Kudzu's Karavan - Project canceled

[GPW]

Love those little Fat tires !!! Just be sure they can hold the weight of your toys hauled... cabin and gear too ...

[KCStudly]

60 grit flap disc will remove lots of metal if not careful and will not get into pits as well (at least not without removing all of the metal around the pit).

I would recommend a fine wire cup brush for the angle grinder. It will get down in the pits and remove rust well without thinning the metal. Just be careful, especially in tight areas and along edges; they can kick. Use the side handle, pay attention to which way you lead (so that if it kicks it kicks away from you, not toward) and a leather apron is a good idea. Probably best to do tight areas by hand with a wooden handle wire brush and/or abrasive 'greenie' pad.

[GPW]

Probably the best way to do it if you wanted to really get right would have it sandblasted, by someone who knows what they’re doing .. Then have it powder coated .... could get a bit Pricy ... more than a new trailer really ...
I never bother , just give it a “swish and a flick” and put the Rustoleum on ... With our infamous Humidity , everything here is either rusting or corroding constantly ... Rustoleum works !!!
Ps. What doesn’t rust or corrode gets mold on it ... It’s like living in a Houseboat ...

[kudzu]

Mary, I had already purchased a small can of Rustoleum primer for rusty metal. So went out today & rescrubbed the area where new rust had set in & painted the primer on it. Doing it in bits & pieces is going to leave me with an ugly paint job but it's just the primer & I've told myself no one is going to see much of the trailer anyway.

Love those little Fat tires !!!

Me too! Our gear isn't heavy & I don't want the build out to be either. But I'll check the tires rating to ensure I don't go over. I keep calling it a toy hauler but ours are not large power toys. We lean toward HPVs not ATVs.

60 grit flap disc will remove lots of metal if not careful and will not get into pits as well (at least not without removing all of the metal around the pit).

I would recommend a fine wire cup brush for the angle grinder.

Hated the wire cup brush when I tried it with the drill. Too hard to control. But after using the angle grinder with sandpaper disc on our porch project I am amazed how easy it is to control the angle grinder compared to the drill with the sanding disc attachment. So if the cup brush follows the sanding disc scenario then the angle grinder with cup brush should be OK. But there's a problem.

We went to HD last night but they didn't have the type of wire cup brush I was looking for. They only had knotted ones. TSC has crimped wire ones plus the knotted. None of these would I consider "fine". Do you think you could find an example online of the type you're referencing? Doing it by hand leaves me getting only a tiny section done at a time.

BF made a Freudian slip & called my new best friend an "ankle grinder". He corrected himself but we both laughed. Told him that with me operating it the term ankle grinder may be more appropriate. Don't have a leather apron but I have a thick canvas one clearly meant for men so it covers me from neck ankles. And of course I do always take Norm's advice & wear my safety glasses.

[KCStudly]

Glad to hear you are being safe.

The crimp wire is the one you want, but all I saw on TSC online were brass wire. You want steel like this one, just make sure it has the same thread as your arbor.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwaukee-3-in-Carbon-Steel-Wire-Cup-Brush-48-52-5060/100030480#.Uf6-T22f-ZE

[kudzu]

OK, work on trailer is temporarily halted. Vowed I would finish the porch before continuing on trailer. However, I decided to spend a little evening time going back to design work in Sketchup. When last I worked in it I couldn't get very far with the 3D work. Below is a test design I tried. When looking at it please bear in mind that I came to foamies after deciding that a cargo trailer conversion would be too heavy for my TV & too costly for my budget. So it's not surprising that I used a cargo trailer design for my first test run in Sketchup.

Here's what I came up with for my tester:

Right side


Rear


Interior-facing front


Interior-facing rear


Interior-cutaway from side


First I'll say the design is utterly uninspiring visually. Reminds me of an oragami U-Haul. The front bed is because I know we won't want to have raise & lower the bed to put toys in & out. Will likely redraw design so the bed folds up in half to allow more cargo room. The "bench" I outlined on the wall will be more like a jack knife sofa. Would probably have an extension that went under the permanent bed otherwise only really short folks could use it. Likely the dogs would sleep on it more than humans. On the opposing wall would be fold up shelving for a tiny indoor galley area. Most cooking would be done outside & equipment stored in the under bed/pass thru storage area.

That's just a tester design but if you have feedback I would love to hear it.

Am getting ready to go through the Sketchup tutorial videos. Thank you, Danlott! Hopefully I can use those to actually learn how to do 3D in a decent way. Then I can get to doing some real design work.

[atahoekid]

I wouldn't use the word "uninspiring". I think it is pretty well thought out. I wish I had thought of pass-thru storage before I built mine. In retrospect, it would have been a better use of space. Granted you might not win any prizes for your "design" at this point but you've got the working package, it's just a matter of putting a shell on it. I'd rather have function before form, instead of something that looks great but doesn't work for you. BTW, I was a mechanical draftsman at a point in my past and I gave up trying to learn sketch up. I can think faster using the "dead tree" method along with an eraser (a draftsman's best friend).

[GPW]

Looks good to me ... JMHO

[CampsALot]

I think it looks good as well.

