We went to the Camper and RV show at the US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis yesterday. Over all this time was a fun family outing. We did see many campers from roof top tents to huge luxurious motorhomes. I was looking for ideas. All I really saw was a bunch of ideas I would not do or I would have done differently. The build quality, fit and finish on just about every small "lightweight" trailer we saw was extremely sub par IMHO, they are also very expensive. They lightes ones still weigh 2600lbs dry. You could alwyas just get the Sylvan Sport, if you have $10000. Jiminy crickets, do they actually sell any of those. It is a pup tent on a small utility trailer, 10000 dollars.
My son and I got a lot done on the camper today. The floor is glued together, we installed the wheel wells and we have the beginnings of the internal (face) frame for the walls. Things are really getting fun now.
I am using 1.5 inch pink foam and 1/4" plywood for my walls. I will build a big face frame and then attach these structural panels to it. I used the wall materials to set the depth on a slide square. I used the slide square and a framing square to draw lines on my camper floor. I used the lines as guides when screwing the plywood strips to the camper floor. Everything came out very straight and square, the exterior walls when attached will sit flush with the edge of the camper floor.
If I am building a cabinet or piece of furniture I draw up everything and pre cut all of my materials at the same time. When building something like this I prefer to cut each piece as I go. I just hold the piece up to the project. Mark the piece. Cut the piece. Pre drill the piece. Glue and screw the piece on. This way everything is sure to come out flush and tight. This way you can make changes as you go too, if you feel inclined. Like when I am setting heights for the bunks I'll be able to play with them a bit before I am locked in.
My boy was working with me today, we had a lot of fun. You can see him putting a pocket screw in a pocket hole in one pic. For a 9 year old he works very hard. He did the screwing and I did the cutting and we split the drilling.