The "SJ Cruiser" , a 5x10 benroy in the PNW

[yrock87]

using the 3m Fastbond 30 was interesting. it may be water based, but it most assuredly still has some fumes. also, at this point I haden't figured out the process. my garage was about 65degrees. it took an hour for the glue on the foam to dry.... I didn't have the flat surfaces for all the pieces so as you can see from the photos, I used cardboard boxes, my table saw, the stars. whatever I could find to place the foam for painting on the glue and letting it dry. I lightly scrapped a saw blade over the foam before applying the glue.

also, keeping track of all of the pieces and which slot they fit into and what direction was a challenge. later I used a marking technique. an X on the top left of each piece of foam along with a quick and dirty diagram of which slot it fits into.

[yrock87]

the fastbond dried overnight. before putting the weight on it I pushed down by hand on every square inch of the foam. a roller would have damaged the foam so I am pretty sure I got the best possible connection just by using my hands and body weight. the sandbags were just for piece of mind as the contact cement does not require clamping...

after letting it dry overnight I flipped the floor over and reglued the butt-joint to the frame member I placed in the middle. the glue oozed out previously and did not get a good connection. (thank goodness for parchment paper under the joint!!) with the foam in place, I got good solid glue management and a good conection at this joint.

added back 250 lbs of weight balanced on a 2x4 over the joint and let set over night.

[yrock87]

next I flipped back over and routed out two channels for my wire runs from front to back. left side will be for 10gauge power lines from the tow vehicle to the battery in the back and also for a standard 4-way trailer light wire. right side is for 10 gauge DC and 16 gauge AC power to the front cabinets. I will run one circuit of each to the front cabinet for a single AC plug and a single DC plug, USB charger point, and reading lights. 10 gauge is plenty large so that we can attach heavy duty DC appliances up front (curling iron or heater) If we so desire. I will run a separate DC circuit through the roof for the Fantastic, over head lights and patio lights. this way if something shorts and blows a fuse, I still have interior lighting. maybe no fantastic, or maybe no USB plugs, but I will still have SOME light. be prepared!

in hindsight, I should have cut this channels larger. they were 1/2 inch wide by 1/2 inch deep. JUST big enough for the 10 gauge wire to fit one direction. this meant that when I put a 16 guage triple wire, or the 4-way trailer wire which is over 1/2 inch wide they got in eachothers way. this was almost a huge problem when we added the ply on top of the wire in the channels. it was a significant emotional event as the contact cement only gave us once shot to get it right. next time I would cut a bigger channel, cut out a 1 inch hole for the wire in the floor ply, and then duct tape the wire in to the channel before adding the contact cement.

no pictures of that fiasco because we were too busy trying to not screw up...

[yrock87]

after the floor, I cut a template for the front and rear curves from OSB.

the front curve is 22inch radius and the rear curve is 48inch with an 18inch "softening" curve where the 48 inch hits the rear wall 19 inches up. used a scrap of 1/4 inch Birch ply that was 1 inch x 5 ft. as my compass.

next I clamped the two 4x8 sheets of A1 grade birch for the interior together and used the router to cut the front curve on those. then cut the rear curve on the sections that will make up the interior skin in the galley. after that I started framing the left wall, clamping/gluing the 1x1.5 frame member. I framed on every straight outside edge, skipping the curves. I also framed in the door, 5ft back where the exterior walls ply butt up together. and at the galley, which is also were the interior ply meets up. I also framed for the galley counter so that I had something to screw into. everything was 1x1.5 to give me some wiggle room when I screw into the walls except for the top, which was only 1x1. all framing was ripped from fir 10ft 2x6 boards.

[yrock87]

after cutting out the foam and gluing it down, we brushed on more 3m Fastbond to the foam, then had to brush onto the exterior ply. we measured and created a reverse image to ensure we left naked wood for the tightbond II to adhear too. should have cut the 5x5 panels down to 5x 4'3" so they were easier to work with. we left 1.5 inches on the bottom and eventually cut off all but 1.5 inches on the top because the exterior ply will go outside the floor and roof. it will provide extra contact area for the glue and will make a cosmetically better side view opposed to seeing the framing for the floor and roof.

for this gluing we got our process down. 110v heater was turned on in the garage which made the fastbond dry MUCH quicker.

we also picked up another 200 lbs of sand so we had enough weight and clamps to do the job.

[yrock87]

the floor took from Tuesday-Friday night (11pm!), by myself until about 7pm Friday. the first wall took all day Saturday(only 1030pm this time), and then this second wall only took the morning sunday. we let glue set over lunch and my dad was on the road by 2pm. it would have been faster, but we got a little cocky and spent about 30 min to an hour rushing to fix little things we forgot. like we forgot the galley counter support spar until after we started brushing on the 3M Fastbond. but things definently got faster and easier as we got our process figured out.

