Conch Fritter Woodie - Finally gets its topsides painted!

[daveesl77]

The last post in this thread reflects the initial thread title. I change the title as I add things in the build.

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And so this new adventure begins for us. This will be fun!

We first looked at a ton of posts on this site and some videos and made up our mind to build a teardrop. Probably going to do a slightly modified Benroy design. Using the HF 1700# trailer. Unit will probably end up being 5x9 and not quite sure on the height yet, probably 4.5 or 5'

So we began this past week by getting the HF trailer after looking at a ton of reviews. My local store is about .5 miles from me, so that is easy. After the 20% coupon, including tax, it came to $308. It took about 3 hours to build it initially.



I had already decided that I was going to weld every joint, but still leave in the bolts. I haven't welded in over 30 years and never with a wire, but got the little HF 90a flux, bought some good wire and started. They aren't the prettiest welds and the learning curve was a bit steeper than I thought, since I had to kind of "unlearn" stuff I used to do. But it came out ok. Took me about 4 hours to weld it. The welder has a 20% duty cycle, which works well for me, since I only have a 10% cycle.

It squared up to within 1/8 corner-corner, after the weld, so I'm happy with that. I used ratchet straps to square. I've just finished putting the underside primer coat on. I'll let it dry for a few hours and then flip it to put the primer on the top side. Nice part about building in Florida in the winter is it is usually pretty nice out - summer not so much. 75 today, no rain.



Like I said, the welds aren't the prettiest, but they got some good penetration.




Once again, thanks to everyone here as you folks have gone before have allowed me to know many of the potholes that will appear.

dave

[tlsallada]

Looks like you're off to a great start!! I envy you - today here in Pennsylvania it's in the mid 30's and they're calling for 4-6 inches of snow!!

[daveesl77]

Sometime this week I'll get over to a local metal supply and pickup a piece of 2x2 square stock. I intend to run a tongue bar from midway in the frame to about 18" past the existing tongue. It'll be bolted and welded.

See Regina - I told you my drill press could do more than just punch holes in wood and aluminum.

dave

[daveesl77]

This weekend I should be able to start laminating the floor system. I'll do photos as I go. Can't start tomorrow (Saturday) as we have to go over to Tomoka SP and see the Tearjerker ralley, so I can get some more ideas. I live in Florida, so even though it is February, most of our days this time of year will be in the 50s-70s.

I'm doing a hybrid build, kind of a modified Benroy, but with a more curvy profile. I decided on the rear galley, but it will slide out. Interior will be the sort-of queen size bed, but there will be a convertible "settee" on the front bulkhead facing back. The 4' height will allow us to sit, since I'll use an angled settee and the drop floor. At night the settee will either flip over the drop floor or go back up into the forward bulkhead and a secondary section will come out of the bed to make it full length. This will give my dear old dog the room he told me he must have. :-) The floor plan (as of today, no guarantee until after I see the Tearjerker ralley tomorrow) is that it will be 5'4" wide and 9'6" long. The bed and settee will be about 9" above the floor, giving me under bed storage.

I'm going to do a laminate encapsulated floor build 1/2" ply - 1" blue board - 1/2" ply. Internal on the laminate structure will be 1x2 (true size) spruce treated with my old standby mix of diluted poly. Spruce will be perimeter, also frame top and cross braced at 2' intervals longitudinal and at 16" across. For rear overhang there will also be slotted 45 degree boards running from interior steel frame cross member, across steel frame corner to outer wood frame. All components will be glued and screwed and allowed to cure for several days. I'm also framing in for an 8" deep, drop floor between the 2nd steel cross member (from front) and primary cross member at mid-trailer. All wood components will be weather sealed with the diluted poly mix I've used for decades in boats (spar poly/ mineral spirits 25:75 , 50:50, 75:25 ). I'll then coat the bottom part of the panel with elastometric cool seal prior to bolt down, as I've found that stuff works very well and should fully dry in about a week.

The floor will be through bolted into the frame. Hopefully, by midweek I'll have a floor on the camper build.

