BUILDING DOWN UNDER, MY NEW TD

[Kody]

I think I have this worked out at last, it's been hard to see 'cos of eye infections but that's another story.
I'm hoping I can get all the construction sorted out now.
This of course shows the framework nearly finished. The open panel at the end (not the door) was left without the frame pieces glued in as it had developed a huge buckle. I stood the wall upright and allowed the timber to dry out as it felt damp from the humidity. The next day, the entire skin was super tight and no more buckles. The last of the frame pieces were glued in and now begins the inlaying of the foam. I can keep the floor clean, it's really super clean, by blowing it down with the air hose from the air compressor. This works wonders and I can work on the floor knowing the wall be as flat and true as possible. The horse will be leaving us soon which will also mean no more leucerne in the garage.



Kody

[SLUG36]

The red hose is the air hose from my air compressor. It's being used to keep all the timber, parts and floor clean of sawdust and dirt. It works better than a broom or vacuum cleaner.



I use a electric leaf lower for "sweeping"

keep up the good work.

[Kody]

The side of the frame is now ready to fit and glue the final plywood skin. The urethane foam was fitted and glued in place then it was sanded with the orbital sander to about 1mm above the frame. The final sanding was done using a piece of the framing that had the sandpaper stuck to it with double sided sticky tape. The plywood skin will be applied in 3 pieces, one at the top, the main lower sheet and then the end on the right. I had lots of help from my little mate who watched very closely as she checked the progress being made. She is a precision fanatic, everything must be perfect for her. I will be gluing the skin on with epoxy as I can't buy urea formaldehyde in Australia in containers smaller than 20 liters. I can buy a 2 liter container from the US but it will cost about $32.00 plus $58.00 for shipping. Shipping is by boat. I'm happy to use the epoxy, I can buy it off the shelf in Rockhampton, 40 minutes away. It was surprising how fast the sanding was to remove the 1/4" required. The sander had to be kept moving all the time or an "Oops" happened. You might be able to see the 2 "oops" in the photo. These won't cause any problems as I am not using a vacuum to suck the ply down. The ply will be fastened with staples and then they will be pulled out. The holes and dents will then be given the water droplet and hot iron treatment to bring the ply back to its original condition.



Kody

[Kody]

The frame is all finished, the insulation has been fitted in and glued. My best mate has arrived from Rockhampton with his boys and we are all set to go. They arrived at 6:00 am this morning. The wall panel will be laid on the floor and Titebond III will be spread all over the woodwork and foam. The first sheet of ply will then be stapled down.



The glue is being spread out using old plastic cards that have been notched out on one edge using a corner of the 8" grinding wheel. The notches were no more than 3/32" deep and spaced to leave a flat of about the same size in between the notches. This worked out perfectly for spreading the glue. The first sheet is down and stapled and the final sheet is about to be laid.


The staples were punched thru a "craft stick". These are the same stick that the doctor uses to press down on your tongue. I bought a hundred of them and cut them into 1 1/4" lengths. These were perfect to staple with as the sticks protected the plywood from the staple as it was punched down. When the staple was removed, only two small hole slits were visible on the plywood. A drop of water on the slits, a hot iron pressed over the slits and the holes were gone. To make it easier for the building crew, I cut and stuck the wood strips down with tape the day before.


Some of the staples were not quite punched all the way down. Andrew and Joshie finished them off with a few gentle taps from a hammer which tightend them all up.


After all this work, it was now time for a well earned breakfast. They didn't know what they would have for breakie but Andrew's wife had told me that they would go crazy over bacon and eggs with lots of coffee and chocolate milk.
The total time for laying and gluing the last of the 1/8" plywood skins was less than 40 minutes. There is no way I could have done this on my own. I am so grateful to have such loyal and faithful friends that will put their own life on hold and drive up to help me. Such friends are a true gem of precious gold. There is nothing we wouldn't do for each other. I am so thankful for my wonderful friends.

