And Thus It (Widget) Begins

[Camping Embers]

Those doors sure would save alot of work! Might be a trip there in my near future. LoL How wide are those beauties?

[bobhenry]

Turn the tinted window to the sunny side and tell the bride it was part of the plan !

Any good locksmith should be able to provide you with a lock cylinder for the door it will be no problem.

Good luck on the build.

[Pam Wright]

Dave,
What a great start.... My friends Ron and Pam attended the "Last Gasp" in their new Widget... It was great! watch this UTUBE of the Gasp and see it, red & white and so cool!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sepx6y1_SI0

Can't wait to watch your build!

pam

[WarPony]

Dave, any new progress on the Widget? Inquiring minds, (me), want to know........................


Jeff

[Dandy]

Hey Jeff,

I'm kinda at a weather related stand-still right now. My garage space is taken up with cars - of all things - and I really hate scraping the windshield in the morning (not to mention working outside when it's below freezing) so the chassis will have to wait until Spring. I thought about starting on the body first, which I could do indoors, but decided against that. So this winter I'll be buying more parts and working on the computer getting the cutting files ready.

Dave

[mincey]

For those of you who asked, I got the door at Bontragers in White Pigeon, MI. They were asking $45, but when I hemmed and hawed a little about it not having a lock, they gave it to me for $30.

They have about a dozen of these left, most do not have locks (meaning they are missing just the outside key cylinder). They are in good shape with just very minor blemishes. Most are gray and a couple are white. Also, l should mention that all of the ones that are left have a door catch installed in the upper right hand corner - the one I bought does not. I wasn't sure if there would be anywhere on the trailer to mount the mating part of the catch.

It looks to me that painting them would not be an issue. The lock on the other hand may be a bigger problem to solve.

Dave

That is an excellent price! When my hubby accidently knocked our T@B's door off the hinges and it crashed on the driveway, it got bent up and scraped. It cost us $400 including shipping to replace our door! Unfortunately, hubby's clumsiness didn't qualify as a warranty issue. Our door included the lock.

Regarding the locks, I can tell you that was a hassle! So I hope you have a much better idea of what you are going to do. When we first purchased our T@B, the exterior lock mechanism was faulty. The interior knob would lock on the inside, but when using the key on the outside it would not turn all the way needed to engage the lock. It took 3 months (yes, months!!) to receive a new one under warranty. The claim was because they were ordered and shipped from Germany. I tried to ask Dutchmen why couldn't they just send me one from the Indiana manufacturing facility, but never got a straight answer LOL

Cheryl

[MrBuzz]

I picked up a couple of pieces from Bontrager's on eBay....good prices, reasonable and FAST shipping.

[Dandy]

Finally got back to it in preparation for Spring (assuming it finally gets here). The files to cut the right side are done. Each side will be cut from two sheets of 3/4 inch plywood. The three sections that make up a side are then glued together at the scarf joints. The skin will be extruded polystyrene covered with epoxy/fiberglass - at least that's the plan right now.



I'm building the Widget virtually as I go along. This is the first time I've tried to do this on a project and I think it will pay dividends, much like if you built a scale model first (not to mention getting an education on 3d modeling - "render scene luminescence" - give me a break). It's really helped me visualize everything and figure out some things I couldn't quite get from the 2d plan drawings - excellent as they are. For example, I wanted to do something other than rectangular boxes for the wheel wells and now I know what I want. As a matter of fact, they might be the first parts I build while I'm waiting on freakin' parts for my welder.



More to come...

Dave

[Creamcracker]

For those of you who asked, I got the door at Bontragers in White Pigeon, MI. They were asking $45, but when I hemmed and hawed a little about it not having a lock, they gave it to me for $30.

They have about a dozen of these left, most do not have locks (meaning they are missing just the outside key cylinder). They are in good shape with just very minor blemishes. Most are gray and a couple are white. Also, l should mention that all of the ones that are left have a door catch installed in the upper right hand corner - the one I bought does not. I wasn't sure if there would be anywhere on the trailer to mount the mating part of the catch.

It looks to me that painting them would not be an issue. The lock on the other hand may be a bigger problem to solve.

Dave

Oh how I miss Bontragers!!! I used to work at Howe Military School just across the state line in Indiana --- one of our favorite things to do on a Sunday afternoon (they're not open saturdays) was to browse the sheds at Bontragers. Great fun and always something there that you didn't know you wanted!
Philip

[shawnkfl]

bridgeman michigan huh? i used to live in that area (watervliet). any chance you know any splease's? i used to work in benton harlem with one years back. lost touch after moving to florida.

[WarPony]

Dave, am I to assume that you are going to insulate with 3/4" foam board in the spaces that are cut out in the walls? If so, DON'T USE THE 3/4" PLYWOOD!!!!!! It's not a true 3/4" thick......... it's 23/32" thick.

It doesn't sound like that much but you won't be able to smoosh the foamboard without a lot of work.

Jeff

[halfdome, Danny]

Dave, am I to assume that you are going to insulate with 3/4" foam board in the spaces that are cut out in the walls? If so, DON'T USE THE 3/4" PLYWOOD!!!!!! It's not a true 3/4" thick......... it's 23/32" thick.

It doesn't sound like that much but you won't be able to smoosh the foamboard without a lot of work.

Jeff

If you have access to an overhead wide belt sander you can run the foam down to 23/32". That's what I did. Danny

[WarPony]

If you have access to an overhead wide belt sander you can run the foam down to 23/32". That's what I did.

(mummbling in a low voice)...you gotta be kidding me!! Is that made up, that sounds made up....

Jeff

[halfdome, Danny]

If you have access to an overhead wide belt sander you can run the foam down to 23/32". That's what I did.

(mummbling in a low voice)...you gotta be kidding me!! Is that made up, that sounds made up....

Jeff

Don't believe me it's your choice . The pink rigid foam board sands very easily when run through a wide belt sander with dust collection. When the piece comes out the end of the sander you get little pencil sized pieces of slightly melted foam. It also helps clean off wood residue on the belts. I own a wide belt sander. Danny

[Dandy]

Jeff,

You are right about using insulation in the spaces, and I did totally forget about plywood not being a full 3/4" thick. I've got a solution - I've used the CNC machine as a planer before - it'll cut that foam like butter at max speed. Pain in the butt work around, granted.

Thanks for the heads up (great thing about sharing on the forum, two heads are better than - 1/2 a head in my case).
Dave