I'm figuring (for now) my walls will be 5mm ply over 1.5" foam over 5mm ply with internal structural members. Front and top will be similar. I'm leaning to doing a woodie look on all exterior facing areas, but using white EPDM 45mil for the top. I have a bunch of it left over from another build I did and I love that stuff.

Regina said we should keep track of all expenses (that is scary), so for now here is how it goes...

HF Trailer = $308
All floor components =$230

Luckily I already have all the wood I need to fully build all of my cabinetry, LED lighting, solar system, water system, propane, refrigeration, electrical wire/switches/boxes. I can match a hardware store in bolts/screws/etc (from 1/4" long #8 to 12" long 1/2" SS) so that will help out a bunch. This will be interesting to see the final cost, but also it means I will lay waste to my "supplies" I've acquired over the years. Hmmm, it might just be time to break out my two old Fils and Sons bronze sconces I got 30 years ago from a boat rebuild I did. Those things would look cool in this!



This is so much FUN!!!

dave

[David S]

Keeping track of expenses takes all the fun out of it.
Just lots of pics to remember the fun.
Looks like your off to a good start.

[daveesl77]

Beautiful day today and got going on the floor. I finally realized how to use the "gallery" to upload images. Was able to get the base ply and structural framing members cut, glued and screwed. I was also able to get the blue board all cut to fit the voids, so tomorrow I'll seal the wood, glue up the foam and maybe be able to laminate the top of the floor. I was really happy on how stable and square it all came out after the initial lamination.

http://www.tnttt.com/gallery/album.php?album_id=3853

Looks like tomorrow is supposed to be in the 70s and then a few days in the 60s and maybe 50s.

Having fun!!!

dave

[Gunguy05]

Looking great. It will feel good once you get that floor done and can stand on it!

[daveesl77]

Just finished the floor lamination and wow is it stable and pretty light. I'll let it cure more now for a few days, since the temps will be dropping down into the 60s for the next few days. Yeah, yeah I live in Florida and nobody north of here wants to be reminded that our "winter" is when the daytime highs drop into the 50s and 60s.

I put the pics in the gallery, but here are a couple from the final steps

All foam is precut and numbered so I know where and in what direction it is supposed to lay. Be sure to always remove the plastic film or glue won't stick.



Top layers of ply sealed on the inside, then glued and screwed down. The base is amazingly strong and fairly light. I'll let it cure for a couple of days now, since temps will drop into the 60s. I'll then sand it all, seal it completely on the exterior with a 3 step polyurethane mix. Poly: Water 25:75, then 50:50, then 75:25. After the poly fully cures, I'll then cover the bottom with cool seal, flip it back over and through bolt it onto the trailer frame. Yippee, almost done except for the finishing. :-)



Oh, and my neighbor learned that my tablesaw decided to crap out so he asked if I wanted an old radial arm saw of his, he was terrified of it. I LOVE those! In fact I had just been looking on CL thinking about buying one. Yeah, yeah probably the most dangerous shop tool ever designed, but I've been using a RAS for 50 years and love them. So, now I'll build my new "modular" tablesaw system, plus I have my trusty bandsaw and now a radial too. Gee, building a travel trailer sure gets me a lot of new toys!
dave

[daveesl77]

The other day my trusty old Craftsman table saw decided to quit helping me. The gear teeth on the motor completely stripped out. That armature is no longer made so no luck on that. A neighbor gave me an old radial arm saw, which I love, but I still wanted a TS. I'm not about to spend a bunch of money on something that I use only every now and then and I did not want to buy some $100 wonder that won't cut straight.

I have a few old nice Milwaukee circular saws, so I decided to just build a new table saw using one of them. The negative I have with all the designs that use a plywood/mdf top is that it is always about 3/4" and when you add the foot depth, then you lose an inch on the cut. It is ok, but not the best. As I was looking at the carcass of the old dead saw I got to thinking that the top is fine and is aluminum, why not use that as the top. So, after a couple of hours of taking the saw apart, grinding down the internal supports for the old motor, I mounted my wonderful old Milwaukee into it's new home. No flex, dead flat surface.

