Beyond the End teardrop (Tony Latham-style build)

...ask your questions in the appropriate forums BUT document your build here...preferably in a single thread...dates for updates, are appreciated....

Re: Beyond the End teardrop (Tony Latham-style build)

Postby orourkmw » Tue Mar 01, 2022 9:19 am

Ok, I got the epoxy cleaned up. Thanks to all for the suggestions, particularly swoody126 and TCJ. I used the card scraper, which is really cool...much better than sanding. It did take a while for me to get the hang of it…not so much the actual use, but the sharpening. But eventually I got the burr right. And I did have to resharpen pretty frequently…the epoxy is hard on the edge. (I had to wait for the scraper and burnisher to come in, and the epoxy kept curing….)

In spite of swoody126’s admonition, though, I still managed to catch the corner of the card a couple of times and made gouges. So we have decided to cover with wallpaper after all. Actually, my wife got excited about picking out a pattern.

A couple of notes….if you remember, I am wood-stripping roughly half-way down the exterior wall, and aluminum sheathing the bottom. Knowing what I know now, I should have left a little more meat on the skeleton at the transition. I have a couple slight bows that apparently developed in on one wall during wet sanding. They are just lifted 1/8” or so right at the edge for a length of maybe 6”, in areas where there was a span with no glue support. I am surprised that it bowed a little after the epoxy cured, but there it is. It isn’t too bad and I will be building up the epoxy a little at the (thicker) transition board anyway, but on my next build….

Also, I see the skeletons (3/4” treated ply) don’t lay perfectly flat on the bench. I am hoping it won’t take too much coaxing to plumb when I put the walls up.

On a side note, my new truck came in this week, so I can pick up my Baltic Birch at some point. (It has only been on order since Oct 15….which is when I stupidly turned in my old truck, because I believed Ford when they said I’d have the new one by about the first of the year. And by the way, the truck camper that we ordered from Lance was supposed to be in by now…but Lance just told us August! We are working with the dealer to try to get it in May so our vacation plans in June don’t get screwed up. Is this the “new normal”?)

I’m still a week or so from moving on to the floor. I have finished varnishing one wall with the TotalBoat “Lust” varnish, and it turned out pretty well. I have not used it before, but it allows recoating in about an hour and a half at 72F without sanding in between. You can do 5 coats in a day, then let it set for 48 hours, do a sand with 320, and put on the last coat(s). They recommend 6-8 coats for best results.
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Re: Beyond the End teardrop (Tony Latham-style build)

Postby Tom&Shelly » Tue Mar 01, 2022 9:27 am

orourkmw wrote:Ok, I got the epoxy cleaned up. ...So we have decided to cover with wallpaper after all. Actually, my wife got excited about picking out a pattern.


Glad you found a solution. :thumbsup:

We had a few "incidents" on our build that required slight changes of plan. Just took time, mostly. But, I'll bet that's just you and us... ;)

Tom :D
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Re: Beyond the End teardrop (Tony Latham-style build)

Postby tony.latham » Tue Mar 01, 2022 10:56 am

Also, I see the skeletons (3/4” treated ply) don’t lay perfectly flat on the bench.


It'll flatten fine once attached to the floor and the ceiling is installed. You might want to have a pipe clamp available at that point that will span the 5' width.

Tony
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Re: Beyond the End teardrop (Tony Latham-style build)

Postby orourkmw » Wed Mar 02, 2022 1:11 pm

Thanks for the heads-up, Tony. My clamps measured 4’6”, so I picked up couplers and 12” nipples so I wouldn’t have to piggyback two together….might be hard when I’m working by myself. And my axle came in today…maybe it’s time for me to start learning to weld! But we’ve got spring right now, so the next few days will be yard work….
:)
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Re: Beyond the End teardrop (Tony Latham-style build)

Postby orourkmw » Tue Mar 08, 2022 5:12 pm

An update: I feel I made a lot of progress in the last 2 days. I got the aluminum exterior cut and routed, and got the hatch side walls cut off. Also I bought a stick of 2"x1/8" plate steel to practice welding on, and my first attempts aren't devastatingly bad...I figure I'll practice 2-4 weeks or so before I have the confidence that my welds are good. YouTube is invaluable, and doing some forensics and testing on the welds (cutting them open or beating the tar out of them) gives some confidence. While at the metal shop, I checked prices....a 20' stick of 2" x 1/8" tubing is >$120 with tax. Plus I finally picked up my 3/4" and 1/2" Baltic Birch boards...the 4x8 sheet of 3/4" was also right at $120 with tax! So I took up this project when I finally had time, but the economics aren't cooperating!

I dry fitted things together just to see....the aluminum has a blue film on it, which I peeled back a little. I won't actually fit the aluminum until the wall is up to avoid scratches...which I know will happen one day!


