The Poet Creek Express - Foamie Hybrid

[KCStudly]

I assume that they are only thinning it as they use it, not in the bottle, right? I would think that adding water to the bottle would send it straight off.

[GPW]

Oh Yeah !!! It’s moisture cured , and the alcohol accelerates it further ... Just sayin' , if it’s not too thick and you want to thin it out a bit, that works (well tested by the RC plane Foamie guys ) ...
I don’t buy the larger bottles of GG anymore , end up throwing a third away ... Once you open the bottle , it’s on a timer ... best use it up ... buy more fresh ... just me ...

[Mary C]

hua hua, that is the other reason I don't like GG. If you use it on Monday the 1st of the month you might as well pitch it on the 28th day. just doesn't last long. like I said when I went looking for the GG i had New bottle never opened and it was hard as a rock.

just me.

Mary C.

[atahoekid]

I agree with Mary about GG habit of hardening in the bottle. I can normally count on 6 - 9 months of shelf life before I find it in an unusable state. Our humidity is pretty low so maybe that's why mine will last longer than hers. I do like it as a glue however. It is my number one choice for most glue jobs. Just make sure to wear gloves and use disposable spreaders (tongue depressors or the like) or have a can of acetone around for clean up

[KCStudly]

Well, this is the same big bottle I started with, and besides having a little crusty bit on the tip and a hard coating around the inside of the cap (both of which popped off pretty easily) the part that is still liquid seems to be just fine; maybe a little thicker. I am sure there is some that will never come out of the bottle, but what is still liquid in there should see me thru the rest of this project… I hope.

I manage to do pretty well with it by masking well, using disposable gloves, and small sticks or fake credit cards as spreaders, +1 Mel. I have acetone on hand for cleaning the GS straw, but haven’t had much need for it with the GG.

While we do have high humidity here in the summer, I suspect it is nothing compared to what you two have down there in the south.

I put another 4 hrs or so in today. I started by gluing the dowels in under the pillow light switch blocks to take the extra screws. Here you can see how I wrapped a small piece of ply with butcher’s paper, used another scrap of ply on the outside of the wall to protect the foam from denting, and clamped the dowel in place so that it would stay flush while keeping the glue from expanding out. Did the same thing on both sides; this is the curb side.


While that was kicking off I glued and screwed the front cabinet frame and cabinet floor side ledgers in. After wiping the excess glue I could see slight shadow lines in the middle of the sides of the cabinet frame up against the wall where there are no screws. If I pushed on the outside of the wall I could get it to close up; so I set up this clamp rig on each side to draw the middle of the frame and wall up tight to each other.




The inside backers are only touching the inside edges of the frame, not the door jambs or faces of the walls.

It was very awkward to get this setup into place by myself because both clamps wanted to be installed and tightened at the same time. I dropped a few things a few times, but with no harm. After getting the curb side in place I gave the clamp one more squeeze and heard a loud cracking sound. The narrow backer I had placed on the inside during the first attempt broke clear through…


…and the clamp in the doorway fell onto the edge of the door seal flange putting a big ouchy in it.

Cuss words ensued.

I’ll retreat this with poly next time I have the brush out, and it will be hidden by the door seal trim anyway, but it made me angry because it could have easily been very much worse (visions of a large gouge in the inner skin, or the door seal flange broken thru).

I scared up a bigger scrap of wood and reset the clamps, then went around and wiped the excess glue again.


Back to the pillow light switch recesses. The clamp setup on the dowels worked like a charm.


Next up, I trained the wires from the pillow light down into the switch recess in the street side block and temporarily taped it in place.



This helped prevent the smaller wires from the light fixture from becoming pinched behind the trim block while I screwed it into place without having to fish them thru afterwards.

Note that I pilot drilled and added the third screw into the dowel at the bottom.

Screwed the light fixture into position (I’m not a big fan of the black foam gaskets, and may eliminate them).



Next I wired up the switches and installed them with the switch plate. Top switch is for this light; bottom switch is for the bulkhead fan (if I get cold in the night I don’t want to have to sit up to turn the fan off).


Repeated the same steps on the curb side.

[grantstew8]

They look great in position. It is remarkable how time consuming these little details are but they are worth it.

[KCStudly]

Thanks Grant. Sometimes I wonder if it is truly worth all of the effort, especially when I see all of the little flaws up close. But then that's what happens when you are in detail mode, now isn't it?

I am kind of looking at this as a 'once in a lifetime' sort of thing, so it makes it okay to bury myself in it (figuratively speaking).

If there ever is another one, it will be much more... let's say, rugged. Utilitarian.

I forgot to mention that it was up to 55 F in the loft yesterday with no heaters running (although I did have the 228E running for a time, then switched to the 275).

With no snow on the ground, I was quite pleased that Yvette moved the wood pile from where it had been split into the shed, keeping me free to work on the camper.

This morning it is snowing with 3 to 7 inches expected and more to follow midweek.

[atahoekid]

There is the old saying "It's all in the details". Your details are surely better than most anything else I've seen. Remember you've got the 12 inch view of all the stuff. Most of us won't get closer than 3 feet. It's gonna be a head turner... absolutely without a doubt

[KCStudly]

Thank you very much for the wonderful comments, Mel. What a great way to start this wintry day!

[kudzu]

KC all these details are looking so good. Love the progress you've made. It's really looking like a camper now.

[KCStudly]

Thank you, Kudzu. I truly do appreciate the kind words.

Once I get the key catcher shelf front and side ledgers in, I can fit the floor panels in these cabinets, finish them (weather permitting), get the 'back' ledgers on (front of camper), the riblets and then it is time for the front and ceiling panels.

[kudzu]

... and then it is time for the front and ceiling panels.

And lowering it all back to earth.

[KCStudly]

... and then it is time for the front and ceiling panels.

And lowering it all back to earth.

Honestly, I am less worried about that... at least at the moment.

[Wolffarmer]

... and then it is time for the front and ceiling panels.

And lowering it all back to earth.

Honestly, I am less worried about that... at least at the moment.

Be plenty of time to worry about that when that step happens

[KCStudly]

EXACTLY!

I am sure that I will be running around like a mother hen!!! But that is for another day.