NE Wisconsin Generic Benroy 5x8... my first!

[TimC]

Off to it ---- Many days of design with forum friends help, then two days planing to uniform thickness, gluing and rough profile cut out...

Final Profile


Door/Wheel arrangement - after some very good help from forum friends (I had the door on the back!)


Partial Sandwich wall glue-up.

[bc toys]

nice start and even tho I want comment much on your build I will be watching so keep the post updated for peps like me

[TimC]

Meanwhile about 30 minutes east of me... Custon 5x8 trailer fabrication almost done. Wish I could say I am talented in the welding field, however, this is a hired out job...

13" wheels, 2x2 tubing, good size tongue. Kinda overbuilt, but, my first build so going to be cautious with the base. No registration in WI required for under 3k lbs, sweet.

[TimC]

Profile after routing shape...



And then stupid made a visit. After taking that photo I went back in the house to keep the camera out of the mess and thoughtlessly opened the garage door. Slam, Bang and the profile was a puzzle on the garage floor after hitting the car bumper on its way down... Decided to take one members advice and while re-gluing the puzzle I added most of the interior framing (front cabinet support, galley and partition support) as well as some gussets in thin areas on the outside profile. This is the final after re-sanding glue joints flat and routing and sanding the port and starboard walls to same shape. I am impressed with myself so far!



Now, a few days off waiting for the trailer to be finished and to peruse the Generic Benroy plans again. The next real challenge I see is deciding how to mount the walls on the frame/floor (I have several options as I made the height 52" on the walls) and then maybe using the Steve Frederick "Inside-Out" method to start assembly. That method seems like a nice way to go rather than trying to slide the ceiling in under everything, then trying to hold it up. I'm pretty comfortable with most of the other steps until I get to the hatch. Gonna do some serious studying...

[rockinrobin]

Nice!

[rebapuck]

Maybe "stupid" has made his only appearance and the rest will be smooth sailing.

[noseoil]

Good job & good recovery from the little mishap with the garage door opener. The extra framing will come in handy once you start attaching things to the walls (cabinets, coat hooks, lights, etc).

"I am impressed with myself so far!" One of my dad's favorite sayings was "Sometimes it makes me humble, when I think how great I am." Best, timc from Tucson

[TimC]

Picked up the custom 5x8 trailer today.


Not exactly square from fabricator. It tows nice, but, bed is out of square by about 1/2". I'll make some adjustments to the floor to square it up. Not too concerned, but, I was hoping for a more precise build.



The beginnings of framing the floor. 1x6 sandwiched between 1/8" lauan and 1/2" CDX. Was thinking of going with fiberglass batt insulation. Don't know if I should go with rigid foam. Will my 1/8" lauan hold up to road debris with just batt backing it up?

[noseoil]

I would use 3/4" foam insulation, not fiberglass. The pink fiberglass will lose its loft over time & do little as far as helping with support or insulation. The 1/8" plywood will do fine, as long as it's coated from the elements (for rain, slush & mud). I used a white roof coating over polyurethane for my 1/8" deck bottom. Black asphalt emulsion works well also. Just make sure it's sealed up and all screw holes are coated.

[KCStudly]

+1 on extruded foam, for the reasons noseoil mentions.

[TimC]

Thanks noseoil and KC. Rigid foam it is! Didn't photograph that step though.

Today's progess...

Floor sandwich glued up. 1/8" lauan, 1x6 frame with rigid foam, 1/2" CDX (5x8) plywood.


The base of the wall will sit on the "rabbit" on floor edge. 1/2" ply cut short for wall. Don't know exactly how I will attach... TBII and a few screws I guess. Might be able to sneak a few screws in from underneath. There's always room for a small brace/gusset inside to increase surface area. Not sure edge of ply will hold screws very well.


Back edge of floor beveled to match wall profile.


Routing a rabbit for roof skin and spars (Frederick inside out method)


Rabbit done.


Tomorrow... Trim 1/2" along wall/hatch area aft of hinge spar as described in Generic Benroy plan. Then thinking I will glue on the lauan skin on interior of walls and trim edge with router trim bit. The walls are a bit thin in spots and after the aforementioned problem with the garage door I think I want the skin to add some rigidity. That process will be a couple days as my walls are 52" high and 8'9" long. Need to add some splices on the skin. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

[Woodbutcher]

Looks good! Have fun building it, it's a big part of the fun.

[noseoil]

Looks like a great start. About splicing, I would just lay in some blocking where the seams will be & use weights to hold things in place until the glue sets. You might want to use some small pins or brads to make sure the skin doesn't slide around too much while it's setting up. Don't forget the wiring before you button up the walls!

[TimC]

Tuesday and today's progress...

Bottom coat


I hope that the following helps some folks like mant of the fine folks on T&TTT have helped me. This is basic and there are other methods, but, this can be done with a minimum of tools and results in a nice finish. You don't even need the drill press I used to get good results.

I HATE it when I drill out a hole and can't center the recess for a carriage bolt head because the spade bit or forstner bit bounces around without the pilot of the bit anchored in wood. Yes, I could drill a small pilot, drill out the recess with appropriate spade or forstner bit then finish the diameter of hole with the required size bit. I just prefer this method as too many times my little pilot hole was not followed well by the bigger bit later (as some of us that routinely drill through plywood experience when hitting the different lays of veneer with different grain directions). This worked well with a forstner bit, it won't work with a spade bit... If all you have is the spade bit just drill an 1/8" pilot to find the center on the opposite side of the drilled wood, spade bit a recess, then finish from below trying to not waver with the final bit through the pilot.

Prior to drilling from bottom



Drill through bottom tab



Center template (drilled with forstner bit on drill press) and clamp



Drill away to appropriate depth to sink bolt head below the plywood floor



Drilled



And bolted (bolt not tightened yet, will recess more when tight.



On to the wall sandwich tasks next.

[TimC]

I will backtrack a bit to talk about my decision to have a custom trailer built.

I found that my custom made trailer, yea, the one that cost me over double what a Tractor Supply 5x8 with 13" wheels would cost, was not only not square across the top of the bed plane (1/2" off), but, it had a 5/8" dip on one front corner. Holy crap! I contracted for a custom trailer to avoid these kind of mass produced errors I expected in the Carry-On brand. I don't know, but, I really hate that I had to add shims to level the floor and also the floor looks crooked on the out of square frame. I can hide all those fixes easily. I will know they are there though!

Another reason to not buy the Carry-On (TSC) was I would have had to cut away a good deal of steel and not have my axle where I wanted it. Now, the Monday morning quarterback in me is saying, man, you could of afforded those nice windows for the doors, hell, maybe even the doors instead of building my own. Live and learn. I guess these are reasons I see many folks on T&TTT building their second, third, tenth Teardrop.