Image

Still have some varnish one one wall, and then I'll be building the floor.
Mike
P.S. I knows the door is backward, but this one was easier to get to...
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Re: Beyond the End teardrop (Tony Latham-style build)

Postby orourkmw » Wed Apr 06, 2022 2:06 pm

Haven’t posted in a while…been helping a friend build his barn-dominion, but have made some progress. Somehow some deep scratches were made on one wall exterior after I thought I was done. Don’t have a clue how they got there, but had to sand all the varnish off and re-do (and this was the third time I’ve had to do a major rework on either the epoxy or varnish on this project…I think I’ve been cursed!) But I’m done with the walls until they are mounted. The floor is built and tomorrow I’ll build the support platform on casters. I’m following Tony’s method of rolling it onto the trailer once that Is built. In the meantime, I’m getting better practicing welding…angle of nozzle, pace of weld, consistent distance from nozzle to work…but struggling to keep a straight line. It’s a craft. A cut through a cross section, polish, and etch with naval jelly shows good penetration, so I just need to keep practicing. Still having fun! :)
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Re: Beyond the End teardrop (Tony Latham-style build)

Postby Capebuild » Wed Apr 06, 2022 7:00 pm

Looks great..... as I head into my "applying the aluminum world"......
"Success can be defined as moving from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm".... Churchill

Visit my Teardrop build here: viewtopic.php?f=50&t=73779
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Re: Beyond the End teardrop (Tony Latham-style build)

Postby JoeGrz » Mon Apr 11, 2022 8:53 pm

One more thing with the welding - let each weld cool before you add to it or redo it. There’s no straight metal, or very little, on my chassis and I think it is because I didn’t really take it to heart until I got to attaching the axle. Tony really drove it home and it finally sunk in at that point.
Just a heads up so you don’t make a mistake I think I did.

Your build looks great so far. I look forward to seeing it finished
Joe
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Re: Beyond the End teardrop (Tony Latham-style build)

Postby Squigie » Tue Apr 12, 2022 10:26 am

Come on. What fun is life if your frame doesn't look like railroad tracks that haven't been maintained in 70 years?




;)

Edit:
About 20 seconds after posting the above, a friend sent me this video that is tangentially relevant.
I have never seen a train use track that bad.

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Re: Beyond the End teardrop (Tony Latham-style build)

Postby orourkmw » Tue Apr 12, 2022 1:55 pm

Squigie: I don’t see a video link on yr post, but I hope my welds come out better than a crooked railroad! Thanks, JoeGrz for the heads up…though I work so slow maybe it won’t be an issue
;)
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Re: Beyond the End teardrop (Tony Latham-style build)

Postby Squigie » Wed Apr 13, 2022 10:26 am

I used the embed option in the forum software. Some adblockers see it as an advertisement.
This is the link.
Code: Select all
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X2A2f6E5DI

(Code brackets to prevent auto-embedding.)
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Re: Beyond the End teardrop (Tony Latham-style build)

Postby orourkmw » Fri Apr 15, 2022 12:29 pm

Wow! Thanks, Squigie. I never would have thought that the train could possibly make it through. And I do hope my build comes out a little better than that!
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Re: Beyond the End teardrop (Tony Latham-style build)

Postby orourkmw » Mon Apr 25, 2022 2:10 pm

Image
Image

Just an update. Got my first wall up and wallpapered to cover the epoxy mishap I had on the thin-veneer poplar ply interior wall...the birch tree design my wife picked out is nice, and I think will lighten up the cabin. Have decided on my stove and cooler. Thanks to Garth for his offline help; I will orient mine "sideways" like he did since I won't have Tony's heater. Ordered the aluminum trim and hurricane hinge today from Vintage Technologies. Have cut bulkheads and headboards. Decided to use southern yellow pine (SYP) for roof spars. Garth had been surprised when the (5) 1"x8"x10' boards cost $200 last fall; now the big box has them at $64 ea, or >$350 incl tax! I thought pine was not as strong as poplar, and that is certainly true of white pine, but SYP is stronger. The boards are #2 - uglier - but they are hidden in the roof, and the cost totaled $120. For the hatch spar, though, I decided to go with oak. A 1"x12"x6' board is >$90 with tax! Aargh! But I will cut it down, laminate, and mill to a 2" square for the hatch spar, and also use for the headboard slider rails. Everytime I spend that much money on one of these boards I remind myself "better not screw up this cut!" Should have the second wall up maybe by the end of next week, when I can line up some help.
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Re: Beyond the End teardrop (Tony Latham-style build)

Postby orourkmw » Fri Apr 29, 2022 4:05 pm

Well, I finally got to the point where Tony's #4 was on 7/2/19, JoeGrz was on 5/28/20, GarthB was on 5/29/21, and most recently VanIsleDave on April 16....I have the walls up! It feels so good, and only partly because I don't have to always work around and move those walls!

The assembly went well; in fact, so well that I decided to contact cement the aluminum sheathing on while I had extra hands. Yay!
Mike
:D


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Re: Beyond the End teardrop (Tony Latham-style build)

Postby western traveler » Tue May 03, 2022 10:23 am

Mike it looks great! I love the inlay piece you added.
It was a big thing for me to not need to wrestle those walls around anymore. I think it was Garth that mentioned the headliner was the next huge step. I know for me once it was installed it was the first time I sat inside a TD and got a feel for the room available.
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