4-Day Weekender - Toddler bed!

[Kharn]

I realized this morning that I'd need to drill the hatch for the license plate bracket and light, so I did that first thing, along with drilling the other wall for the side and porch light. Here are the lights from when I tested if the holes were big enough (the side lights needed a 3/4" diameter, 3/8" deep recess due to their wiring design), they're not screwed in thus why the red one isn't in line with the yellow one. You can see where I had to place the yellow marker to get it inside the forward storage compartment without sticking past the front of the trailer, unfortunately that also puts it in a position to be smacked by the door if it swings freely. I'll have to put restraining straps on the doors so they can only open ~135 degrees.

20140824 lights small.jpg (144.74 KiB) Viewed 1805 times

Then I spent the next 5 hours putting several coats of epoxy on the trailer body, the hatch, the tongue box and the galley seal area. It looks like I'll be able to sand later this week and primer/paint this upcoming weekend. The end is in sight.

I did discover that I'm one short on wiring holes through the roof spars, so I'll have to improvise and run some of the light wires as multiple hots to a single ground (shouldn't be a problem since they're all LED, and it will be combinations not likely to be paired such as the porch light and the reading light).

The upcoming big challenges: Building the tongue box lid, cutting the aluminum angle for the galley hatch latches (4" angle, 3/16" thick, good thing I'm visiting my parents for labor day and can use the milling machine or my hacksaw would be getting quite a work-out ) and figuring out how I want to run the latches across the AC door's t-molding.

[Breytie]

Man, that is looking GOOD!
Wish I could get mine going faster of that nice!
Keep it up!

[Kharn]

Thanks!
Analysis paralysis was a big part of the delay in my build, the cold winter didn't help much either. I have to force myself to just pick a path forward and go with it, and then deal with the consequences later.

[Glenn Butcher]

Thanks!
Analysis paralysis was a big part of the delay in my build, the cold winter didn't help much either. I have to force myself to just pick a path forward and go with it, and then deal with the consequences later.

I've got a case of that, too.

[lthomas987]

Thanks!
Analysis paralysis was a big part of the delay in my build, the cold winter didn't help much either. I have to force myself to just pick a path forward and go with it, and then deal with the consequences later.

I've got a case of that, too.

Me too. :|

[Kharn]

I tested the "night lights," "reading lights," and "general lights" today.

Yeah. Nobody is going to sleep with those night lights unless they're wearing a blindfold. At least the lamp module can be disassembled and the plastic lens could easily be sprayed with frosting or white paint to dim it a bunch. The two reading lights alone might be bright enough for the entire camper (9 LEDs, one per side) and the general lights (12 LEDs, 4 total) enough that I could perform surgery on the bed.

Cutting blank coverplates with an Xacto is no fun, I may resort to the Dremel and just live with replacing one or two of the panels, but I did find a layout that works for one general light, one switch and one night light on the same panel.

[Kharn]

After several hours of work with a knife, here's one of the general light/nightlight panels.

20140824 light fixture small.jpg (123.02 KiB) Viewed 1762 times

I'm definitely cutting the next one with the Dremel.

[Adventure Time]

Hey Kharn, I'm new to the forum. Just stated a TD a month ago. Why did you choose to use MDO plywood? Whatis the outside made of? What are the benefits over regular plywood?

[Kharn]

Here's the APA's brochure on MDO, they explain the benefits in detail. The main advantages are that the resin-impregnated overlay is tough and weather resistant, the 100% weather resistant glue, there are extremely few internal voids (I've only found 5-6 larger than a pencil eraser during this entire build, and never more than one layer thick, I found one the size of a quarter on a side table and I was extremely surprised), no surface imperfections, and the plywood is 0.5" or 0.75" exactly, not 15/32" or a metric size.

[Adventure Time]

Thanks for that info. I did laugh a little a few posts back when you said the end was in sight. These things are a lot of work! I thought I would be done with mine in a month. ha
You got a nice build going on. I bet you can't wait to use it.

[Kharn]

I sanded all the flat surfaces this evening, this time I even scrubbed off the amine blush (its amazing how much better the sandpaper works when you do that ).
Tomorrow I'll get all the little areas I couldn't get the orbital sander into.

Here are a few sketches for the color scheme, at first I thought I'd want #2 but, after drawing it, I'm not sure.

20140827 Options.png (253.95 KiB) Viewed 1667 times

[Glenn Butcher]

I vote for #3 or #5. If you plan to come to Colorado and you do #6, people will come to your door to buy weed; the green cross seems to be the adopted icon for marijuana dispensaries...

[Kharn]

Good point, I don't need people hassling us thinking we're a mobile dispensery.

[KCStudly]

I also rank them as 3 and 5 (either/or), but would also consider 4 if you are wanting to be a little more unique. If 3, I would carry it onto the front box, too.

[rebapuck]

If we are voting, I'll go with #1or #5. Looking good.