Building The Atma Travelear Teardrop

[McGuffin]

Hi Dave,

Congratulations on your design and execution – it is a real work of art and your attention to detail is wonderful. I am hoping to do an approximation of your design – I hope that’s OK.

Thanks for the inspiration


Regards,


Mc Guffin

[DMcCam]

Hi Dave,

Congratulations on your design and execution – it is a real work of art and your attention to detail is wonderful. I am hoping to do an approximation of your design – I hope that’s OK.

Thanks for the inspiration


Regards,


Mc Guffin

Thank you Sir! It's an honor to have members use my Travelear design for their personal builds. The only thing that will need to be revised is the hatch strut position, size and strength. I'll have pictures and such soon.

All the Best,

Dave

[McGuffin]

Hi Dave,

Thank you for that – just in case you’re travelling around Ireland someday and see something that looks vaguely familiar – that’ll be me!

Can ask you:

Where’d you locate the neat hinges for the cabin doors and also how you did you make the curved drip channel above these doors. I hope to install windows 24"x 18" - does that sound about right to you?

Thank you,


Larry

[DMcCam]

Hi Dave,

Thank you for that – just in case you’re travelling around Ireland someday and see something that looks vaguely familiar – that’ll be me!

How wonderful, another great reason for traveling to Ireland!

Where’d you locate the neat hinges for the cabin doors and also how you did you make the curved drip channel above these doors. I hope to install windows 24"x 18" - does that sound about right to you?

Hi Larry,

My chrome hinges were purchased on line from eTrailer: http://www.etrailer.com/Enclosed-Trailer-Parts/Redline/383700.html All my moldings and the rain drip channel were purchased from Mr. Grant Whipp at Lil' Bear Tag-Alongs: http://lilbear.teardrops.net/parts.html It was not too tough to bend by hand to the curve of the door and it works great. I wish I could have purchased 24"x18" windows. Mine are 24" x 16" which was the closest match. Those will work very well for you.

All the Best,

Dave

[McGuffin]

Hi Dave,

Thank you for the information about the hinges etc – I will follow them up. My wife and I plan to visit the US this year - so hopefully I can pick up some of the hardware bits and pieces then. I hope to get the windows in the States too - these kinds of things are impossible to get in Ireland. Thanks also for allowing me to attempt a version of the Travelear. If mine ends up looking half as good as yours I will be thrilled!

I have made a start and attached a photograph of where I’m at with the build. I’ve opted for ½” marine ply for the exterior walls which is to have a sandwich of ¾” Styrofoam insulation on the inside with batons of planed 2”x1” pine (which finish at ¾” thick) framing things up. I will skin the inside with 3mm ash veneered ply - birch ply is not readily available locally here. I decided to go for ash also because it is a blond wood which turns to a lovely honey-colour over time. It just requires clear varnish. I have begun to build out the curves on the inside of the walls to accommodate the 3/4” insulation. It’s a very slow job (I’m afraid that I do not have access to a CNC machine!) - but the decision to install insulation was a no-brainer for us here because the Irish summers can be what passes for winters in other places! The floor by the way, is also a sandwich - 6mm of primed and painted marine ply at the bottom, 1 and ½” Styrofoam in the middle and ½” marine ply at on the top. I'm constructing the teardrop so that the floor can be totally replaced from the inside out if and when it rots out. Basically, the walls you see are attached to two hefty solid ash “runners” which are bolted to the trailer frame running from front to back. The headboard and the kitchen / bedroom lockers will span to these runners too – resting on the top piece of ply but not structurally attached to it in any permanent way. This means that if necessary, the floor can be taken out and replaced without busting the whole thing apart. That’s the plan anyway. It's not me - it's the weather here which has made me a pessimist!

One of the things I really like about the Travelear is the shape of the doors. You can see also that I have cut out the door openings at this point to match your own. My doors finish at 11’ 4” circumference – close enough in size to your own which you mentioned finish at 11’. I may have made a mistake however, with the bottom curves because I cut them with only a 4” radius. I will probably have fun and games trimming them with T shaped aluminium. What do you think - is this a serious problem?

I would also would like to have your opinion on is how best to frame the doors on the inside. I assume that I will need to make these internal door frames about 3” wide so that I can reduce the overall door opening by about 1” the whole way ‘round so that the doors have something to close against and create a seal. Do these dimensions sound right?

Also, did you make your door frames from veneered plywood or solid wood? I assume that the Vintique door latches fits on to the inside of these frames so there is no recessing required for the the door catches into the side walls of the door openings – am I right in assuming that?

Again – thanks for the inspiration and the information.

Regards,



Larry

[DMcCam]

Hi Larry,

Great start on your build there! That's a tight bend but I think the 'T' molding from Grant Whipp will bend if you relieve the interior leg as I did. Grant shows you how it's done on this thread: http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=15853 You might want to PM him and get his ideas on it though. You'll still need to flatten it with a bit of hardwood and ballpeen hammer.

