M116A3 Build

[roamer]

Can anyone point me in a good direction for SikaFlex tips? The stuff is crazy waterproof but a real bear to work with.

I have not worked with that product, but I have used other silicone products.
One way to make nice crisp lines is to run electrical tape down both sides of the joint with some set back, say 1/4 inch.
Apply the sealant tapering in thickness toward the tape. Once you have it applied, peel of the tape at an angle away from the joint.
Makes a clean line every time with a little practice.

[lfhoward]

Sharon and Dave, thanks for the tips on using painters tape. That sounds like it would work very well, and I'll give it a try on the rest of the build. For the part that already is messy, I will try to clean it up a bit with a razor blade and paint over the top of it. SikaFlex is urethane based, so it should be paintable.

[aggie79]

Painters tape is the way to go. Another way to remove the excess is to use a scotchbrite pad. The green ones usually have abrasive. The white ones do not.

[lfhoward]

Yesterday and today I mopped up a bunch of rain water from inside my trailer. Luckily, I see no deformation or delamination of the wood, which means it must be built pretty solid. Fingers crossed for no mold.

The water came in through the side windows and back door, since I have them removed for the skinning process. The two tarps I have over the trailer must be like Swiss cheese by now, since they've been up there since August. There are definitely leaks in the tarps, because there was much drippage off the roof onto the windowsills and door threshold (and thus down the walls and onto the steel floor).

I can't wait to get it fully skinned! The trailer is at a vulnerable stage now like a lobster that has just molted. The new shell it is growing is not hard enough to protect it for a little while, but if it survives it will get an effective suit of armor that will last a long time.

[lfhoward]

An inch of snow is predicted for tomorrow, the last gasp of winter before the spring Equinox! :
It was 80* last week and it will be in the 70's by the end of next week, so it won't last long here in Philly.

[lfhoward]

Am at a bit of a bump in the road. I need to bend three sheets of 0.040 aluminum to make the roof. The roofing brake I borrowed from a neighbor was not beefy enough to bend the sheets I have, because they are thicker than aluminum roofing material. So I called around to machine shops in the area to get an estimate for how much it would cost to make these three bends. Anyone want to guess how much I was quoted?



I'll save you the trouble. $50 a bend, for $150 total, plus tax. Does this sound crazy to anyone else? It's only 2 minutes in the bending machine for each bend. What is a reasonable price for this work? I am going to continue to call metal shops, in hope of getting a lower price quote.

In the meantime, does anyone have any suggestions for bending these sheets myself? I tried a rubber mallet on a piece of scrap and it doesn't look good at all.

EDIT: I created a separate thread for this question in the Skinning Secrets section.
http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=65&t=65859

[noseoil]

I wouldn't use a machine shop. Try some type of sheet metal shop (guys who make duct work) and see what they would charge. $50 a pop is robbery!

[S. Heisley]

...Just a wild, out-of-the-blue thought....: Call or visit the local woodworking/machine shop at your local college and/or high school. They might do it for you just as a demo for the students.

[lfhoward]

I am waiting on a couple more estimates, one from a dedicated sheet metal shop. I'll update when I hear back, probably on Monday.

This afternoon I was able to work for a few hours on the trailer. I cut out the rear door from a piece of sheet metal, and cut out the window and door handle spaces. I'll say that working with aluminum is not as fun as working with wood, because it's slower, louder, and more hazardous, but it is nice to make some progress. The door skin fits the door nicely, and if I have time tomorrow, the next job will be to assemble the wooden door, aluminum skin, edge moldings, window, latch, and hinges together to make a working door.

[lfhoward]

I dry-assembled the rear door today (without goop to make it permanent). The window fits! The door latch fits! The hinges fit! The T-moldings fit around the edges too!

Now for the bad news-- er, challenges.

1) The door has very little room around the edges once it's sitting in the trailer's door frame (maybe 3/16 to 1/4 inch of room total). That's because I now have aluminum moldings on both the door and the door frame, which narrows the gap. I'm hoping that the door will still swing open and closed without rubbing. I haven't attached the hinges on the trailer side yet, although they are screwed on to the door itself. I used a sharpie and a measuring tape earlier to indicate on the trailer-side aluminum skin where the holes and T-nuts are. Hopefully when I drill the holes in the aluminum they will match up with the holes in the wood.

2) I didn't take into account when I installed the door latch strike plate in the camper doorframe that the edge moldings would push the door out about 1/8 of an inch. It looks like I am going to need to trim the aluminum edge molding to be able to move the striker outwards. Since the edge molding is already installed and waterproofed with sikaflex, I'll have to trim it in place on the trailer, taking out a 1/8 by 3 inch strip. Would a router be the best way to do this (with an edge guide and a very steady hand)?

[noseoil]

A router & edge guide would work, but you must be careful to not take too big a bite. A shallow pass, done slowly, is best when using the router. Is it possible to remove the striker & trim it instead, or am I not understanding what's going on (fastenings in the wrong place)? Picture of the cut & location for us to see?

[lfhoward]

Good idea to post a pic, Tim.



It's the aluminum door jamb molding to the right of the striker that needs trimming, along with the wood behind it. The door latch strike plate shape is cut out of the aluminum now, so it sits at the same level against the wood. The strike plate needs to move outwards (to the right and towards the viewer in this photo). The 1/4 inch wide aluminum strip between the strike plate and the outside needs to be trimmed about 1/8 inch.

FYI, the pan head screws in the door jamb molding have now been replaced with flat topped screws that have been counter-sunk into the aluminum.

[KCStudly]

I would consider doing that in place with a Dremel tool and an abrasive cut off wheel.

[lfhoward]

I would consider doing that in place with a Dremel tool and an abrasive cut off wheel.

That's a great idea. It would be a lot easier to control a dremel than a router in that spot. I can imagine all sorts of trailer carnage if the router decided to lunge sideways at the wrong moment.

[noseoil]

I agree with KC, too much possibility for run-out with the router chewing away & holding it in place on a skinny edge like that. In this type of cut, I would use a plunge router with a pattern follower on the router base & a jig.

If I had to do it in this position, a template is made to support the router base & keep it flat. It's just scrap wood (a ripping off the table saw, matching two or three molding screws to fasten it in place) that would fasten into the jamb molding & locate the template, which is fastened to the top of the "stick". The template has a hole in it for locating the new position of the striker in the jamb. Sounds complicated, but it's basically the same type of jig used for cutting a hinge mortise in a door jamb.

Use a dremel!