Ben in the square

[dbuettner]

Hey everyone, thanks for all the inspiration and tips. Your posts have helped in my design and the courage to make the leap to builder and not just another interested reader.
About me,
I'm a camper by nature. From death valley to Estes park in the Rockies to Maine in the fall. I've tent camped in 12 below in the mid west and walked to school 5 miles in 10ft of snow as a kid. Ok, the last part was a little fib. However, I have traversed the USA many times with a tent and a smile and the result is a 30 year old son that is always in the out doors and a whole lot of grate memories. Now at 55 years old I want a more comfortable way to travel. I had a fifth wheel for a few years but didnt get out as much as I would have liked. A small trailer seems easy and economical and will likely be used much more often.

Now with gas prices A teardrop style trailer seems to be the answer. I have a mini van I've used for the last few years but would like to get a plugin hybrid for towing and daily driving so the trailer should weigh under 750lbs dry and meet the needs of my other hobbies as a cargo trailer.I decided to build a 25" radius on the front with a square back and a large door while still incorporating storage and an easily removable galley.

I'm two weekends into the build and have a couple mistakes in my rear view mirror. The nt 5x8 trailer is built. I waffled between 3/4 and 1/2 ply for the floor and found 5/8 hardwood exterior grade ply smooth on both sides on sale so I went with it. Im not going to insulate the floor however I will have the floor carpeted. I like the idea of a convertible camper so I decided to go that rout leaving me the option to close and insulate the top later. I call California home (near Monterey Bay) It's not that cold or humid here.

btw, I'm open to ideas and feedback. I'm not very experienced in finish work so info is appreciated.

I found 1/2 hardwood ply with mahogany on two sides. I was going to use aluminum but cant cover that amazing grain so I got some green wood dye. It should look good under epoxy and spar varnish.

The underside and edges of the floor is covered in blacktop coating - roof repair tar. (thanks to you) I would never have thought of that.
I found a 43x43 rv door on ebay that will work perfect for the rear door and bought two of the black widow side doors 23x36 off ebay. I ordered some pet screen for the top and have a tan truckers/marine vinyl tarp for the top. Ill cut out the tarp and take it to a local canvas shop for sewing.

[dbuettner]

here are a couple pictures of the trailer and the two sides dyed

[Junkboy999]

Welcome aboard and GL on the build.

Make sure whatever you use to protect the outside is uv rated. Some one on the forums just finished one that use a purple dye and it came out looking great.

[dbuettner]

thanks for the input. I'm hoping 3 coats of epoxy with two coats of spar varnish or uv polyurethane will do the trick. I'm wondering if I need to use fiberglass on the sides. The vinyl top will cover many of the exterior seams. I have aluminum trim with exterior silicone calking underneath for the rest.

[dbuettner]

Well, I cant get back to the project until Friday. I think I will do a partial roof over the back 4' and the front 2' leaving the rest for the convertible top. I think if I don't like it I could cover that section in lexan and keep the vinyl snap on cover.

Any thoughts would be helpful.

There's a gathering at angel island here in the bay area in a couple weeks. It would be great to have enough finished so I could attend. I should get about six days of work in before then as I hope to have the walls roof and front panels done this weekend with the vinyl at the shop next week.

By the way I started this thread reporting some mistakes. One of them was cutting the door opening to big. I shouls have measred 4 times. Cost me a sheet of ply. I think I can use the scraps on the rear panel

Enjoy your week.
Dave

[dbuettner]

Well I got two coats of epoxy on today. Withe the first coat on the wind came up and a bunch of organic matter fell on the finish
I set up an tarp cleaned the crap off a piece at a time and applied the next coat. I hope it works out.

Should I use spar varnish or uv polyurithane?

[dbuettner]

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Well the sides are epoxied. the finish came out good. However on the last coat some spots seemed to reject the epoxy. seems some particles got on the 2nd coat. I should be able to sand them out.

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Here is a couple pictures of the shelves that go on each side of the 43x43 door.
I'll also attach a pic of the door.

1

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[dbuettner]

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More picks

[dbuettner]

Between the two cabinets will be a removable counter with folding rear wall and a removable interior shelf for the sleeping compartment. remove the two pieces and the back accommodates my hobby stuff. So the trailer will do some dual duty.

I still dont have a name picked out. Any Ideas?

Dave

[rebapuck]

Double Trouble

[dbuettner]

Judy, thanks for the suggestion. I'll start a list.

I'm thinking of remounting the axle on top of the springs. Anyone know if the northern tool 5x8 has a camber on the axle? I read it would drop the trailer 3".

Dave

[dbuettner]

I made some progress this week, are some new picks

[dbuettner]

I screwed and glues the trim in place and now its time for the sides to go up. I used the roof tar on the bottom and inside edge of the sides and glued and screwed to the trim and cabinets as well as some black calking to seal the seams.

[dbuettner]

I wanted to test the fit of the rear door so I could get an idea of the fit. the door needs to be attached just right so it doesn't sag.

[dbuettner]

I spent another hour attaching a couple roof supports to make sure the outside walls are secure and stable.
It's starting to look like a trailer.

I'm thinking of using lexan for 4' of the roof. I could gall it the star gazer. I like the color a lot and was thinking of finishing a 14" dobsonian telescope I'm building to match. The back door will make transporting my telescopes EASY.

Dave