Beyond the End teardrop (Tony Latham-style build)

[orourkmw]

Just a short update…got the second wall built and stripped and hope to have an epoxy weather-window next Thursday…

[orourkmw]

Well, a little bit of a setback. I did get the fiberglass work done over my exterior wall wood strips, but it turned out I had a leak in one spot underneath and got about a 6 inch area of epoxy on my inner wall. If you remember, I used poplar ply on the inner wall because I cannot find any 1/8 inch Baltic birch in my area. Poplar ply has such a thin veneer that there’s no sanding the epoxy off. I do plan to go to Houston next month (a 9 hour round-trip) to buy enough 1/8 inch Baltic Birch for my headliner and roof. So now I think my options are either wallpaper over it, or cut a new wall out of 1/8 inch Baltic birch and laminate it. Any votes or suggestions?

[swoody126]

Well, a little bit of a setback. I did get the fiberglass work done over my exterior wall wood strips, but it turned out I had a leak in one spot underneath and got about a 6 inch area of epoxy on my inner wall. If you remember, I used poplar ply on the inner wall because I cannot find any 1/8 inch Baltic birch in my area. Poplar ply has such a thin veneer that there’s no sanding the epoxy off. I do plan to go to Houston next month (a 9 hour round-trip) to buy enough 1/8 inch Baltic Birch for my headliner and roof. So now I think my options are either wallpaper over it, or cut a new wall out of 1/8 inch Baltic birch and laminate it. Any votes or suggestions?

for a single purpose trip to H it is over 12hrs for me so any time i'm 1/2 way there or can swing thru on the way back frum somewhere/anywhere i try to swing thru and pick up a few sheets of anything i may be low on

having that stash is one thing that has helped me muddle thru the pandemic shut down

for folks who play these games ROAD TRIPS are just part of the cost to play ;-)

sw

[Squigie]

Well, a little bit of a setback. I did get the fiberglass work done over my exterior wall wood strips, but it turned out I had a leak in one spot underneath and got about a 6 inch area of epoxy on my inner wall. If you remember, I used poplar ply on the inner wall because I cannot find any 1/8 inch Baltic birch in my area. Poplar ply has such a thin veneer that there’s no sanding the epoxy off. I do plan to go to Houston next month (a 9 hour round-trip) to buy enough 1/8 inch Baltic Birch for my headliner and roof. So now I think my options are either wallpaper over it, or cut a new wall out of 1/8 inch Baltic birch and laminate it. Any votes or suggestions?

Epoxy the whole wall?

[tony.latham]

Any votes or suggestions?

Got a photo?

Tony

[orourkmw]

Hey, Tony. Here's a pic from below, as I don't want to flip the wall over till the epoxy is fully cured...hope you can see the mess. I see a couple of other spots, mostly behind where the door trim would be. In retrospect, if I had had the wood for the strips when I got started, it would have been much better to do the exterior wall first.

[tony.latham]

Here's a pic from below,

Ouch. I wonder what it might look like when the interior is varnished? You might saturate a piece of that plywood with a spot of epoxy, let it cure, and then varnish it. It may not be too eye-catching.

Thinned polyurethane becomes darker than the straight stuff since it soaks in.

Tony

[orourkmw]

Thanks, y'all. I am reluctant to epoxy the whole wall. I've actually got varnish on the interior already, and the epoxy spill has some dimension to it...I may try to sand it down to just above the surface and try Tony's thinned PU trick. I'll probably ruminate on it for a while and work on something else. The poplar ply was really not a good choice. I had already purchased some welt to install at the seam to hide the microchips on the edges...the veneer chips so easily and the yellow wood showing from the second ply underneath just makes it look ragged. Otherwise, it does make a pretty surface when varnished.

I think the Zen saying is "the obstacle is not in your path, it is your path..."

[swoody126]

it is possible that can be scraped away w/ a cabinet scraper that has been sharpened to have a burr on the working edge

most sanders w/ rubberized pads will not produce a fair surface

once you are comfortable with turning it over try scraping it

make sure the ends of your scraper are curved gently away from the scraping edge so as to knot gouge w/ hard corners

i'm betting this could work by cutting/scraping down to just into the actual wood about a hair's depth(literally) and be touched up w/ some fresh varnish

this issue is knot uncommon in boat building and boatbuilders become good friends w/ cabinet scrapers

if you can carefully flip the wall and do this just before full cure(just barely soft butt no longer sticky) for easier pox removal

if you don't have a scraper i have found the sharpened edge of a plane iron works fairly well

by SHARPENING i mean putting a good crisp 90º edge on the metal not a beveled one

this can be accomplished by draw filing using both hands to keep the file balanced

i do it in a vice holding the iron between 2 blocks of wood

IMG_4997 ll.JPG (813.51 KiB) Viewed 1551 times

hope this helps/saves you some work

sw

[TCJ]

swoody126 gives really good advice. Here's a nice video explaining how to sharpen a card scraper. It's surprisingly simple, and you'd be amazed at what you can do with one when it's sharp and you've practiced:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPy7x1cXGo0

Do practice, however; if you don't you may end up irreparably marring the surface.

[orourkmw]

Thanks, swoody126 and TCJ. That might do the trick! I’ve ordered a scraper. It’ll take a little setup to sharpen like in the video, but I like the concept. After practice, I’ll try it on a place that will be hidden behind the door trim to see if I can take it down without removing the veneer. Thanks for the encouraging recommendation; I’ll let you know how it turns out in a week or so.
Mike

[western traveler]

I had a couple epoxy drips that penetrated the paper protecting my exterior urethaned walls when I glassed the roof of my build (Globs with stuck paper).
As swoody mentioned (such a helpful guy) I used a scrapper to remove it. It’s going to take a bit more work next Spring when I return home. Just go slow…

[Tom&Shelly]

Well, a little bit of a setback. I did get the fiberglass work done over my exterior wall wood strips, but it turned out I had a leak in one spot underneath and got about a 6 inch area of epoxy on my inner wall. If you remember, I used poplar ply on the inner wall because I cannot find any 1/8 inch Baltic birch in my area. Poplar ply has such a thin veneer that there’s no sanding the epoxy off. I do plan to go to Houston next month (a 9 hour round-trip) to buy enough 1/8 inch Baltic Birch for my headliner and roof. So now I think my options are either wallpaper over it, or cut a new wall out of 1/8 inch Baltic birch and laminate it. Any votes or suggestions?

Does it happen to be in a place where it would be convenient to make and install a flashlight holder, a book rack, or a tissue box holder, or some such? ("If you can't fix it, hide it" philosophy.)

Tom

[orourkmw]

Well that’s a great idea, too…there is some blocking behind part of that area that could support something on the wall…thanks!

[JoeGrz]

That’s sure unfortunate. I wouldn’t worry too much about it though. If you follow the suggestions that you have and get close, other than the inspection you give it when you’re done, you probably won’t notice. If you’re like me, you only get in the cabin to sleep. I have been out 3 times and don’t think I’ve spent more than an hour before closing my eyes. When I’m in, I just don’t notice the flaws, and there are plenty. Get it close and move on. Once it’s done, if anyone notices, it is a story to tell. Other than that little opps, it looks great