It actually works very, very well. Way better than the original ever did. All the jigs and things I made now just keep on working as before. Only negative is that I have to flip over the entire saw to adjust the height or angle, but I think I may make the top flip up over a new box I'll build. Not a big fan of the sears plastic box. It cost me $1.97 in some new flathead bolts and a few hours of my time. I think I'll make a complete work station. It'll have the table saw, a router, jig saw and planer. I plan to make the three new tool adds modular, so I can just swap them out when I want to use them.

Can't work on the trailer just yet, as waiting for the temps to get back to the 60s or 70s, which should happen in another day or two. I hope to be able to start making wood strips with my bandsaw sometime this week. That will give them plenty of time to stabilize in my garage before I' ready to use them.

dave

[daveesl77]

This week it was a bit too cold to do any work on the trailer, so I spent the time cleaning and organizing my garage. My wife says "I thought you were going to organize this?". I said "I did, and I love the way it turned out". She just shook her head and walked back to the house. However, my dog and cat seem to really like the new look.

Oh, and I did go up to HD to pick up stuff to make new tables for my radial arm and my new router/jig/sander modular table. It was great, they had their "cull" bin and I got enough foam board to probably do the entire trailer. They all had a 3" diameter hole in one area, but I did't care since they'll get cut anyhow. For $3 each looked good to me. I also picked up a bunch of 1x10s, 10 and 12 foot long, all for 70% off. I picked up a sheet of 3/4 MDF for the work tables and since it had a nick in one edge, they took 35% off on that. The 1x10s were surprising, as they looked as good or better than the stuff the store normally sells at full price. I think I probably have enough to rip down for all of my structural framing. Got it all for the total cost of $52.

This weekend is supposed to get back up into the 70s, so I'll seal and mount the floor to the frame and cut the frame members for the walls and glue them up.

I've pretty much decided to resaw wood strips from several different hardwoods for my finish exterior. Got my bandsaw all tuned up and ready to go. Haven't fully decided on the wood types yet, but I'll figure it out about the time I hit the lumber yard and see what they have. I figure to cut 3/16 thick by 1 3/4 wide. I wish I still had all those old teak boards I got years ago, but those have been long used up in other projects.

Oh, and I did a further adjustment on the rebuilt table saw, so now I can do both vertical and angle adjustments from the front of the saw. I just removed the old faceplace and it gives me full access.

dave

[Oldragbaggers]

You are off to a great start. Do not, I repeat...DO NOT keep track of your expenses. Or you could do like I did and just keep track of them until you hit the amount budgeted and then stop tracking them after that.

Have a great time building.

[KCStudly]

... just keep track of them until you hit the amount budgeted and then stop tracking them after that.

Since most people admit to going over budget by about 20/ct, it's okay to get to that point before you stop keeping track.

[daveesl77]

That's kind of the nice part on this build, we are cheap (I mean "thrifty) but really never set a budget. It is what it is. Actually, this one is being built from the profit we made from the pop-up truck camper we sold last year. And yep, an actual profit selling camping stuff. Since this is the first time we ever built a small camper we have no concept of what it will cost. Also, the numbers will be skewed, since we already have a lot of the normally costly internal things, like plumbing, electrical, bolts, screws, etc.

This site is one of the best, most informative and friendly places I've seen. The members remind me of a lot of my old sailor buddies. It feels good here and I thank you all for allowing us to join your group(s)

dave and regina

[daveesl77]

Got the center bar added to the trailer frame today. This gives me a composite tongue on the HF (probably calling that the wrong name, meaning where tongue has both the A arm and a center longitude bar). For a while I considered just going with the stock setup, but the more I looked at it, the more I did not like it. So ran by the local metal yard, picked up a stick of 2x2x3/16 square stock. I flipped over the stock coupling holder, so the bar runs from the 2nd cross member back through the upside down coupler holder and then extended out 18". I through bolted and welded everything. Now it has both the "A" arms and the center bar. Lots and lots of strength and added another 18" to the length. Tomorrow I'll seal the bottom of the floor panel (the way, way overbuilt floor panel) and mount it to the frame. I'll take some images tomorrow. This is going very well! I might be building some walls in the next few days.



dave

[tlsallada]

I love that idea, "Keep track of the amount spent until you hit the budgeted amount and then stop counting". That's great!!!