[yrock87]

The side is at the same level as if it was attached to the floor. The interior ceiling will be the same height as the interior wall. I was hoping we would have enough Em headroom to avoid that claustrophobic feeling. Looks like we have about a foot from my head to where the ceiling will be. Should be nice and airy. :-)

[hartk1213]

Looking great man keep up the good work...if you have a moment check out my Benroy in my signature also I am from Washington too! I was raised in Mount Vernon about 2hrs north of Tacoma

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[yrock87]

Looking great man keep up the good work...if you have a moment check out my Benroy in my signature also I am from Washington too! I was raised in Mount Vernon about 2hrs north of Tacoma

Sent from my Galaxy Note 5 using Tapatalk

I was raised in Spokompton. living in Lacey now. your build is coming along well. I am envious of your cabinet design and how fast it is coming together. I'm not a woodworker, I have built a few end tables, headboards, a knock-hockey table in Highschool. but this is the largest wood project I have done by far, and I am hoping to learn enough by the time I get to the finish work that it will look okay. we will have to compare notes as we move forward.

how are you going to finish yours? I have wanted so bad to have a woodie on the sides, but my ply is not the best looking. I will be sanding and staining this weekend but I'm worried I will put all that work into it and then want to cover it up with aluminum or paint because of looks...

[hartk1213]

Looking great man keep up the good work...if you have a moment check out my Benroy in my signature also I am from Washington too! I was raised in Mount Vernon about 2hrs north of Tacoma

Sent from my Galaxy Note 5 using Tapatalk

I was raised in Spokompton. living in Lacey now. your build is coming along well. I am envious of your cabinet design and how fast it is coming together. I'm not a woodworker, I have built a few end tables, headboards, a knock-hockey table in Highschool. but this is the largest wood project I have done by far, and I am hoping to learn enough by the time I get to the finish work that it will look okay. we will have to compare notes as we move forward.

how are you going to finish yours? I have wanted so bad to have a woodie on the sides, but my ply is not the best looking. I will be sanding and staining this weekend but I'm worried I will put all that work into it and then want to cover it up with aluminum or paint because of looks...

i am going for aluminum siding on mine as my ply wasnt the best looking plus there screws all in it and i love to do woodworking i have made a bunch of projects for me and my wife my dining table here is my last big project i finished before the TD and for the cabinet doors check out this video its what i watched to teach me on the door making....and we can definitely compare notes or any thing you need if you want to look at what i have been kinda looking at for ideas check out ratrod71's Alaskan Benroy he just pulled off the aluminum protective cover and his looks amazing thats what im going for to make mine look like and if you have any questions feel free to let me know ill do my best to answer them

[yrock87]

Did some clamping/gluing to firm up a few poor connections around the door. Most of the glue made a good bond, just a few spots needed some work. Also have 3 exterior stain options. I'm thinking dark exterior and light intererior. Thoughts?

[KCStudly]

Good work; progress is progress.

I like the medium stain on the left. It seems to show the grain better and doesn't look as white washed as the others.

[yrock87]

Got the bottom of the floor epoxied. Kinda overkill but I have never used epoxy before, I figured if I screw up, I should do it here... Looks great. Took a long time to cure, but I started with it too cold in the am. Once it warmed up (thank you trusty little heater) the second coat cured quick. I filled all of the screw holes with epoxy as well. Some of them accepted quite a bit, and one or two started dribbling out the side. I out about 3 Oz of epoxy onto the screw holes. The fact that they tool so much indicates there was a void, so hopefully filling them up will help make things stronger...

I also finished staining. I'm happy with the "early American" although it highlights my stupid mistake early on. One side looks beautiful. The other side though.... Not only is the grain not as pretty, but I accidentally put one on grain sideways instead of up and down... Douh!

We will see how it looks. This may be the indicator I need to forget the woodie and go with paint or aluminum aiding...

[yrock87]

Time to raise the walls! First step get the floor on the Dolley. Drill out hole for wires to fit. Next lay out darko underbelly wrap. He set floor on top of darko. Then attach a wall! I used PL premium adhesive as I had some wood glue, some epoxy, and some wood. PL should bond to all, so going with that. Also, it fills voids, so that's a good thing. Got the gussets up, then sunk 6 pocket hole screws from the inside and about 100 staples on the outside. Good to see some real progress!

[hartk1213]

Awesome looking good man :-)

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