I thought I'd need the interior second seal too. We camped last year in the rain and had no leaks with only the 'D' seal under the 'T' molding. I haven't found a light rubber seal yet that fits the inner seal area I like. I think it's probably over kill but with a driving rain that my change my mind. My inner seal frame is about 3/4" smaller instead of 1" as I remember. The problem is that with the 'T' molding seal and the same 'D' seal on the inner frame, I couldn't close the doors! The pressure of the two seals was too great. I'm considering the plastic 'V' shaped door seals that are more like a flap. These will give an added seal without the pressure.

The doors and frames are both 1" of solid plywood (1/8", 3/4" and 1/8" laminated) around there edges. I do have insulation in the doors below the window. And you are correct Sir about the latch hardware not needing any recess. You will however need to offset the door hinges to clear the 'T' molding and to make it hit the seal flat.

All the Best,

Dave

[McGuffin]

Hi Dave,

My apologies for not getting back to you sooner - I've been away from the computer. Thank you for the information and the great advice, I will follow up on it.

One of the things I can't gt my head around is the extra cut out of the sides that's required (from the spar which anchors the hurricane hinge, to the floor of the kitchen). This is presumably needed to accommodate the thickness of the hatch. Am I correct in assuming that you have reduced the size by 3/8 of an inch here (it looks something like that in the photos you posted). Also, when I eventually have these two off cuts, how do I use them to determine the arc of the hatch spars and still keep the outside of the hatch flush with the rest of the main roof?

- confused.com

Larry

[DMcCam]

One of the things I can't gt my head around is the extra cut out of the sides that's required (from the spar which anchors the hurricane hinge, to the floor of the kitchen). This is presumably needed to accommodate the thickness of the hatch. Am I correct in assuming that you have reduced the size by 3/8 of an inch here (it looks something like that in the photos you posted). Also, when I eventually have these two off cuts, how do I use them to determine the arc of the hatch spars and still keep the outside of the hatch flush with the rest of the main roof? - confused.com

Larry

Hi Larry,

Good to hear from you Sir. If I'm understanding your questions, you are talking about the hatch seals. My 3/8" notch on both sides of the galley walls is for the hatch to seal on. It might not need to be 3/8" on your build. My hatch is skinned with 1/8" Baltic birch plywood and 1/16" aluminum ending up with a total thickness of just under 1/4" (with adhesive) and a average of 3/16" gap for the seal. Both my walls and hatch ribs were cut with the CNC so I didn't need to use the walls for a template. If you are using the walls as your hatch rib template, you would do them before you routed the relief. Tom did this on his awesome Silver Beetle, here's a link: http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=26988&start=210

You could use the walls to make your template or pattern for the hatch ribs. You would make your ribs the same arch as the walls so they will be the same curve and be flush with the roof once skinned. I hope this makes sense, please let me know.

All the Best,

Dave

[McGuffin]

Hi Dave,

Yes! Now I understand. The 3/8" cut out is so the hatch sealing rubber can fit beneath the hatch overhang and leave the whole thing still flush with the main roof.

Thank you for the link too - it really explains things in great detail also. Time to make some sawdust ...

BTW - where can I get the hatch opening handle and the snap clips at the side? handle f

Regards,



Larry

[DMcCam]

Hi Larry,

The 'T' handle can also be purchased from Grant Whipp at Lil Bear. The side hatch keyed draw latches I think I found locally... I'll have to check and get back to you. You could search; over center draw latch marine, and see what comes up near you.

Cheers,

Dave

[McGuffin]

Hi Dave,

Thank you for the information.

I have started a Build Journal called "Tigin Linn - Little House and Us". Hoping to have it ready for September (this September!).... we'll see.

Larry

[DMcCam]

I have started a Build Journal called "Tigin Linn - Little House and Us". Hoping to have it ready for September (this September!).... we'll see.

Hi Larry, Great news that you're starting your build thread...I'll be a following it for sure!

All the Best,

Dave

[lfrazer98]

We got the headliner squared up, spliced and ready to be installed too.

More to come this week.

Cheers,

Dave

How did you splice the headliner? I am worried about my exterior seams for my side walls (woody ext) Was there something in particular that you did to make it look seamless? Thanks for your help!

[DMcCam]

Hi Lauren,

The first thing we did was to find two 1/8" Baltic birch plywood sheets whose grain and color matched pretty closely. We then ran the two sheets through a new fine tooth table saw blade. Afterwards, we squared them up to each other and used the best cut on one sheet as a template to scribe the other piece. We sanded it to fit extremely well. My brother did the fitting and dang, it was totally tight! The final bit was to take another strip of 1/8" Baltic birch plywood about 4"x 4' and glue and clamp for a couple of days (of course you wouldn't do the last step for your exterior walls. For your exterior lamination of the wood, you would have to work out some way to hold the ply in place while the glue dried. Maybe just a top sheet of stiff 5/8" or 3/4" particle board with pipe clamps?

I hope this makes sense and helps.

All the Best,

Dave

[lfrazer98]

Yes, that does make sense. We do want a tight fit and like the idea of cutting/sanding the edge for a better fit. I will have to be very particular with my exterior birch so I can match the grain as best as possible. I really want my seam to be in a specific part of the exterior, so it won't give me much room to cut/sand. Thanks for your explanation! You guys did a great job on your build