My first teardrop - the Kampster, Final Posting

[TinKicker]

Those clips look simple--how do they attach to the wheel?

[bbarry]

Those clips look simple--how do they attach to the wheel?

Dunno...was hoping someone else would chime in.

Brad

[bbarry]

Varnish, varnish varnish. If I never see any more varnish, I'll be okay. We have the front bulkhead skinned and the first panel of interior ceiling in. I have to say...it looks great. I'm really pleased with how everything is fitting together. The difference in color is just the camera...it all looks similar in real life.







Bessie the Teardrop Inspector approves:


Front Lights (12v landscape lights from Lowes)


Switches ($4 for 10 from Ebay)


I'm finishing the varnish on one panel for the rear of the sleeping compartment before putting in the rest of the ceiling. After that, I need to run wiring and make the doors and hatch. Will I be done (or some semblence thereof) in time for ITG 3? We'll see...

Brad

[Juneaudave]

Brad...that varnish looks great!!!! Are you going gloss or a matt finish on the inside?

[bbarry]

Thanks! It's gloss. If I were to do it again, I'd probably go with a satin or matte finish as it would show fewer dust specks. And I'd spray it with my new LVLP sprayer rather than brush it as that introduced a number of air bubbles. The wet sanding definitely helped with that.

Brad

[Miriam C.]

Alright! The lights look really good.

[kennyrayandersen]

Thanks! It's gloss. If I were to do it again, I'd probably go with a satin or matte finish as it would show fewer dust specks. And I'd spray it with my new LVLP sprayer rather than brush it as that introduced a number of air bubbles. The wet sanding definitely helped with that.
Brad

You can take some 4-0 steel wool and some Woolwax and both remove the dust bumps and give it a semi-gloss look. I took a wood finishing class in college mistakenly thinking it would count for an arts and letters credit (had to end up raking intro to lit. drama and poetry anyway!) and was taught that actually you don’t want to use semi-gloss anyway, if you want a really nice finish. The reason is that to get the semi-glossed look, the manufacturers put clouding agents into the finish so that less light is reflected. By the time you put 2-4 coats of it on your wood you start to obscure the grain detail (OK, so this is REALLY fine finishing techniques). What they said to do instead is always put the gloss on, as many coats as you need/want and then you come back and essentially put really fine scratches on the outside, so as not to reflect the light so much, but also not obscuring the detail of the wood. You can do it with the really fine steel wool and Woolwax like I was saying earlier or you can go crazy with pumice and rottenstone (but that’s even more work!). The Woolwax method comparatively looks good and is pretty easy to do.

[Ed K.]

was taught that actually you don’t want to use semi-gloss anyway, if you want a really nice finish. The reason is that to get the semi-glossed look, the manufacturers put clouding agents into the finish so that less light is reflected. By the time you put 2-4 coats of it on your wood you start to obscure the grain detail (OK, so this is REALLY fine finishing techniques). What they said to do instead is always put the gloss on, as many coats as you need/want and then you come back and essentially put really fine scratches on the outside, so as not to reflect the light so much, but also not obscuring the detail of the wood. You can do it with the really fine steel wool and Woolwax like I was saying earlier or you can go crazy with pumice and rottenstone (but that’s even more work!). The Woolwax method comparatively looks good and is pretty easy to do.

Another method is to use glossy varnish until the very last coat and then use the semi-gloss.

Ed

[kennyrayandersen]

That should work as well, but you still will probably have a dust bumps because the Varnish dries so dang slow (unlike lacquer), so even if you use the semi-gloss you may want to follow up with the 4-0 steel wool and Woolwax

[bbarry]

Thanks for the tips everybody! I'll keep them in mind for my next fine woodwork project. For this, I am using the "good enough" method.

1. Apply product
2. Sand (wet and/or dry)
3. Repeat until tired of working, then:
4. Declare it "good enough for the girls I go with", "good enough for government work", "good enough for who it's for" or similar.

Brad

[Mark McD]

My personal favorite:
Do your best and caulk the rest.lol.

Looks great... like the use of low voltage landscape lights... easy to get, cheap, and look sharp. Nice.

[Senior Ninja]

Brad,

Way to go. My thoughts exactly.
Mine has three coats of varnish inside and out. Of course I love the smell of varnish in the morning. lol Grew up in the family paint manufacturing business. Even the floor has three coats on the bottom, none of that gooey black stuff for me.

Steve

[bbarry]

My personal favorite:
Do your best and caulk the rest.lol.

Looks great... like the use of low voltage landscape lights... easy to get, cheap, and look sharp. Nice.

I like that one! 1/4" paint is a favorite of mine! In reality, I work pretty hard to do it right the first time. I've learned a lot of lessons over the years that have helped out a lot on this build. So far, the walls, bulkhead skins and ceiling have fit together well enough that I'm not going to need any trim. That makes me happy!

I borrowed the landscape light idea from a fellow member, Roger (T-vicky). He graciously allowed me, grandpa and the wife to come over and check out his build (along with his collections of cars and license plates). I may paint the black "lens cover" in an aluminum paint as the shelf underneath (not cut out yet in the pictures above) will be painted white on the inside and trimmed in aluminum. This will give a little continuity in the color scheme.

Now if I could only get a little more time off work to keep the progress going...

Brad

[bbarry]

Brad,

Way to go. My thoughts exactly.
Mine has three coats of varnish inside and out. Of course I love the smell of varnish in the morning. lol Grew up in the family paint manufacturing business. Even the floor has three coats on the bottom, none of that gooey black stuff for me.

Steve

Yeah, everyone around here thinks I'm crazy cause I actually like the smell of varnish. To me, I think it pairs well with the smell of freshly sawn oak.

Brad

[greg755]

Hey when Grandma and Grandpa get done building your TD can you send them over to my house???

Its looking good!!!!!