THE Teardrop Explorer

[PubUltraStar]

Yeah - I bought a new house. Boooooooo - I have to move to a new house. Yeah - I have a bigger Garage! Boooooooo!!!! I have to move all my stuff to a new house.

Looks like the build will be on hold for a bit as I move to a new location. Actually have tires on the trailer for the first time since I pulled it into the garage a couple of years ago. Perfect time to organize.

[pchast]

Congratulations on the new home...

[PubUltraStar]

The build has been on hold until I moved into the new house, and also sold the old house. Great news is that once the old house was put on the market, we sold it within 3 weeks. We close on the 20th of this month. I'm still working on getting the workshop in the new garage set up, as I have a ton of stuff that needs to be organized. The build is not dead, just taking much longer than originally planned. I've gone ahead and rented a large storage unit to store much of the teardrop parts and wood, so that my garage can stay more organized. I'll be back at it within the new few weeks!

[PubUltraStar]

Unfortunately, just a status update. I closed on my old house today, and spent the weekend moving the remainder of my crap out of my old house, including the trailer. I loaded up the remainder of the project wood on the teardrop trailer and towed it to my new house. It was smooth tow. and it made it to the new workshop. The garage is full of stuff, and it will take a while to get a working space.

[PubUltraStar]

Alright, it's been a while. Life throws us many curveballs, and it's not always easy to keep on track. So here's a recap. I moved about a year ago as I wanted to live closer to a new job. The teardrop was moved into a bigger garage, but never seemed to be a priority in the past year, mainly because of health issues. As I stated in a previous post, I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis 2 years ago. I am still mobile, but I have difficulty with stairs and walking long distances. I have a difficult time with the build project due to fatigue, balance issues, weakness, etc. I will let you know that MS freakin' sucks. It's totally made completing the teardrop a problem. I was an active person who participated in many sports like snowboarding, kiteboarding, wakeboarding, hiking, as well as workshop projects like the teardrop, etc. I'm not able to do any of those things anymore, so it's somewhat depressing. So here's the thing, I am far enough along with the teardrop build, where I don't want to quit, but some of the things I need to do yet will require some assistance. I'm pretty sure I can keep working on it, it's just going to be slower than before. It's finally nice in Wisconsin this weekend, so I spent some time cleaning out the garage, and getting a new work bench built so I can start working on the teardrop again. Although I have a bigger garage, I don' have a good surface to complete some of the things on the teardrop, so I decided to build a rolling workbench that also acts as storage for some spare lumber. I can roll this new bench out into the drive way and work on different projects slowly. I get tired very quickly, but as long as I don't over do it, I can get things moving along again. I need to get the steam box out of storage and start bending wood again.

If anyone in Southeastern Wisconsin is interested in helping me out, there are definitely some aspects of this project that will require some assistance. I've just gotten frustrated that my body doesn't do what I need it to do anymore, but I do not want to abandon this build. Lifting heavy teardrop walls and parts is difficult when I'm super clumsy and my legs don't want to work the right way. I pretty much have everything as far as parts and supplies, just need to put the time and effort into getting it going again. As far as the MS is concerned, I am switching therapies soon and participating in a clinical trial. This new drug shows a ton of promise to people with MS, and hopefully will make the disease stop dead in it's tracks. There are many new options that will be available in the next few years, so I'm still hopeful that I'll stop progressing.

Here is my new rolling work bench:

[KCStudly]

The work bench came out very nicely! I'm glad you are going for it and not letting your condition drag you down.

I wonder if there is a youth group or local tech school that you could reach out to and become a mentor. It would be a great symbiotic situation for you to be able to share your advanced skills while getting the physical help you need to complete the project. Maybe there's a prospective Eagle Scout there that could get project credit for helping out.

[PubUltraStar]

Here are some progress pics from the tongue box lid. I never posted these before I moved last year.


These pieces were attached with screws, which will eventually be hidden by trim pieces.






The corner pieces will be tricky, but the idea is that I'll cut custom slices, bend the wood, and then sand down for a smooth corner. We'll see.




I'm planning on removing much of the material from the inside of the lid to reduce weight. I routed the plywood out, and will use an angle grinder to get most of the rest of the material removed.

[PubUltraStar]

The weather has been cold and rainy all weekend, but I did make a trip out to the storage locker and pick up a few needed items to get the build moving again. Table Saw, Steam Box, and Teardrop parts. I actually worked on the doors today. I noticed that the inner door skeleton was a bit warped from sitting in the shed for a while, so I used it was a template and routed a few replacements out of birch plywood. Yes, I actually generated some sawdust today. I will say that the new work bench worked great today and am glad that I made it. Now, one of the issues with not working on this in a while and moving, is that I'm missing a few pieces from the inside door. No biggie, just wasted some time trying to track them down.

[PubUltraStar]

Unfortunately, due to declining health, I wasn't able to continue working on the teardrop. I have transferred the build to my brother-in law, and he towed the teardrop and all the materials from Wisconsin to South Carolina. He plans on continuing the process as originally planned, and I'll act as consultant as needed. Here is the trailer all packed up after making the trip over 1,000 miles.

[MikeG2]

I just wanted to say what a real shame this is, and that I hope your health issues aren't too serious. It was great seeing some really good woodwork, and the anticipation of seeing it properly finished propelled me rapidly through 13 pages of this thread. If there is a teardrop on this forum closer to the one I am planning myself in both shape and woody finish I haven't yet seen it.

Best of luck to you, and if you get photos of the finished article from your B-I-L please share them here.