Tiny Trailer Frame Up Rebuild - SLEEPER

[2bits]

Went searching for some 1/8" ply for my walls and headliner and the two orange box stores near me had sub par results, one had kind of a bland face with no definition and the other had a bunch of patches and fills. The blue box had nothing at all in 1/8" so I drove out to Rockwall which is about 40 min away and scored on some great looking grains at the HD. I prefer this burl look to a grain look so this is going to be great since it has really good patterns. I picked through the sheets but only had to skip a few and came home with 14 sheets which is one more than I calculated that I needed. I am looking to forward to finishing out these panels this week. I am 95% sure I am going to sick with the vintage amber shellac, I tried stain on a test board but it didn't thrill me and I am really tired of brushing on ploy so rubbing on clear over the amber will be a welcome change and will take much less time too.

[HMK]

That's going to look great! Plus at about .36 "pqf" it's hard to beat.

[2bits]

I know I am going to obsess over which panel goes where!

[Mr. Lahey]

I know I am going to obsess over which panel goes where!

FWIW- You won't be alone there. Had all my sheets spread out around the outside of my garage when I got em home. Then decided on eventual location and marked them on their back sides.

Nice looking panel you got there. I think it really adds to interior final appearance, to have interesting grain patterns.

[Staryder61]

I know I am going to obsess over which panel goes where!

Obsession is a right, when you're building something that's unique for yourself..

Oh the headache of plywood's .. Like you Thomas, I knew what I wanted, yet, was unable to find it for the outside skin here locally. So made a 120 mile round trip yesterday to Austin to get the 1/8" mahogany and the 1/4" red oak plywood.

[2bits]

I am glad you were able to find what you needed! usualy when I buy something on craigslist it is in West Fort Worth and I am 30 min East of Dallas!!

Oh and boom, I got my interior panels cut and in place today!!

[HMK]

Loving the pictures! Thanks for taking the time to post them. I'm enjoying your build!

[2bits]

Just goes to show you never know what the grain is going to do, this is the far right panel which is the most bland of the three and now it looks incredible.

[tiiiiii85]

Just goes to show you never know what the grain is going to do, this is the far right panel which is the most bland of the three and now it looks incredible.

Damn, it looks amazing!!

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3003 using Tapatalk

[Staryder61]

That panel looks great, can't wait to see the rest of them..

[2bits]

Moving fast! Walls are done and look great. Finished 95% of the kitchen framing today. Need to add a shelf under the sink area and raise the fridge to the same height as the microwave and I will be ready to move on to the bed framing.

In the last pic I have a piece of plywood the size of the twin bed set in place to get a feel for the 18" wide walkway and it is very comfortable. This layout is a winner and allows for the twin to be converted into a full bed and has 3 1/2 feet of countertop space not including the sink! I love that the kitchen area is wall to wall window also. Ever since I had the '58 Kenskill I have a love for the bed orientation like this.

[Staryder61]

Thomas, those panels look amazing.. maybe i missed it. What finish did you use on them?

[coyote]

[2bits]

Thomas, those panels look amazing.. maybe i missed it. What finish did you use on them?

Oh, you're right, I never said. At first, I was really dead set on using shellac I guess just because it is the original vintage style and I have always wanted to do one like that, plus I already had three cans on the shelf but I did some testing and with it being so hot it kept gumming up on me and you can only dilute that stuff with denatured alcohol so much so I decided to go back to stain. I tried Golden Pecan because it is supposed to be very similar but it didn't flick my bic and in the end I went my old favorite stain color "Gunstock". I used the same color on my teardrop and loved it's full, rich tone. At first I used the water based polyurethane but it was horrible. It just ran everywhere, streaked and after three coats of glossy it looked like I hadn't done anything at all so again I went with the tried and true regular oil based poly after hotting it with some 220 sand paper. I guess I was trying to save time with the water based but when you are doing 6 big panels by the time I finished number 6, number 1 was ready for another coat. This is three coats.

Longer story than you probably wanted to hear eh! Now I know in the future to just do what works! I wasted a whole day with that dang water based poly and another messing with the shellac!

[ojgrsoi]

Thomas, those panels look amazing.. maybe i missed it. What finish did you use on them?

Oh, you're right, I never said. At first, I was really dead set on using shellac I guess just because it is the original vintage style and I have always wanted to do one like that, plus I already had three cans on the shelf but I did some testing and with it being so hot it kept gumming up on me and you can only dilute that stuff with denatured alcohol so much so I decided to go back to stain. I tried Golden Pecan because it is supposed to be very similar but it didn't flick my bic and in the end I went my old favorite stain color "Gunstock". I used the same color on my teardrop and loved it's full, rich tone. At first I used the water based polyurethane but it was horrible. It just ran everywhere, streaked and after three coats of glossy it looked like I hadn't done anything at all so again I went with the tried and true regular oil based poly after hotting it with some 220 sand paper. I guess I was trying to save time with the water based but when you are doing 6 big panels by the time I finished number 6, number 1 was ready for another coat. This is three coats.

Longer story than you probably wanted to hear eh! Now I know in the future to just do what works! I wasted a whole day with that dang water based poly and another messing with the shellac!

That sure have it a nice deep shine.