Little Ferdie - 11-ft Grumman

[plectrudis]

I got some very helpful advice on my fuse plan (thanks, all!), so now I'm going back to the well.

I've posted the full wiring diagram in a post under Electrical Secrets here: http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=66568

Any and all advice is appreciated!

[azgreg]

I like the West System because they provide a ton of use information on their website, and I believe that I should reward them with my business for that (rather than stealing their info and using a cheaper brand).

However, there is nothing wrong with using the PL300, just plan on making a bunch of shallow kerf cuts and leaving these open while the big stuff cures. From there you can plug or seal the ends of the kerfs and move on.

Finally, my experience isn't the last word on this. Others have used varying methods and materials successfully. Your climate may give you different results. Just remember, when testing this kind of thing you need to do a large enough test piece to be representative of the actual conditions; small scale tests might work fine because there was good proximity to air and/or moisture.

If the insulation fits snug in the cavities is there any downside to just leaving it sandwiched in (unglued)?

[KCStudly]

It won't be as strong that way.

Consider this as an example of what I mean: take a paperback book and bend it; the pages all slide across one another and the book bends easily. Take that same book and glue all of the pages together and repeat; the book acts much more like plywood.

[plectrudis]

I've been out of touch for a while--August was a slow month, and what progress there was, wasn't especially photogenic. I had a welder reinforce all the joins on the trailer frame, and then bolted the floor to the frame. The welder recommended using a sealant/glue called MasterSeal NP-1 to stick the floor on, so now it is (presumably) permanently, irrevocably affixed to the frame.

Anyway, now that (faintly) cooler weather has arrived, I'm back in the saddle.

Today I worked on framing the wall. I used light green tape to mark where all the studs were to go. Then I cut all the pieces for the frame for one wall and Kreg-jigged the outside pieces. I still need to drill and screw the inner pieces, but they're all cut and in place.

Once I've got them all screwed in, I'll use my bottom-bearing router bit to trim the edges to match the profile. Then I'll remove all the tape from the wall, unscrew each frame piece one by one and glue + screw them together and to the wall. Then I'll apply The Mix to the wall/frame combo.

..and then repeat with the other wall.

The mitre saw really earned its keep today, as I cut all kinds of crazy-doodle angles to fit rectangular pieces of wood to a curvy profile. I'm also rather proud of some funky cuts I made with the jigsaw where some of the vertical studs met blocky, irregular joints at the top. They're not perfect, but they're pretty darn snug.

The other thing I did that I'm proud of, as I thought it up myself, was to draw little lines that perpendicularly crossed from one piece of wood to its neighbor. This way, even when I unclamp, unscrew, or move a piece of wood, I can line it back up in its original relationship with adjacent pieces.

Here are the taping, half laid out, and final products:

[KCStudly]

Good progress!

[pruittaw]

It's great to see walls! Keep it up. Following your build closely.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[plectrudis]

Thanks, Pruitt!

I got a little more work in last weekend--finished screwing together all the crosspieces on the frame of the one wall, and I did something I've been meaning to do forever, which is adjust the shape of the door a little.

It's always looked like it curves a little too steeply at the top right corner, so I used a piece of flexy plastic trim to outline a more natural curve and then cut it with the jigsaw. It's better, though if I were starting from scratch I'd probably change it more radically yet. However, at a certain point you have to stop fiddling around and just move forward.

In the end, I pared off about 1-1/2" from the top right curve--not sure how visible that is in the pic below.



I also used a bottom-bearing bit to route the excess parts of the frame where it overhung the edge of the wall. (Side note--I'm continuing to love my router--it's old and secondhand and it doesn't have a lot of fancy features, but lordy has it been handy. The way a router can trace the shape of one piece of wood onto another is like some form of magic. Props to the Kreg jig, as well, for making all of these joints possible, sturdy, and fairly easy.)

