 3/4" Alder strips as a molding detail & it should look fine & match the face frames on the cabinets. Here's what it looks like now with the canvas in place.


My main concern at this point is with the contact cement I used. It's the 3M 90 spray adhesive & I used a can for the wood and a full can for the cloth. I know I had good coverage on both surfaces, but I'm not sure about its strength in the heat we have now. It was drying almost instantly as I sprayed it down on thick passes. Used red rosin paper for a slip sheet & it went down well enough.

I'm thinking I'll wait a week before I try to install the headliner, so the glue has a chance to settle down and hopefully form a stronger bond. It's sitting out on the porch now with the rosin paper on top (birds are flapping around this morning & don't want them signing my work for me). I'll bring it in this evening & let it sit in the cool all week. Hopefully this will be good enough to hold once it's installed. If not, I'll have to use more molding as "accent" strips to hold it up. I thought about using rough-cut 4 X 6 beams but decided against it due to the weight. Ceiling fan is out now too unfortunately. Still plugging along, but it's getting too hot again so I'm done for the day with the outside stuff.....

[azgreg]

Love your build. I don't know how you do it as it was already 90° at 5:00 this morning. That's why I'm waiting until this fall to start my build.

[Rlowell]

Good morning from hot and sunny Orlando.
Heat index around 105 today.

Love your build and your craftsmanship. The detail is great to see.
I do have a question for you though; How do you plan on venting the heat from your A/c unit?
I have mine on the floor into the galley and with ducking vented to the bottom of the hatch to the outside.
Her in Florida. We have to keep the hatch closed because of creators.

Thanks.