Here goes 5 x 8 tear build.

[OPPOSABLETOE]

I have been meaning to sit down and start this thread for some time now. This is a weekend only project for me. My garage shop is sort of small so most of the real work is done in my driveway.
The planning started way back in August of 2016. Drawings, research, yada-yada. Thanks for all of the great source material, BTW.
I broke sawdust back on Thanksgiving week. From then we have had rain just about every weekend since. (That is just my kind of luck). Who says it doesn't rain in Southern California?

Here are the specs.... well the specs I am shooting for.
Northern Tool 5 x 8 trailer.
A Benroy/Kenskill ish profile
4' Height.
5' width, maybe an inch wider.
Semi light-weight design.

Fingers crossed.

[OPPOSABLETOE]

Trailer assembly was pretty standard. Bolts, nuts, tighten, bust knuckles.


I decided to move the wheel assembly back six inches to make more room for the large doors we want. With this model of trailer it only required that four new holes be drilled. The rest of the assembly used pre-existing bolt points.

The deck is framed out with 2x3s and sheeted with 3/8" plywood. I opted not to insulate here. I don't remember why.
I also framed out a section for under mattress storage. Gives me an extra 20 cubic feet to put stuff we probably won't need.


Sealed the bottom of the deck with asphalt roofing compound. I really wanted to try Flex-seal or some other rubberized coating, but opted to conserve some of the budget for when I inevitably mess something up.

[OPPOSABLETOE]

For the walls I am using a 3/4" plywood base sandwiched between a 1/4" interior skin and a 1/8" exterior skin.
The standard 8' plywood sheet is just a hair short of my 9.5' requirement, so I had to stitch two sheets together. I did a really simple butt joint with pocket holes. I know there are stronger methods using splines, but the theoretical build in my head will be good enough to hold up. The strength of the joint should come from the sandwiching of the outside skins
We decided to cut out large sections of the 3/4" plywood to lighten the wall assembly and to allow for insulation. This was really fun to plan out. I wanted to make sure important structural points had enough meat left in the wall for mounting, but still trim the fat enough to make it worth while.


For the profile arc I built a router compass out of 1/4" Plexiglas. This allowed me to get a nice smooth curve with no additional sanding required. it was surprisingly easy to put together. The front arc is a simple 30" radius positioned 1.5' from the bottom edge of the wall and 30" from the end of the sheet. The galley arc is a combination of a 47" radius and a 30" radius.



Once the first wall was completed I traced the outlines onto the second wall and rough cut it with the jigsaw. Then I used a flush trim bit in the router to "photocopy" the first wall and ensure both were identical.
I think the result is a nice overall profile. The wifey likes it and that's all that matters. I couldn't resist propping the wall up on the trailer.



The final assembly has a 5" relief cut along the bottom to create a rabbet joint to the floor.

Cutting the insulation was as easy as tracing the walls then cutting with a utility knife. And check out that big ole' door!

[jonb8]

Looks like your moving right along....The hardest part is getting started, you'll roll right along now....

[les45]

What kind of doors will you be using? Haven't seen any that big before.

[OPPOSABLETOE]

What kind of doors will you be using? Haven't seen any that big before.

I will be making the doors. They measure 36"x36" with a 9" radius at the corners. Truth be told, I REALLY wanted to do French doors, but I could not find the right sized windows cheap enough to make it worth the effort.

[OPPOSABLETOE]

Since it has been so cold and wet here (1/2" of rain and 55 degrees F) I have not been able to paint the top side of the floor. Decided to keep moving on the wall-wiches.

First thing I did was rout out a rabbet to receive the ceiling and the roofing spars. Another fun trick with a Router and a pattern made with a compass. Then I cut a 5" wide rabbet to receive the floor and set the wall to be even with the bottom of the trailer.



At this point I put on the cabin side skin. For this I used a prefinished Russian birch 1/4" Plywood. Very Pretty stuff. I don't want any seams showing so I cut the end of the sheet to meet up wit the split bulkhead. I found that this makes a nice edge for getting everything lined up and square. I will have to figure out something with the skin for the galley side later.

There are only so many clamps in the world, so I improvised a little.

Once both interior walls were applied I used a flush trim router bit to match the wall arcs and routed out the door openings.

[OPPOSABLETOE]

I went ahead and installed the walls, just temporarily for right now. There is still a BUNCH of work to be done before putting them on for good. I really wanted to see what this thing was going to look like and I needed to get going on more parts. I also got the split bulkhead sized up and tacked in. These are just 1/2" Baltic birch plywood.



I knocked out some "cabinets" and slapped the assembly together. This is going to be the intro set until we figure out what we really need.
And of course, I needed to see what they are going to look like installed...



I used the radius or the side wall as a template to reproduce the ceiling curve on the tope edge of the cabinets. This should give me a nice tight seam once the ceiling is installed.



In this shot you can see the under mattress storage and the rabbet cut out for the ceiling and roofing spars.