L'Escargot

[Steven.Cox]

Time for a wall update...

After I used my new profile template to draw an outline of the profile on a 1/8" ply side, I began piecing together 1/2" Baltic birch plywood (no voids) to form an edge around what will become the profile.

Unglued raw plywood edge.

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My lovely assistant Alana (youngest daughter) cut biscuits in all of the contact points where 1/2" ply touched 1/2" ply. This greatly improved the strength of the sides and made them much easier to move around after the glue dried.

Alana cutting biscuits

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But sometimes mistakes are made...

Oops...

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On to gluing things together.

[Steven.Cox]

So, I glued down the edges, making sure to cover the line that I drew with the profile template. I did not care how much excess was going to be cut off, I only wanted to make sure there was between 2 1/2" - 3" inches left behind. The inside of the wall does not have to be beautiful, only the edge.

Gluing down the edge of the profile

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I clamped things down like crazy and used weights when I could.

Detail of edge glue down

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Even with all that, I had two joints that were a little less than perfect, so I sanded them down to level them out once it dried. I do not want to end up with a bump when I glue the skin on the other side.

Edge mistake

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Waiting for glue to dry is a painful process.

[Steven.Cox]

Cutting the sides...

I took my profile template and screwed it down to the side. I flipped it over and used a formica bit to cut the edge off... and forgot to take pictures of actually cutting the edge.

Formica bit

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Here is the finished profile. To cut the second side, I clamped the cut and uncut profiles together in two places on the bottom and one place on the top edges, and used the newly cut profile as the template for the second side. This assured they would match. So, now I have the profile for two sides cut.

Finished side

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And the edges are smooooth...

Smooth finished edge- look at that curve!

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[Steven.Cox]

In between waiting for glue to dry, I decided to take advantage of the Harbor Freight sale that was going on for a couple of more days. I went to my local HF only to find they did not have the trailer in stock- folding trailer, 12" wheels. The woman behind the counter told me it was an Internet-only trailer and the sale price applied only if you bought it off the Internet. I live near Sacramento. There are several HF stores here, so I called the next one down the road. He told me she was absolutely wrong and they had exactly that trailer in stock... but could not sell them because of a problem with the title.

Reminding me of "Goldielocks and the Three Bears," I figured if the first bowl was too hot and the second was too cold, well, I should try the third...

Not giving up, I phoned the third store, half-way across Sacramento. They had three trailers. About 30 minutes later, they only had two!

Harbor Freight trailer

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At first I was going to build a trailer, then I decided to use HF, then I was going to build it again. I started thinking about it and decided I needed to commit. I want to keep this first trailer clean and simple, get it finished and go camping.

[campmaster-k]

Dam Gathering or bust! Great work. Remember to reg. That trailer before you build on it.

[Steven.Cox]

So, it has been a while since I last posted. I need to do a little catch up...

I finally cut out the shape of the doors. I took 1/2 baltic birch plywood and built a frame with the shape I wanted and then used a router with a formica bit (my favorite!) to cut the 1/8 luan to the exact shape.

Profile with door cut out.

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Then I added more bracing inside the wall. I am going to put foam insulation in the voids. I put the bracing in so that I would have solid wood to screw into when I attach the interior wall between the kitchen and the sleeping area. I am also going to attach some things on the outside using this bracing as well.

[Steven.Cox]

After I added some bracing, I cut foam to fit in the voids. I started out by dumping a bunch of glue where the foam would be attached.

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I quickly decided I needed a fast way to spread the glue, so I took a paintbrush I had for fiberglassing and sacrificed it.

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After the glue was spread evenly, I put in the foam.

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Will this foam insulate effectively? I don't know.
Does it make it lighter? Maybe.
Did it make the walls look cool while I was building them? Hell yes!

[Steven.Cox]

Time to glue the other side of the wall.

I traced the shape of the wall onto a piece of 1/8 luan so I would know where to put the glue and, more importantly, where not to put the glue.

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Then I started dumping glue. I used a 4" paint roller to spread the glue out evenly and quickly.

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Here is what it looked like before I glued it up. If you notice, the profile leaning up against the wall had glue on the plywood frame as well. So, when I stuck it down, it really stuck!

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I sandwiched everything together and put a piece of particle board on top of it to weight it down while it dried.

[Steven.Cox]

Wow, look at those sexy curves! Once I finished my walls, I had to stare at them for awhile and decided to take a close-up of the curve detail.

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After all that work, I had to reward myself with some babybacks and copious quantities of my favorite carbonated beverage!

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[campmaster-k]

bump.

[mallymal]

Wow, you're doing some lovely work there!
Did you find the 1/2" ply chunky enough to biscuit into? It's what I'm considering using IF ever I get started

I bet your finished tear will be nice n strong but not overbuilt bracing wise like some that you see.

Keep up the great work