A window or two would be my only addition.

In a campground of 500 trailers, you will probably be the only homebuilt and it will be the only camper people will take notice of.
To me, that's a good thing.

Warren

[GPW]

Regarding the construction of ^ .... How are you going to do the roof ?

[kudzu]

Regarding the construction of ^ .... How are you going to do the roof ?

Details, details. Hadn't decided. I am thinking of using two layers of 1" foam. The 1" will be easier to bend. Though a couple local HDs have the scored 2" foam. Wonder how much be bend that allows. I think I'll need arches built for each end plus two more spaced out in the middle, maybe three feet apart.Am considering the rib idea but I don't want those intruding into the interior where we'd haul cargo. Then again the wheel wells already intrude a good deal, hindering cargo placement in that area. Ribs could become part of the structure for the front & rear walls plus bed frame. Instead of ribs for the other middle support I could just use an arch attached to hard points. Or that could even just be glued in place, ya think?

What I really have in mind for the front & rear roof line is for it to curve down to join the curve front & rear walls. (That's one of my probs right now with 3D CAD.) Well, the rear "wall" is only going to be curve for less than a foot before meeting up with the doorway. Though it is not reflected in the sketch, the idea is for the roof line in the rear to match the front. That would make it extend past the body of the trailer as currently designed, giving a useful overhang. What I want is something that works well in stormy weather. The overhang would be an asset then. Sleeping on the ground has become an issue, not just because of reduced physical comfort but because we've awakened a couple times during storms to find our campsite flooding! For the record, my Sierra Designs Clip Flashlight 3 remains waterproof even in 4" deep water.

Originally I had the rear floor extending in a curve to match the front curve. It formed a nice little "porch" area. Then I remembered the need for a ramp & decided to cut the floor straight. I may change it so the portion for the ramp is only 42" wide. That's plenty wide enough for our stuff & would help extend the stoop area a few more inches out.

[kudzu]

... I'd rather have function before form, instead of something that looks great but doesn't work for you. BTW, I was a mechanical draftsman at a point in my past and I gave up trying to learn sketch up. I can think faster using the "dead tree" method along with an eraser (a draftsman's best friend).

This is why I got frustrated enough to leave the Industrial Design curriculum at Auburn. It was part of the School of Art. Normally I fit into the artsy scene well enough but I had a big final blow up with a professor who insisted I change a design to something he thought looked much better. I agreed it would look better but would render the desk near useless in a work setting. It reminded me of what I thought it would be like trying to argue with Frank Lloyd Wright. "Yes, sir. This is all perfect looks wise but I don't want my ceiling to leak like a sieve & the chairs to be incredibly uncomfortable." Doesn't stop me from still being madly in love with FLW designs. Just think I would not have done well trying to learn architecture from him. I'm just too utilitarian by nature.

Have thought about going upstairs & digging out my drafting board, templates & little tool box of drawing tools. Don't remember seeing my T-square in forever. Funny that I've dragged that stuff with me through every move for the past few decades. Last time I used it was doing schematics for computer network wiring over 20 years ago. Even then I was dreaming up tiny houses & TTs while hoping for a day when I could have one. That day has come!

[GPW]

K', as we found out later , those that Can , Do .... Those that can’t Teach ... My College Art program , I was ahead of my “professors” at every turn, and could out paint them all ... My Dad’s an Artist ... I learned this stuff when I was a Baby .... They hated to hear that , but knew it was True ...
Math , well that was another story ...

Architects ... nothing utilitarian with them ... I hate to see public buildings that Architects are handsomely paid to “overdesign” ... simple buildings, like a Post Office or Library that end up looking like Disney World, Impossible to build , outrageously expensive ... all built with the taxpayers money , and a Handsome profit for the Architects , including no bid contracts for re-designs of their first “folly” , when problems develop with the original construction , which they Always seem to do ...

One only has to google the Jefferson Parish Performing Arts Center to see such a debacle ... Where an “unbuildable" public building went from $13 mil (original idea selling description ) to $26Mil to over $50 Mil and is yet, un-finishable ... Your Tax dollars at work ...

Bending thin foam with heat would be fairly easy , then laminating it for Thicker ... That pre kerfed foam does look interesting ... Arches are easy , and can be partial height and still do the job of stiffening the upper roof area.. Keep drawing , think Simple and build-able ...

I think it’s goonna’ look really Cool with those little Fat tires ...

[atahoekid]

I would go with double 1" panels and bend those. That's what I did for the front curve of the Road Foamie. Turned out well. The prescored 2" would scare me. At some point I fear it would snap. I ran the "Skil saw", down to a 1/4" and cut scores every 3/4" and I still had one of the sheets snap. A bit of glue and a bit of canvas and you couldn't find the defect. Lots of pink foam pellets everywhere. I bought a cheap disposable painters suit and changed out of it in the garage so I wouldn't track foam pellets in the house. Happy wife, happy life...

[GPW]

Just an idea ... the pre-scored foam might bend easily without cracking with the application of heat to the outside ... Less messy than Kerfing ... my foam bits are still hanging around , slowly dispersing ...