Kody

[lukeyslide]

Kicking along nicley

Cya Lukey

[Kody]

The weather has finally cooled down and I have caught up somewhat with the building. I have been cutting and trimming the outer profile on the finished wall. The second wall is now ready to fit the Urethane foam in and then glue on the final outer skins of plywood. I bent a long piece of wood (1" x 3/8") around the edge of the wall to draw the profile from the two radii that shaped the "nose" and the "tail". The shape was then roughed out with the Jig Saw leaving about 1/8" to finish it to the pencil line. I bought a Ryobi belt sander to finish off the profile but I didn't sand the edge square to the wall. I sanded the top edge of the wall deliberately on an angle of whatever angle it required to bring the top extreme edge to conform to the required shape. The conformity of the curve was checked and tested by running my fingers around the top edge of the wall. When it felt uniformly smooth without bumps I was ready for the next part. I can very easily detect and gage an error of 0.015" by feeling the curve with my fingers. It's easy when you know how and know what you are doing. Ok, I can actually get that down to 0.010".

It was now time to bring out the router. I had bought 2 cutters, one from GB and the other from HK. These were template cutters fitted with a ball race. The cutter with the ball race at the top of the blades was inserted into the router and set to to depth. I set the depth to where the ball race was lower than the top edge by 2 mm. With lots of noise and wood chips, the router was carefully slid around the edge that I had sanded to the profile.
This worked out absolutely spot on. The cutter left a small ridge along the edge just below the top of the wall. I fitted the other cutter that had a ball race on the bottom of the blades. This was then adjusted so the cutter was located by the ball race 1/8" above the bottom of the edge and the router carefully slid once more around the edge of the wall. The final result was perfect, a beautiful uniform curve that was such a delight to see.
The second wall will be machined directly off the first wall using the jig saw and then the two cutters. Unfortunately, our camera doesn't have the ability to take super close up shots and I was unable to get any video of how I did this.

The two small side windows will be fitted out as Wiley Windows. These will be just fine when they are fitted in. I will buy a standard RV window for each of the doors. I just have to find the ones I need at the right price. I am cutting the opening for the Wiley Windows using a template to shape the radii in the corners. The template will be made from 1/8 plywood and I will show you how I do it when the time comes. I am very pleased with the results that I have achieved with this build.

Kody

[Kody]

I have started cutting out and fitting the foam into the new wall. I will have it all done tomorrow then the foam will be sanded down flush with the frame work. The foam is glued in using Titebond-ll and weighting it down. The next step is to glue the last of the plywood onto the side of the frame. One this is complete, I can cut and trim the wall profile using the other one as a template. I have begun to draw up the parts for the Wiley Windows and the template to cut the window openings with the router. Unfortunately, the printer has died. It looks like we may need a new one. Will have to go to town and buy (ugh!) one. We have had this one for only about 5 or 6 years (only?) and when you need it, the thing karks out on you. The cost of getting it repaired would be more than the cost of a new one! What a pain!

Kody

[S. Heisley]

It's looking good, Kody!

[Kody]

At last I am back on deck. I went out with a crazy mate of mine in his 21 foot cruiser and really crunched up my back. Following lots of work on it by a physiotherapist, I can now actually stand up. I will never be going out with my crazy mate again, no way. Anyway, enough said.
We had heaps of rain that was blown into the garage under and behind the gutters. The rain went all over the finished wall and wrecked (delaminated) an area about 3 or 4 square feet of the ply. I have managed to sand and grind this all out up to 3 mm deep and fill it back with fiberglass. The new wall has shrunk back to the correct size and shape so I hope to start work on it again this week.
Perhaps something to keep in mind is that no matter how fabulous the glue you use to glue parts onto the plywood, the strength of the joint is only as strong as the glue that holds the outer veneer of the plywood sheet itself. Can't wait to start work again on the TD.

Kody