MyAway build - Updates for space usage & organization

[aggie79]

Sharon,

I'm happy to see that you worked out the separation of the propane and electrical. Your "kitchen" is really looking fantastic! I really like the way you constructed your doors.

As far as CPES making pine less resistant to impact, I can tell you from experience that it is a fact. In the front of my teardrop I have a "roll pan" constructed to a small radius. Rather than trying to fabricate the part below the floor out of plywood rinbs and skin, I used solid pine and planed it to the radius. I chose the pine for its light weight and easy cutting. After it was shaped, I coated it with 2 coats of CPES, and it became quite solid.

Keep up the good work. Maybe some day an interloper from Texas will show up to IRG so I can see your TTT.

Tom

[S. Heisley]

Ward wrote:

I like your stove where did you get it?

Thanks, Ward. The stove is a Wedgewood, distributed by Atwood Mobile Products. You can get it at most RV supply stores or probably via the internet.

[S. Heisley]

Thanks to everyone for your support and good comments. It keeps me moving!

Shadow Catcher wrote:

How about next year at the international gathering

Unfortunately, IRG only happens every other year...unless you can talk Dean into changing that! By the way, congrats on selling your Mega Mini!

Aggie79:
Hi, Tom: I want to see your finished teardrop, too! It's good to know that you've had success with CPES. I've got my 'sticks' covered with CPES and Urethane and I can already see that it will be better. I might as well go ahead with my experiment and see exactly how much of a difference it will make in the depth/amount of denting. Like you, I am optimistic.

As far as getting a chance to see everyone’s trailers and meet everybody, I have friends and family scattered from the Atlantic to the Pacific and may someday just tool across this wonderful continent of ours, visiting. But, that will have to wait until I get a ‘younger' tow vehicle. Let's just hope I still feel young enough then!

[Shadow Catcher]

I was thinking about the ITG in Minden Nebraska next year. We will have ours shaken down and the bugs worked out by then, I hope, and you will have yours done by then.

[S. Heisley]

Uh Huh!

But, that will have to wait until I get a ‘younger' tow vehicle. Let's just hope I still feel young enough then!

I do want to visit Yellowstone next year.....

[bve]

I'm finding that, with possible gas issues, you can't ask too many people.

It sounds like you have that problem solved, which is good news. I usually don't like to talk to others about my gas issues.

I sure would like to see a close-up of that handle rosette detail, did you make those yourself?

[S. Heisley]

BVE wrote: I usually don't like to talk to others about my gas issues.

Oh, I dunno. I usually blame it on the dog!

Here ya go, Burke:



Simple, huh? The cabinets were going to need something to set them off a bit, so, I looked around at the blue and yellow big box store and found these. All you do is drill a hole through the center and clean it up with a small rat-tail file or a hand-held drill bit. (As you can see, the drill will slip some. The ones in the picture aren’t cleaned up yet.) Slap a couple generous coats of urethane on them; let them dry; then, slip them on the screw. I may not glue them on….might want to change my mind later to change the look.

[bve]

Thanks for the close-up Sharon, that's great idea to add a nice detail.

[S. Heisley]

As promised, here are the results of the CPES vs. Urethane denting tests. The purpose of this test was to find out which one would dent the most and if I should sand the Urethane off my trim and recoat with CPES followed by new coatings of Urethane.

I cut three one foot pieces of trim board and sanded each. One was coated twice with CPES; one, twice with Spar Urethane; and one, twice with CPES followed by two coats of Spar Urethane. Each was given at least 4 hours between coatings and a final cure time of more than 48 hours. The one with both CPES and Urethane on it was given 24 hours between the CPES and the Urethane coatings.

First, I tried a pressure test. I laid them, equally spaced out on a weighing scale and applied the edge of a metal ruler to them, pressing on either side of the middle board, until the scale read 50 pounds.



Nothing happened! So, I tried 60 pounds and still couldn’t get as much as a whisper of a dent out of any of them!

Okay, on to the dreaded can test! Fearing this one could get messy (I was using a can of condensed milk), I took it outside:



I tested each board individually, rolling the can off or slipping the can off on its head from a height of 2 feet. I was able to get dents in all of the sticks this way.

Next, I put all the sticks together and compared the dents visually and by touch:



My conclusion? It made no difference. They all dented equally; so, I won’t be refinishing my trim to add CPES underneath the Urethane.

[Cliffmeister2000]

Interesting test. It would be nice to do comparison tests on poplar, maple, and oak. A can from 2 feet would put a pretty good dent in a toe!

[S. Heisley]

I was surprised at the results. Being a fan of CPES, I really expected it would be better. But, when CPES dries in the bottom of a margarine tub, you can remove it and it is like a piece of soft rubber. My guess is that it just lets the force move right on through. Nothing really split open on either the CPES or the Urethane coated wood. It just dented.

[Shadow Catcher]

I would think you would want a finish that penetrates and strengthens the wood fiber. I used Daly's Foorfin on the heart pine flooring in our 100+YO house 30 years ago and will be patching worn places this year. Does it have dents and dings, you bet, but when I did it the first time I did not sand out the burn marks from the old coal/wood stove (I knew it was there from the thimble in the chimney, after I found the burn marks).

Floorfin is still available from http://www.dalyswoodfinishes.com

Most importantly, each dent and ding and scrape from now on will have a memory attached, and you know that can be a good thing. memories are the one thing that can not be taken away from you, unless you have a memory as bad as mine.

[S. Heisley]

Shadow Catcher wrote:

memories are the one thing that can not be taken away from you, unless you have a memory as bad as mine.

Now, that's a good one! I'll have to commit it to memory!

[bve]

And the lesson learned...

...don't throw canned goods at your wood cabinets.

[S. Heisley]