Aero-1, the build....

[Arne]

Added page 7. Deals with hatch props made from elec conduit, house hinge and hatch pins. Total cost, 4 dollars.

Added second paragraph on page 7, with a couple more shots of the hatch props.

[Arne]

Added paragraph to page 7.... just a pic of reading light frame in clamps and shelves installed in front. I won't have any cabinets....

The shelves are designed so top shelf can have mid portion removed for flat screen tv in future. I have to build supports for that, probably next week.

I found the TV in the middle is a great way to keep his/hers possessions separated... in other words, to 'protect my territory from female invasion'.

The petcool feed and return grates have are spaced far enough apart to allow for tv.

[Arne]

Mounted and installed reading light module on the frame I built... added one pic to existing last paragraph on page 7...

Inside is essentially finished. Now onto mounting doors...

[Arne]

Started building inside door frame to hold door seal. New para at end of page 7 with 4 pix.

[Arne]

Added page 8. 3 pix of door frame, seal spacer, and seal holder.

I looked around Lowe's and found 4' pieces of poplar, no knots, 1/4" thick, in varying widths. These were perfect for making the 1/4" spacer pieces needed to accomodate the door seals.

Lowe's is becoming my vendor of choice over home depot.... Guess I'm tired of orange.

[01Sport]

Lowe's is becoming my vendor of choice over home depot.... Guess I'm tired of orange.

I so wish a Lowes would come in closer to my house. HD is nice to have, but I like Lowes better.

[Arne]

Since I've moved, h/d and lowes are right across the street from one another. I needed a couple of hatch pins, and h/d did not have them. So, I went to lowes... it just seems to be a bit nicer inside, and they did have my hatch pins. since then, I've noticed the lumber is slightly better (not as warped), and then I found the 1/4" that h/d did not have....

So, my take is they have a slightly more expanded line of what I need, so I go there first... and the non-orange layout just seems a bit calmer atmosphere.

[01Sport]

...and the non-orange layout just seems a bit calmer atmosphere.

[Arne]

After finding out I bought minwax stain and not poly stain, took a scooter ride to lowe's and got the poly.... 2 coats, done for now......

Only added one pic but it is a mile stone in getting the interior done... only hanging the doors is left.... and it is looking good....

One new paragraph, one new pic.... tomorrow, I start the piano hinges and the doors...

[Arne]

Finally, got doors mounted... one big step towards getting 'er done...

[Wimperdink]

Holy smokes. I went through your build page. You have some crazy angles on that tear. It looks great but a huge amount of work. Keep it up.

[Arne]

Yes, the curved front added a lot of work to the project, but I'm hoping it will pay off down the road, so-to-speak... :} And, I kind of liked stretching my knowledge doing it.... the front shelves each took about 10 trips in and out of the tear to individually shape the curved ends. I figured if I used templates, it still would have taken about the same amount of time, so discarded the template idea.

I was only barely one step ahead mentally of the construction. I knew what I wanted to accomplish, but never figured out how to do some of it until I got to that point. If I were to build another one, the curved front end would go about 3 times as fast as it did. The process evolved as I started and restarted getting the bends in and how to make sure they were equal on the left and right walls....

But, that is done and the rest is now busy work, with not too much decision making left. I do have to figure out how to do the strap mounting for battery, microwave and pet cool... but kind of have the figured out.

Have company for a few days, so progress will be a bit slow... then, maybe about two more weeks and it will all be done.

[Arne]

doors are on, door windows in place, worked on latches and handles today...

a few new pics at the bottom of page 8.. para 'july 16'....

[aggie79]

Very nice.

I was thinking paint finish also on the inside. Your build confirms that it looks good and makes the space seem larger.

[Arne]

The paint scheme is basically very light yellow (more like cream with a yellow tint) for the ceiling (sun) and the green for the walls (forest/trees; bring the outside in). It looks a little bland now, but once the bed gets in (matching colors on the bed cover) and the curtains (ditto), I think it will be very livable...

I think natural wood is great, but I wanted something lighter in color and variety. I did the same with tear no.1 and liked it..

There are 4 windows and a roof vent, so during the day there will be a lot of light inside with no dark corners.