Wanna build a Teardrop? Get Steve Frederick's Shop Manual!

[Pizzaguy]

I haven't seen Steve's name mentioned much around here as much as it used to be so I thought I'd give a shot out to his ingenous shop manual that he offers here....

http://www.steve-frederick.com/

I fell upon this site a couple of years ago that Mike started after like many of you I had seen that show "RV Crazy" on the Discovery Channel. I knew after doing a bunch of research on Teardrops that I wanted to build one. After reading a couple of hundred threads on here and also looking at thousands of pictures I kept coming back to some of the fine trailers that Steve was building Like the Rhondack Lodge & Lil' Diner.

I originally bought a 5X8 trailer from Northern Tool already assembled. I started w/ the Generic Benroy Plans from above. Built the floor and standing around scratching my head with how I wanted this thing to look.
After reading a few more hundred threads I kept coming back to the idea that if I was going to do this right I needed Steves manual. So I bought it. 5 days later I had the CD in the mail and set forth.... (I notice he now offers a download of it)

What really made his manual a good investment for me was his directions on how to join 2 different species of woog together w/ a router and pattern. He originally did it to lengthen his trailers I beleive, I did it just because I loved the look.



That's Cherry on the left & Birch on the right.

Also his method of leaving a ledge in the sides to mount the headliner to before installing the spars is nothing but ingenous. Here's a pic before headliner installed showing ledge.



And one w/ headliner before spars...



And his time proven method of sealing the doors & galley hatch are brillant!





Mine are watertight!

If there was ever a problem or technique that I was looking for I could rest assured I could find it in his manual. From cabinet building and epoxy techniques it is all there. Not to mention a great list of suppliers to get hardware & parts.

THANKS STEVE!!!! This Bud's for you!!!!!!!

I know many of you have used Steve's Manual and are honored to use a lot of his techniques in your builds. Lets hear from you.

Bruce aka Pizzaguy

[Steve_Cox]

Bruce,

Great testimonial and a beautiful tear drop. Well Done!!

[nevadatear]

We used steve's manual as well. Great help. Made a huge difference. Buying that manual is what convinced my husband we could do it.

[Pizzaguy]

Thanks Steve. God knows I stole a few ideas off you. I only live about 30 miles from Sandy who ya sold your woody too. Someday I hope to have the honor of seeing it in person.

It just seems when I came on this site a little over 2 yrs ago Steve's manual was the talk of the forum. I see it mentioned very rarely anymore. Just thought I'd give Kuddo's for all the help it gave me.

[planovet]

I used it too. I liked the way he did the hatch seal the best. I always get comments on that.

[nevadatear]

wow, slow, maybe you haven't looked at our trailer, or planovets, or Bruce's. I think you may have missed the point. They certainly don't look anything like the trailers that Steve has built, all of them on this thread are very different and unique. The point is that Steve's manual helped us with construction hints that made us feel confident enough to build a unique, one of a kind trailer. We knew what we wanted, but had no idea how to do the ribs, epoxy and, as Mark mentioned, the hatch seal. His suggestions of working from the inside out is a great idea that makes life much simpler.

We wanted it to be right the first time, leakproof and pretty, and Steve's manual helped us do that. He doesn't give you a set of plans, anything built using this manual will be unique. It is a construction help manual, with hints from an expert, not unlike the great people on this forum, to make the building process easier.

For us, it was a god send, and without it, we probably would still be considering building, instead of camping.

[Pizzaguy]

I couldn't of said it better!

Bruce