Trails in the Sand new updates 9-28-11

[Alan and Lianna]

We know we are working awfully slow, behind schedule and probably boring y'all to death with our daily updates and pictures (you should see all of the pictures we don't post). Bear with us and we will try to pick up the pace.

Alan and Lianna

[S. Heisley]

Hi, Alan and Lianna:

Actually, you seem to be moving quite fast. You are not the least bit boring! You're doing a beautiful job and the pictures tell a great story. I like the bread box idea and the galley is very nice. Thanks for sharing.

[BillZ]

Love it Love it Love it!

Your build is giving me some great ideas!

[aggie79]

We know we are working awfully slow, behind schedule and probably boring y'all to death with our daily updates and pictures (you should see all of the pictures we don't post). Bear with us and we will try to pick up the pace.

Alan and Lianna

Slow? Y'all have almost caught up with me and I started 18 months ago. Pictures? You can't have too many. Keep on posting!

[Alan and Lianna]

Thanks everyone for the words of encouragement. Today we framed the ceiling for the fantastic fan.

We epoxied the ceiling seam, it still needs to be sanded and re epoxied and sanded again before painting

We installed some roof insulation, really frustrating, first we tried liquid nails-it was taking too long to dry and eating into the insulation, so we used contact cement and found that if we left the plastic coating on the insulation it would work, if not it too would melt the insulation. I know there is foam board adhesive, but when we tried using it before it was so thick we destroyed a caulk gun!

Then we started pulling wire, we installed 12 and 120v to the front cabinet, ran wiring for 2 3 way switches for the overhead lights, and wires for the exterior lights to be switched from the interior, and wires for the fantastic fan.

Well, it may not be pretty, but it will be functional and it will look alot better when the roof is on...


Alan and Lianna

[Alan and Lianna]

Today we finished up the insulation and ran a straight edge along the edge of the roof from side to side and sanded off anything that was protruding and installed the first layer of 1/8th inch plywood.


We secured it with finishing nails and PL Premium glue.

We ran our wires through the cabinets and covered it with some homemade conduit.


The we sanded and applied another layer of epoxy to the interior ceiling.

We are using this epoxy, which really seems to bond well and is not too hard to sand.


Alan and Lianna

[Alan and Lianna]

Well today started out good, we patched the lower edge of the galley wall which was initially cut 1/2 inch too short and since this is part of the hatch seal it had to be fixed.

Then we started working on installing the second layer of 1/8th inch plywood on the roof. We were using the PL Premium glue and spreading it with a v notched trowel and using straps to hold everything down. Well let me tell you that by the time you spread enough of this glue to coat a 5 by 5 plywood sheet it will be too dry to work. We strapped it down and waited a while, then took the straps loose and nothing was holding and all the glue was dry only on the surface where it was applied. We wanted to finish this surface without putting any holes into the top layer, but after this frustration we bought some more Tightbond 3 squirted it everywhere and nailed and screwed all the plywood on. We will remove all the screws and sink the nails after it cures overnight.

When cutting the last piece, I cut it on the wrong edge, so I had to cut it again and add another piece to patch the end.

Then we sanded to interior roof seam again.

We quit early today to get some much needed mental relaxation and be ready to do it again tomorrow.

Alan and Lianna

[Alan and Lianna]

Well today we started by removing all the screws holding down the ply and everything stayed in place, so off to a good start. We mixed some epoxy and
sawdust and filled in all the gaps and screw holes.

We cut off the overhang on the roof with a router flushcut bit mounted in the Rotozip which a lot smaller and is easier to handle. My 1/4 inch flush cut had a locked up bearing, so I used the 1/2 inch to keep from burning the wood with the bearing. The cut came out nice.


Then we started sanding,

and sanding, after I had sanded all the roof except for the seams, I decided to start sanding them too. The epoxy is still green and not completely cured, but changing sandpaper often worked out well.

Lianna had a headache, so she decided dreaming about teardrops was what she needed.

After she was rested, it was back to sanding...
We still have more sanding to do tomorrow before we are ready to epoxy, hopefully we can get the first coat on tomorrow afternoon.. We'll see...


Alan and Lianna

[BillZ]

Looks great!

That roof edge came out beautiful. After all the sanding, what are you covering the exterior with?

[Alan and Lianna]

Today started out with more sanding.

After about 4 hours Lianna was sick and tired of sanding and wanted to know if we were done. I told her we were indeed done(2 second pause), with the rough sanding and ready to do the fine sanding- oh if looks could kill!! Well after a couple hours of fine sanding we were ready to move on.

We swept up, blew down and vacuumed to reduce any flying debris. Then we applied the fiberglass cloth, this is a 6oz cloth that is 72 inches wide.


Then we applied the RAKA epoxy to wet out the fiberglass, we spread it with small plastic putty knives and used a paint brush to apply it to the front below
the curve and then pressing flat with the putty knife or a gloved hand.



This worked out well, but we did have some of the edge that would not lay flat, we will have to see what we can do with it tomorrow.

Our plan has been to make it look as good as possible and leave it a woody, but if it does not look as good as we would like, we could always paint it.

Alan and Lianna

[Alan and Lianna]

Looks great! Applause

That roof edge came out beautiful. After all the sanding, what are you covering the exterior with?

Thanks...

We have already applied 2 coats of CPES from the ROT Doctor to the exterior
walls. We are now using Fiberglass cloth on the roof and coating it with Epoxy
we ordered from RAKA.com. We ordered the 3 gallon kit with 127 resin and the
350 non blushing hardener. We are planning on at least 3 coats on the roof and
several coats on all other exterior surfaces. After we are finished we will
either leave it a woody and coat it with a UV protectant or paint it.

Alan and Lianna

[Alan and Lianna]

Upon arriving at the shop today, we cleaned off the bugs and applied another
coat of epoxy to the roof.

This is what happens when you mix up too much epoxy.


While waiting for the top and sides to dry, we started working on prepping the doors for installation, sanded all sides and cut off 1/4th of an inch from the width.

Then we hung them.

The edge of fiberglass draping over from the top was not laying flat in most areas and most of it had some air trapped under it. We decided to sand it all off on the sides.




Then we applied another coat of epoxy on the roof and on the sides and doors.


We are rolling it on with small foam rollers which seems to be working out
very nicely. They do swell up and start falling apart just before the epoxy starts getting to thick to work with anyway.

Alan and Lianna

[grizz]

hats off to you .

You guys are progressing massively well.

I love the look and the doors did it for me now.

[Chris00WJ]

Your progress and project is amazing. It's threads like this that keep me motivated to work on mine.

Thank you!

[Alan and Lianna]

Well today started out with sanding down the whole outside, I used a fine sandpaper and just knocked down the high areas. We then applied another coat of epoxy to the exterior.

While that was drying, we started working on the inner door frames. We used 1/2" x 3 red oak on the bottom and poplar on the sides with a 1/8" spacer to create the gap where the weather stripping will go.


This is how it looks from the inside, we will be filling the holes and painting it to match the walls.

Then we wired and skinned the hatch exterior.

We are planning on removing the screws tomorrow and drilling out and filling in the holes with dowels.

Thanks for the words of encouragement ...

Alan and Lianna