Okanagan build - my first Teardrop

[Koko65]

Electrical meltdown.

Or how not to test out the wiring. I was doing a little test when I noticed the leads to the battery were red hot only moments after I connected them. The leads for the vent fan were touching each other causing the short. I used female spade connectors... The non-insulated ones. Lesson learned.

[crumbruiser]

Your frame and lights look really good. If you put a fuse inline with that hot tap you can avoid any more melt downs, you probably know that now.
Frank

[Koko65]

I have some more progress to report. This past weekend I was able to get the rest of the wire pulling done and got started on the galley. When I made the LED dome light I ended up having two light strips left over. I decided to use these as a courtesy light at the foot of the bed. I have a wire chase that will be hidden behind a simple panel and I mounted the remaining lights underneath the wire chase. I have it hooked up to the same circuit as the dome light.


Teardrop Construction by Onno 65, on Flickr


Teardrop Construction by Onno 65, on Flickr


Teardrop Construction by Onno 65, on Flickr

[Koko65]

The. It was time to work on the galley. I am going to keep the drawers very simple with no drawer slides, just the drawer bottom sliding in gropes cut into the cabinet sides. I used a peel and stick tile for the backsplash. It is very easy to put on and looks really good, it has the look of modern glass tile. I finally have the galley wall skins on, I was suppose to do that BEFORE I put in the counter to and upper shelf. Now instead of one large piece I needed to make several smaller pieces and cut each one to fit. I hope to have the drawers done in the next few days. I want to make a swing out table for the camp stove, but that can wait for now. I need to make a tongue box to house the battery in, but I have not designed that at all, yet.


I will have a shore power plug on the outside wall connected to the electrical box in the cabinet work. This is a GFCI receptacle and everything downstream from here will be protected as well. The black box is the power box for the fridge. I will be supplied by both battery and shore power when available. It will automatically switch between the two, favoring AC over DC.

Teardrop Construction by Onno 65, on Flickr


Teardrop Construction by Onno 65, on Flickr


Teardrop Construction by Onno 65, on Flickr

Peel and stick tile... Not cheap, but you use so little, it's very light weight too.

Teardrop Construction by Onno 65, on Flickr


Well, here is the galley so far.

Teardrop Construction by Onno 65, on Flickr

[Shadow Catcher]

Yep that 12V plus and minus touching thing will will get you every time. I had a graphic example of why I use lots of heat shrink tubing and heat shrink connector ends. The 100# battery and tongue box broke lose and took a lot of connections out in the accident. No shorts and only two broken wires.

[Rlowell]

That galley is looking great!! The stick-on tile is a nice touch.
It looks like you are very familiar with the lighting and how it all works!

Keep up the good work.

Rod

[skline25]

Being new to the site, I am very impressed with how your build is going. It gives me inspiration for the tear that I am starting to design. You have some very beautiful craftsmanship. Keep it up, and I am looking forward to seeing it completed.

[Koko65]

Thanks for the compliments. This is certainly my first try at anything like this, I have only done a couple of bookcases and some small furniture projects before. Steve's shop manual has been a great asset, giving me not only a method of construction but a general framework for the whole process. This forum is invaluable though, as there are so many ideas and methods available. Truly a fountain of knowledge.

Today I should have time to finish the drawers off, I have the parts cut, but they need assembly. I have a two hour dentist appointment right after dropping my wife off at the airport so I may not get a lot done today.

[Koko65]

I have finished the drawers today but I was hoping to get more done in the afternoon. Howver I had a two hour dentist appointment and didn't feel like doing anything after that I'm such a wuss when it comes to dentists.

[Koko65]

Well with the drawers stained and varnished I consider the galley mostly finished. I am going to make a swing out table for the stove, but I'll worry about that later. I have a couple of days off so I want to work on the hatch and skin the roof. Below is how I made the drawers for anyone interested. I wanted to keep it simple and this method needed no hardware.

The drawers slide in dados cut into the cabinet frame. With the frame assemble I cut the drawer bottoms, which also act as the slides, and test fit them so they would not bind.


Teardrop Construction by Onno 65, on Flickr

Here are all the drawer parts layed out. I just used scraps of 1/2" ply and 1/4" for the drawer bottom. The drawer front has some scrap 1/8“ glued onto the outside and then the edges rounded over at the router table.


Teardrop construction by Onno 65, on Flickr

The drawer is assembled with pocket screws...


Teardrop construction by Onno 65, on Flickr


The back of the drawer front also has a dado to accept the drawer bottom, the rest of the frame is then glued and nailed to the drawer bottom.

Teardrop construction by Onno 65, on Flickr


Here are the drawers assembled, I stained the end grain of the ply and applied polyurethane after this photo was taken.

Teardrop construction by Onno 65, on Flickr

Test fitting the drawers, time for finishing.

Teardrop construction by Onno 65, on Flickr

Take care all

[Rlowell]

I love the KISS system...it always works the best.
Great job.

Rod

[Koko65]

Thanks for the kind words.

This morning I was able to get the fuse panel installed and all wired up. I need to get some more ply before I start on the hatch though.


Fuse panel by Onno 65, on Flickr

[KCStudly]

Yeah, those simple drawers look just right to me. I may "borrow" that method when the time comes.

The fuse panel wiring looks good, too. Might I suggest that you put an anchor point or clamp near where the bundle enters the box to act like a strain relief?

[Koko65]

That's a good point, I'll put in a cable tie screwed to the wall to support the bundle.

You can borrow any idea you like, that's what its all about, sharing knowledge. The idea for these drawers came from an article on a shop storage cabinet.

Cheers

[Koko65]

Today was hatch building day. Other than some hiccups with the external skin it went pretty smoothly.

I started with the hatch sides that were cut from the walls before. A gusset was added to the inside and then they were clamped in place on the wall.


Building the hatch by Onno 65, on Flickr

Then I added the ribs.


Teardrop Construction by Onno 65, on Flickr

Then on the bench I skinned the inside. I added extra blocking where the hatch struts can be mounted to. I still need to order the hurricane hinge... I better call Grant. I wonder how much shipping is going to be to Canada.


Teardrop Construction by Onno 65, on Flickr

Here it is back on the body, making sure everything still fits.


Teardrop Construction by Onno 65, on Flickr


I have the outer skin on and clamped up, but it was suppertime so I'll take a photo later once it is back on the body.

For the galley lighting I am using some wireless LED puck lights I picked up at Costco. They run on AAAs and turn on and off in two ways. Like many puck lights you can press the center, or with the included wireless switch, you can switch them all on or off. Now I do not need to run any wires in the hatch.


Teardrop Construction by Onno 65, on Flickr


Teardrop Construction by Onno 65, on Flickr

Hopefully tomorrow I'll have some time to insulate the roof before work, then I can skin that too later this week. I am starting think I might actually get this finished for my summer holiday in July. That is the deadline, but I have no experience with skinning in aluminum so I'm not sure how long that will take me to do.

Ciao for now.