Next time, I'll unscrew everything piece by piece and then rescrew it with gobs of TB3 for strength + waterproofing. And then I'll apply 2-3 coats of The Mix. And then I'll lather, rinse, repeat with the other wall.

And then, by Jove, I think I'll finally be able to prop up two walls and begin to see what it is that I have wrought!

[KCStudly]

Awesome, and as ever, love your enthusiasm!

[plectrudis]

We went camping (teardroplessly) in Big Bend last week, and that and the preparations for it consumed a lot of October. But this weekend, I got back in the saddle, working in Wall 2.

I followed basically the same process as before, except that last time, I screwed the frame together laterally before screwing it perpendicularly to the plywood (if that makes sense). In the interim, it had been held in place with my complete (now expanded) collection of clamps.

This time, I screwed each piece to the plywood as it was cut, and will add the lateral screws later. We'll see if one method turns out to be better than the other, or if it's six of one, half dozen of the other.



Still have to install the crosspieces and then smooth out the edges with a router, but pretty good progress for a Saturday, especially since I also had to cut out the door.

Speaking of Big Bend, btw, we spent 5 days in a tent on a thrice-accursed air mattress, and, lemme tell ya, nothing motivates a person to get working on their teardrop like a week spent in a tent on an air mattress.

[plectrudis]

Well, I just had an unpleasant realization, which any of you who read my last post has probably already spotted: I put the frame on the WRONG SIDE OF THE WALL.

OMG.

I mean, it's not a huge deal--I can unscrew all the pieces, flip the wall over, and reassemble them on the correct side, but still.

Bloody hell.

I had the two walls stacked on top of each other from when I used the one as a template for the other, and I just never thought to flip the blasted thing over.

Is there a Wall of Shame?

[KCStudly]

Hmm, if you are using the same material for inner and outer skins could you just keep going?

Handing of similar parts is soooo easy to mix up. Having been a draftsman for many years we always used to "cheat" by only drawing one and adding the simple note "part xyb opposite hand" or when similar parts had extra features "part abc shown, part xyz similar, omit (whatever the extra feature was)". Now days with computer assistance and ISO certification being common, each and every part gets its own drawing.

At least you hadn't glued it yet, right?

[plectrudis]

Thank goodness, no--I hadn't glued. But I'm using 1/2" on the outside and luan (or similar) on the inside, so I definitely have to undo and redo. Blargh.

Thanks for making me feel better, though. I was SO please with my progress, and then I took a second look at that picture... Not a happy moment. :-(

I'm planning to undo my goof this weekend and hopefully get back on the happy path. I'd like to have the walls dryfitted and in place for Thanksgiving, when I have family coming over. Thus far, they've seen various sheets of plywood lying around and a metal trailer bed--nothing that looks like an RV. I'm hoping to dazzle them (a little) with a thing that's shaped like a box. A roofless box, but still.

[KCStudly]

[plectrudis]

The frame is now on the correct side of the wall. Much better this way.

I finished screwing the perimeter pieces to the wall and kregging them together, and I've cut and placed all the internal frame pieces, but I haven't yet attached them as I ran out of screws.

Fingers crossed, I can finishing all the screwing and kregging tomorrow AND route the edges.

Then--OMG--it will be ready for dry-fitting as upright walls! I may actually meet my Thanksgiving target!

Side note: thanks to Mr P for killing a gang of rogue wasps infesting the garage and other critical assistance.

PIX:

Marks across joins help me line the pieces back up after I take them out to drill the Kreg holes. They also help me know where to put the Kreg holes.



I used C-clamps to hold the joins flat as I screwed the pieces to the wall. Otherwise, some pieces will be higher or lower than the surrounding pieces, making an uneven join.



In progress. By the end of the day, all of the perimeter was screwed down, and all the inside pieces were cut and placed. Of course my phone ran out of juice before I could take a picture of the final thing.



Thanksgiving, here we come!

[KCStudly]

Just keep going; you will get there!