Jeremy from Janesville, WI Build Journal

[lrrowe]

Thanks Paul! Good idea on the hot foam knife. I thought about picking one of those up when I contemplated the Foamie style build. I did raid the crummy knifes from the kitchen and will give them a shot first. If that fails I'll give the hot knife idea a go!

Jeremy

When I use my old fillet knives, I constantly run them through my Worksharp Sharpener,
http://www.worksharptools.com/sharpener ... d-kit.html
This link shows the the sharpener kit, you do not need all of it.

It keeps my blades very sharp and is fast.

[Talia62]

Sushi knives are also thin, and have one flat side. Not sure I'd really want to sacrifice my expensive sushi knife for cutting foam, though.

[5speedsoffury]

I now have the first side rough cut out! I could have cut the line but I'd rather have it there to router out than to have cut too far! The ACX chipped a little but nothing too terrible and most of that will be routed away!

The teardrop got put on the back burner this past weekend as the wife got me in on building a giant cat play area. I have to admit it was fun to do though! I have a little to finish on it but I am using some of the scraps from the teardrop build and previous projects.

[5speedsoffury]

Both sides skeltoned out! So much sawdust! Oh and a tip I found... It does matter how close you get when jigsawing out the sides! I marked the first with a medium sized/ standard permanent marker and left the line when cutting out with the jigsaw. That is way to much to trim up! The second side I marked with a #2 pencil and cut so I just left the line. That worked much better! I was able to use my small palm router and clean up the skeleton.

[skinnedknuckles]

Looking good Jeremy , routers do make a mess.

Paul

[5speedsoffury]

Looking good Jeremy , routers do make a mess.

Paul

Thanks Paul! Luckily I have a Dust Deputy Cylcone to clean up the mess!

Next I think I will cut the insulation to fill the voids then number them and store away until assembly of the final side.

Kind of a silly question but should I put the good side of the ACX to the inside or face it out? I would image it would be best to have the "A" side in. Some opinions would be nice though.

Jeremy

[skinnedknuckles]

Jeremy,
I put the best side in where I can see it , the other side is the lesser visual quality. I sanded the outer side completely smooth and used CEPS ( clear epoxy penetrating sealer ) over the whole thing just for added protection.
Have fun
Paul

[5speedsoffury]

Hi all!

No really large updates but I am back to teardrop time! I finally have wrapped up stage one of kitty tree mansion!

[5speedsoffury]

I have begun the process of cutting out all the foam for the walls. I am using a cheap thin knife from a set the wife gave me out of the kitchen. It's working decently. I cut fairly close to the line then sand to the line. I have the front set all done. Now just onto the larger rear section. Soon I need to tackle the doors!

That's all for now!

Jeremy

[5speedsoffury]

Foam is all cut!

[5speedsoffury]

Hi all!
Tonight was a good night for progress on the teardrop. I cut out 10 spar pairs. I am using lumber my father gave me for the build. Most all of it is poplar with just 2 spar pairs being basswood that I can tell. I glued up 5 of those pairs tonight. I still need to get some hardwood for the rear hatch spar and the front of the floor spar. I am debating using hardwood for the 2 fan spars. Any input on this would be appreciated. I am leaning towards hardwood.
I am thinking about doors as they are in the horizon. I need to round up the necessary supplies. I am following the Steve Frederick Shop Manual. I like the simplicity of the doors! I kinda want to trim them out at least with a T moulding on the door to cover the wall/door gap. But other than that I don't plan to change anything. Does this seem like a good plan? Or is it worth triming out all of the door with aluminum?

Thank you all for following and chipping in!

Jeremy

[noseoil]

I used red oak for the hatch spars & at the solar panel attachment points. A bit more weight, but better holding power for the fasteners. Red oak is cheap & available almost everywhere. I just did poplar for the fan, as it isn't really getting much of a load & doesn't weigh much. The butyl rubber tape holds it in place & it can't really move once the "gasket" is sealed with some screws.

[KCStudly]

Same here, red oak for the hinge spars; cedar for the fan and front toe kick. On the fan, I intend to run the screws in, remove them, then harden the female "threads" with CA glue. It wicks in and sets up hard, giving extra margin against stripping out. On top of that, the screws will be sealed when they are driven in at final installation.

[5speedsoffury]

I used red oak for the hatch spars & at the solar panel attachment points. A bit more weight, but better holding power for the fasteners. Red oak is cheap & available almost everywhere. I just did poplar for the fan, as it isn't really getting much of a load & doesn't weigh much. The butyl rubber tape holds it in place & it can't really move once the "gasket" is sealed with some screws.

Thanks! I will look into picking up some red oak. I know my father has some around home or if it is truly cheap and decent here in town I may just get some. Also I am liking how you mounted your solar panel up on the top! I tried going through your build log again for the info but kept on getting sidetracked. Do you have a shot of it on top and what panel did you end up getting. I am really wanting to get onto the roof items since spar placement is weighing heavily on what I plan to put up top. I have 13 total spars planned including the "front toe kick" (thanks KC for that one) and the rear hatch spar. Currently my lumber allows for 9 "good" spars and 1 spar that I am not too happy with the character of. So going with 4 more red oak spars would work great ("front toe kick", rear hatch and 2 for the solar panel).

I have also thought about the idea of some Yakima fixed mount cross bars up top. I could attach a solar panel to that but that seems like one heck of an expense unless I am hauling something else up there like a awning, shower reservoir or something of that fashion

[5speedsoffury]

Same here, red oak for the hinge spars; cedar for the fan and front toe kick. On the fan, I intend to run the screws in, remove them, then harden the female "threads" with CA glue. It wicks in and sets up hard, giving extra margin against stripping out. On top of that, the screws will be sealed when they are driven in at final installation.

I am going to try this out on some test scraps as I like the idea of hardening the treads. It seems thrifty and similar to the actual threaded inserts. Any tested methods for applying the glue?

Thanks!
Jeremy