Mark's Teardrop with Roof Top Tent; can sleep four

[markhusbands]

I'm a little late in starting a Build Journal, but then again, I have a long way to go. See photos. For captions, go to the gallery:




And thanks to everyone who has answered questions for me. I'll be bugging you some more - fair warning.

[Melven]

I'm a little late in starting a Build Journal, but then again, I have a long way to go. See photos. For captions, go to the gallery:




And thanks to everyone who has answered questions for me. I'll be bugging you some more - fair warning.

Looks real cool Mark.

[Eric_kc0ahk]

Never too late!

[markhusbands]

Thanks, fellas. Saturday I hope to break away long enough to get some blocking in and partially skin the hatch.

[markhusbands]

Didn't get as far as I wanted, but got edge laminate on the plywood ribs and got the solid oak cross blocking in.

The joints still need some planing and sanding but they'll look a lot better than bare plywood edges.

[markhusbands]

Got part of the skin on today with some help from a friend.

[Melven]

Good progress Mark.

[S. Heisley]

It looks nice but I don't see the bi-level...? Is that going to be a shelf/bunk for the kids?

You were lucky to have help with skinning that curve. That was the hardest thing for me to do alone.

[markhusbands]

Eventually it will accommodate a safari style roof top tent as an "upstairs". And I think I would have had trouble getting tight seams without another pair of hands. I did the interior solo and it came okay, but the joints are concealed. My hatch joints will in many place be visible.

[davidniebeling]

Sweet rig!

[markhusbands]

Well, I finally made some progress that is actually visible. I've been plugging away at getting the stuff I need for electrical. Still pretty intimidated by the idea of getting it wired and then totally sealing it up. So I decided to tackle a cabinetry item that has also had me nervous. A lesser item is a small cabinet frame in the front to hold the fuse box, mount a reading light, and store small items. The bigger one is a pair of tambour doors in the galley that for me was pretty tricky. First time I ever tried something like this. It worked: see below.

[markhusbands]

I was really excited about how the tambours looked, so I couldn't resist tossing on a coat of stain. I think it will end up looking pretty decent. There's a couple spots where I think I got a glue stain, but it doesn't look too bad, and I don't claim to be a skilled woodworker. It's all experimental for me. I also need to figure out how to make a low profile strip handle for the tambours. Because I used five hatch ribs, the 2nd and 4th hit dead center in the tambour where you might put a knob. I have not quite an inch of clearance, so I am thinking of putting a horizontal strip for a grab. If anyone has an idea let me know.

[S. Heisley]

The tambour doors look really, really nice. Will the rain stay out of the tract?

[_Ryan_]

The doors look great!

As far as the pulls how about using a couple recessed cup pulls. You could cut out a mortise in the lower section and it would fit flush with the front.

[markhusbands]

Some sort of recessed pull like that is a good idea, although the bottom slat of the tambour is very thin - about 3/16". I'm a bit scared of splitting it. I'd almost like a very shallow oak cup pull, but the shallowest I've seen on the web is .81" projection. Miiiight fit. I'd feel better about .5" - .6". The tambours are light so you don't need much.

And I guess I need to keep rain out of the slats. But if I'm cooking and it is raining I can leave the tambours up and if I'm done and it starts to rain I can close the hatch. The tambours are pretty well tucked up under the hatch so It would have to be blowing. But yeah, letting the tambours get all soaked could warp them I guess. Worth remembering.