Update/More Camping: Weekender-for-5

[aggie79]

Al,, ya wife and kids teach ya patience and humility,,,, building a camper teaches ya the fine art of cussing and drinking,,,,

Shouldn't that be the other way around?? (just kidding Cindi)

Mark,

Do you mean drinking first then cussing?

Tom

[Chip]

Mark , I was trying to be safe wid which causes what,,,, maybe the following is a good order to put things to be safe

1. hit finger with hammer,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, cusss
2. sit down to let finger stop hurting,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, drink
3. it hurts a LOT,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, patience
4. wife and kids ask why not hit the nail,,,,,,,,,,,, humility
5.cuss and drink as required,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, teardroppin
6. patience and humility ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, only as necessary



chipper

[John T. Hodgen]

Hey Chip,
NOW that's too Funny!!!!
Til later by the fire--John T. & Linda

[Alfred]

Mark , I was trying to be safe wid which causes what,,,, maybe the following is a good order to put things to be safe

1. hit finger with hammer,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, cusss
2. sit down to let finger stop hurting,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, drink
3. it hurts a LOT,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, patience
4. wife and kids ask why not hit the nail,,,,,,,,,,,, humility
5.cuss and drink as required,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, teardroppin
6. patience and humility ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, only as necessary



chipper

Who says you can't get useful information from the internet?

Thanks go to Chip, the Teardrop Philosopher!

AL in Asheville

[Alfred]

Hey Gang,

In the spirit of lighting a candle, rather than cursing the darkness, here are the lanterns that I am going to use to light the cabin of the camper.

I bought the two 8" lanterns from www.Amazon.com for $1.98 each + Shipping/Handling = About $14.00 total. They come in red or blue.

My friend David from the T&TTT forum helped me find the 12v socket and bulbs at the auto parts store.

I had to grind down the silver metal piece that used to hold the wick so that the socket would fit better.

Didn't turn out too bad, do you think?

The lamp on the left still has the original wick, the one on the right has the 12v bulb.



The socket is part#85814 License Sidemarker Socket, the bulb is Sylvania #921




That's gonna look real nice, I think.


AL in Asheville

[John T. Hodgen]

Hey Alfred,
Those are so COOOLLL!!!! I have to have some--how does the batteries go in the bottm????
Til later by the fire--John T. & Linda

[Alfred]

Hey Gang!

Tonight I used a router with a trim bit for the first time, to cut the front window out of the inside skin. What fun!

The inside front is skinned with 1/4" luan, the opening for the window is cut, and the upper front is insulated. Not bad for a Saturday night!

My sweet Wife says I look like a goof posing in the window with one of my wired 12v lanterns...Go figure! She married me! (Grin)



That was outside looking in, here is inside looking out!


That trim bit did a nice job, huh?

Wish I had known about routers with trim bits way back when I was cutting out the doors using a hand held jigsaw! Learning as I go...This will be important knowledge for my NEXT build!

AL in Asheville

[Alfred]

Hey Gang,

I was awakened this morning by the sound of my 6yo Daughter yelling: "Mommy! Daddy! Wake up! The bathroom is flooded!", and it was. The commode was clogged, so of course the kids kept flushing it.

The deluge leaked into the basement below and the camper took on a small amount of water, because it was coincidentally parked below the bathroom. Ah, the joys of parenthood...

The camper is OK, I dried it out with towels as best I could, then pulled it outside to park it in the sunshine, which seemed to dry it out, over the course of the day. Beautiful beginning-of-Autumn day here in the mountains of Western NC.

Anyway, this was the first time it has been out of the garage since I put the floor frame on the trailer. This is what it looked like in the sunshine...





My friend David, from the T&TTT list came over this afternoon, and we made lots of progress, but that is for the next post...

AL in Asheville

[Alfred]

Hey Gang,

As per my last post, my friend David from the T&TTT list came over today and we made a lot of progress. We worked on the camper outdoors, in the front yard. It was a beautiful sunny, Autumn day here in the mountains.

First we put the inner skin on the forward ceiling, 1/4" luan, holding it against the frame with braces and clamps.



Here are the two Zen Camper Building Masters, David and Al, in consultation about framing the hatch.



Oldest Daughter came out for awhile to supervise the work in progress. Like any good supervisor, she scolded us for the mess we were making, and asked why we didn't "just nail it all together" and get it finished...



And "Voila", here is the hatch framed. We changed our plans a little in execution, but it looks good!



Here is a "view from above", taken from the porch, as I prepared to move the camper back into the garage.



A view from the side, at night...



So the day started with a flood and a crisis, but ended with some fun building and a lot of progress. Feels great to have the hatch framed out. Thanks to David for all of his help - Thanks to the T&TTT Forum for all the support.

I'll keep you posted!

AL in Asheville

[Senior Ninja]

Alfred,
The TD is looking really good.
It's great to have some help, too.
My friend and I had some of the best times building my tear.
We even dragged it out over a year, it was so much fun.
Nice pictures too.
Steve

[John T. Hodgen]

Hey Alfred,
You think your daughter is ready to go camping "why don't you just nail it together and get FINISHED!" Its looking really great. Great story too!!
About your 12v lanterns.....how did you cut out and placed the batteries in the botttom and fasten it up?????Inquring minda want to know!!!!????
Til later by the fire--John T. & Linda

[S. Heisley]

Hi, Alfred:

Your trailer is looking great! Love the shot of you, looking through your window.

I see you've had what I call trailer gremlins at your house! (Those are the little imaginary imps that cause problems like clogged plumbing to keep you from working on your trailer.) So, now I know where they went when they left my place....must've traveled through the internet. Keep working on your trailer and the trouble-causing gremlins will give up and go away.

PS. Don't send those gremlins back this way. I don't want 'em!

[Steve_Cox]

Al,

You have really come a long way with the build, it's quite an accomplishment, and it's looking great.

[Alfred]

Hey Alfred,
You think your daughter is ready to go camping "why don't you just nail it together and get FINISHED!" Its looking really great. Great story too!!
About your 12v lanterns.....how did you cut out and placed the batteries in the botttom and fasten it up?????Inquring minda want to know!!!!????
Til later by the fire--John T. & Linda

Yes, my oldest one tends to be rather direct in communicating her preferences. Her opinion I think is that I've dawdled on this thing too long, lets get it done already, and get camping!

The kids are fun. They enjoy getting involved. Last year, one of the kids' school teachers asked us, "So, are you building a camper? Because your Daughter keeps telling us about it here at school...".

Regarding the lanterns, I'm going to run the wires through a hole drilled in back and mount them on both walls of the interior of the camper, near the doors. They will be wired into the camper through the converter.

AL in Asheville

[Alfred]

Al,

You have really come a long way with the build, it's quite an accomplishment, and it's looking great.

Hey Steve,

Thanks for the atta-boy, which means a lot coming from a true artisan such as yourself!

My friend David, whom I met through the T&TTT list has been a major help in getting me through the more difficult parts of the build.

AL in Asheville