Building The Atma Travelear Teardrop

[nevadatear]

yea, you're back!

[S. Heisley]

WooHoo! Let's hope you get more warm weather so you can continue to make progress on your lovely creation!

[Bob Patterson]

Dave,
Great to have you back at it, old friend. You have been missed! I love your fenders. What will they be made of ? I hope the weather stays good for you. Very impressed with what you've gotten done.

[aggie79]

Fantastic Dave!

I'm happy for you and your progress. I can't wait to see the fender construction as well as the rest of your build.

Take care,
Tom

[DMcCam]

Looking great Dave. Have you set a completion date yet?

Thank you Larry. I hope to be done for early spring camping.

Lookin great, True builder utilizing the kitchen table

Hi Chris, Thanks and you bet, the kitchen table is a work surface after all.

yea, you're back! check your PM.

Hey Debbie, thanks for the pm! Back at ya.

WooHoo! Let's hope you get more warm weather so you can continue to make progress on your lovely creation!

Thank you Sharon, tear drop time is good for the spirits.

Dave,
Great to have you back at it, old friend. You have been missed! I love your fenders. What will they be made of ? I hope the weather stays good for you. Very impressed with what you've gotten done.

Hey Buddy, good to be back at it for sure. The fenders will be either anodized aluminum or stainless steel. The pattern is cheap cardboard.

Fantastic Dave!

I'm happy for you and your progress. I can't wait to see the fender construction as well as the rest of your build.

Take care,
Tom

Hey Tom, good to hear from you pal. The fenders, icebox and swing-out table will be done as a high school level metals class project (I get to learn too). Should be fun.

All the best,

Dave

[nevadatear]

So where and how did you connect up with a high school metal class? I assume you know the teacher? You do have connections!

[Rudyjr]

Dave, Thanks for the update everything looks amazing. Keep up the good work, Jim

[parnold]

That fender is awesome!

Not to mention the rest..

[CliffinGA]

Dave glad to see you back at it and with great progress! Hopefully you will be sharing in the better weather like we're having here this week, although 80 in Ga in March is a lil extreme! Keep it up bud!

Cliff & Sheri

[nevadatear]

Hey Dave, notice the new addition to the signature line? I finally got around to it. Working updating the brochure and on the "flag" next. Thanks so much, you're a peach.

[shropshire]

Dave,
I have been following your Atma Travelear build very closely. I have been extreemly impressed with your attention to detail. I only hope I have the patience to do the same and not get in a hurry. Of all the profiles my wife and I have seen, it is yours that has captured our sensibilities and gotten us excited about building our own. Although there are some things I would change in the galley area (I actually intend on installing a 19 gal. water tank just behind the axle if I can work out the balancing act)

I am writing you to ask a couple questions if I may.
1) Would you mind if I copied your profile?
2) It seems you asked this question early on but I could not find anyone on the forum who has answered the question. Do you feel it is necessary to seal the bottom edge of the frame where it overhangs the frame? There is a raw plywood edge there and I'm not sure I comfortable with that, especially behind the wheels.

I just purchased all the metal for our frame and am very excited to get started welding.

Thank you so much for posting all your progress for all of us to marvel at! I've just about wore out that page 22 icon looking for that next post.

Allen

[DMcCam]

Thanks Cliff and Paul, good to hear from you pals and thanks!

Hey Debbie, I'm so glad you are enjoying the new Monstro artwork! It looks pretty cool on you sig line!

I am writing you to ask a couple questions if I may.
1) Would you mind if I copied your profile?
2) It seems you asked this question early on but I could not find anyone on the forum who has answered the question. Do you feel it is necessary to seal the bottom edge of the frame where it overhangs the frame? There is a raw plywood edge there and I'm not sure I comfortable with that, especially behind the wheels.

Hi Allen, First, thank you for your kind compliments sir, they are much appreciated. You are more than welcome to use my profile for your personal build. I plan on sealing every inch of plywood inside and out using conversion varnish. Before you ask, I have no idea what the heck that is. My brother the master cabinet maker said it's used on exterior wood applications. Once everything has been sealed, I'm going to finish with anodized aluminum sheeting with aluminum RV trim and moldings from Grant at Lil' Bear. Remember to have fun and ask lots of questions like these. I cannot stress how wonderful the folks are here to lend you their experience and expertise.

Back to the Build! We got a lot done this weekend. But before all the build news, say hello to my little friend.


My crazy father gave me this 'little flashlight' for my birthday. He said he thought it was, "just the right size for your little teardrop." The monster has a shoulder strap, built in charger, and has two spotlight settings (high and low beam). It throws a spotlight about a half a mile! So much for being inconspicuous on those midnight potty runs.

Here's where we are with the build. All the wiring was checked then we went to work installing the 1/8" birch ply on the exterior walls.


We glued the entire backside of each sheet with Tightbond II then stapled it in place. Here's the driver's side installed.


Then we did the same to the passenger's side. All the scribbling on the ply shows where the 3/4" interior supports are and where not to staple the wiring.


Next up was to glue the second layer of insulation in the roof. We ran each sheet through a giant sander (kind of a sander/plainer) to make each fit flush to the top of the spars. Most ended up very close. We used Steve Frederick's method for holding the insulation in place while it dried. Using a nailing gun with 1 1/4" finish nails made the blocks hold well but easy to remove.





Once we belt sand the blocking to match the wall height, we can install the 1/8" birch ply for the roof. Now to the hatch build.

Thanks for following,

Dave

[absolutsnwbrdr]

Super nice work Dave

[nevadatear]

So glad u were able to use the warm weather to your advantage. We are of to the dam tomorrow. Reno first then out thur am. Camping here we come. Making great progress Dave. You'll make org yet!

[KCStudly]

Looks really good.

Did you have to kerf the foam at all, or did it conform to the curves easily? Looks like you used the white bead styrofoam which is more flexible than the extruded stuff, no?

Keep up the progress. I'm sure I speak for many when I say that the quality level you are working to is inspiring.