Hola!

[Hunterbug]

I just wanted to say "Hi" and introduce myself. My name is Hunterbug (Patrick) and I'm addicted to old stoves, lanterns, rifles, fly rods and I'm planning my first home built camper.

[hiker chick]

Welcome aboard!

Sounds like you've come to the right place.

Best wishes with the build. How specific is your plan at this point?

[Hunterbug]

Thanxfor the welcome. I'm not too specific at this point with my plans. I want to do something similar to the weekender but there are 4 of us. Me, the wife, and two daughters 15 and 5. I have a 5X8 utility trailer that I got off of Craigslist for free that I'm going to use for the chasis. A queen sized mattress will work for me, the wife and the 5 year old but that leaves the other daughter. I'm kicking around a couple of ideas for either a removable or fold up bunk for her.

[Senior Ninja]

Welcome to the madness.
You'll find this site verrrry helpful.
I can't remember an instance where a question wasn't answered.
It was a great help in my build.
Everyone here is more than willing to "pay it forward."

Steve

[Hunterbug]

Thanx. What thickness plywood should I use for the ouside?

[Senior Ninja]

Probably just personal choice. I used three quarter ply for the floor, five eighths for the exterior walls and one quarter for the exterior roof. Inside the walls are one quarter and the ceiling one eighth. The walls and ceiling are insulated with one inch foam. The entire trailer is covered with three coats of varnish. (even the underside, no sticky black stuff for me) The walls were prewired and glued together in the horizontal. I left a space between the interior and exterior walls to fit over a key glued and screwed to the floor. The walls were glued and stapled to the key and covered with trim to hide the staples. I bent the exterior roof panels with a tea kettle of boiling water poured on to a beach towel where I wanted the plywood to bend. No problem with splitting or breaking, just be patient. I used a jump starter cable to make the run from the box in the front where I placed the deep cycle battery to the electrical panel in the panel separating the front from the back.
I know that's more than you asked, but it's hard to stop once I get started. lol

Steve

[Hunterbug]

No, your answer is perfect. Thanx. Now I can start assembling materials. Friday I have to go to the DMV and register the trailer in my name. Then I have to take the old box off, pack the bearings, and strip the frame and protect it. What should I use to protect the frame from rust? Also, I assume that you use 1X2s for the frame of the wall?

[Roly Nelson]

Welcome to the board, as a first time builder, like many others, you will probably want to build something "very strong". This also equates to "very heavy", and many of the posts that show up here, say that their next build will be much lighter. Now they are in my area of thought, which may or not relate to your ideas of design.

My woody TD has a 3/8" floor, 1/4" walls and 2 layers of 1/8" plywood on the roof. This may be a bit light for many other builders of larger rigs, but I feel the lighter the better. After 6 years, my tear is solid as a rock, doesn't twist of rattle and seems to be holding up well. Just my 2 cents. Build with whatever you are comfortable with, be happy with your choice and I am sure that you and your family will be enjoying it in the great out-of-doors for many years.
Good luck, ask questions, take pics and come join us.......
Roly

[Senior Ninja]

What Roly said!

Since mine was a two man project, not everything was as I wanted, but I did many things for harmony and friendship. Ten years from now, it won't matter but our friendship will.

Yes, the framing was one by twos.

Good luck and above all have fun. Whenever ours felt like work we took time out to watch the history channel or the military channel. lol

Steve

[mikeschn]

Hola!

Welcome to the forum.

be sure and share pic of all of your interests... old stoves, lanterns, etc...

mike...

[Hunterbug]

Thanx for the welcomes and the info. My wife is looking at this as a "hard side tent". She'd be happy with a water tight place to sleep. My plans are a bit more ambitious. I also don't think that she realizes that these things seem to breed like my mil-surp rifles and stoves and lanterns. It seems that some of the people here aren't done with one build before they are talking about "next time". I plan on picking up my trailer from where I've been storing it on Saturday and I'll be sure to post pics and info.