FINALLY...Progress on the Squidget with PICS to prove it!!!

[Kevin A]

Gas to and from stores to buy supplies??? C'mon...give me a break. Who adds up their gas bills. That's a pleasure trip. Do you also keep adding the cost of gas used when you go camping? And, I KNOW you keep track of the beer bills.

Nah, Ira saves enough at Toll booths to pay for gas on his camping trips.

[Ira]

Nah, Ira saves enough at Toll booths to pay for gas on his camping trips.

Ehhhhhhhhhhhh...

They fixed it again.

[cracker39]

Step 2, Squidget Floor Building. My floor is 5' wide and 9' 3" long, so had to be cut from 2 sheets of plywood. The two small pieces at the rear will be inside the storage area and won't have much weight put on them. All of the joined edges have a 1 1/4" wide spline inserted in 1/4" grooves cut with a router and slotting bit, and finally, a 4" wide strip of 3/4" spruce is glued and screwed to the bottom to reinforce the joint. I think it will support our weight when walking on it. I'll test it today to be sure.

The floor has been cut and pieced together and is ready for sealing the edges and varnishing top and bottom. After the frame is completed and has the Rustbullet applied, I'll undercoat the floor and bolt it down. For now, it's my work table for building the sides which I will get started on today or tomorrow.

[angib]

Dale,

I missed those photos before now - they do indeed look nice. How about changing the description on the last photo to:

"Here's me cutting with the angle grinder with no gloves on - children, don't try this at home"

My logic in agreeing with the do-gooders about wearing gloves when grinding or cutting is that it enables you to keep a good hold on the grinder at all times - even if, say, the backs of your fingers under the grinder are about to touch the cut edge. Letting go the grinder when your bare fingers get burnt is one of those bad ideas....

Andrew

[cracker39]

Andrew, you are absolutely right about the gloves. I did wear them while attempting to weld. I removed the plastic guard on my grinder so that I could better grind down some joints on the bumper. If I had worn gloves, I would have these three superficial, but still painful, and healing nicely thank you, cuts on my thumb and fingers from being not so careful with it. Those cutting and grinding blades can do some damage by just grazing the skin.

[cracker39]

Sorry, if I had worn gloves, I would NOT have those cuts....typo there.

[Ira]

Dale, what's your next step? Are you going to seal the bottom of the floor, and then attach to the frame? Or does your axle go on first?

[cracker39]

Ira, that's a good question and I keep juggling the answers from one minute to the next. I can't put the floor down permanently until I coat the frame. I can't completely coat the frame until the axle has been welded on. But, I can coat it and sand down the rustbullet where the axle will go when I balance it later. So, I'm thinking of blocking up the trailer on two blocks in the general area of the axle, and the tongue supported by the chains over two saw horses. Then, I can coat all but the axle area on the bottom and then I can seal and bolt down the floor. I think that's what I'll do tomorrow. Then I can start on my sides.

Finally, I am seeing daily progress. Today, I finished the mounting holes in the floor and put a few bolts in to hold it down as a work table. But, later my son-in-law, Mike, showed up and we finished the welding on the chassis, so I can coat it now.

I tried a couple of welds while Mike was here with my usual lack of success. Then, Mike explained better how he “rolls” the tip to get the good bead. Through the mask, I could finally see what he meant. After he left, I cut one more piece for my tongue box support and welded it in place. BE GEORGE, I THINK I’VE GOT IT!!!. Here are two of the better welds out of four I made. I didn’t do so well on the vertical welds in a tight corner, but these on top came out pretty good after a false start or two. I’m not used to the mask and telling where I am when I turn it on.



Notice that one went from left to right, and the other just the opposite and both turned out pretty darned good for an amateur. I put a few more pics in my Chassis and Floorphoto albums of today’s progress.

[critter]

hey cracker,
lookin good...me thinks you ought to higlite them welds, like maybe paint the frame black and the welds oarnge.they looks good,some want to hide the frame,not me... to much work to hide.i wuz thinkin bout puttin in a plexiglass floor in kinda like them boats down in fla with clear bottoms so you could see the fish

[cracker39]

My frame will have two coats of Rustbullet, and it finishes a silver gray color. Only the tongue and bumper will be seen as the rest of the frame will be covered by the cabin. I may paint the tongue and bumper another color, or just leave the silver finish...not sure yet.

Ira, I decided that to weld on the axle, I need the floor off, so I'm not going to undercoat it yet. I don't know how well you can handle it with the roofing stuff on it. I don't know if it dries completely or stays tacky. So, I will just lightly sand the floor and put a coat of varnish on both sides for now. And, I'll go ahead and coat most of the frame with the Rustbullet, while the floor is off for varnishing, leaving just the axle area untouched for now. Then, it's on to making the template and then the side construction.

I think I'm looking at close to two weeks before I'll be ready to add the axle.

[cracker39]

Critter, funny you mentioned the glass bottom boats. I worked at Silver Springs from '56 to '63 and took souvenier pictures of tourists on those boats. And, I took lots of rides on them to take pics of the fish underwater. They are still there, but most of the fish are gone now. I visited and went on the rides a couple of years ago. There used to be thousands of catfish, and now, you see just a few. So sad...I was very disappointed.

[critter]

hey cracker,
you probaly took pics of me when back in 59 remember i wuz the kid feedin the fish,the one w/blond hair i still got those pics with the little envolope with the oval cutout window in front.if i can find em ill post em! i just loved the water ski shows! mostly the jumps!

[cracker39]

Critter, I think you have the attractions mixed up. The ski jumps were and still are at Cypress Gardens just 10 minutes from where I live now. The pictures at Silver Springs were in a folder with a cutout in a drawing of the glass bottom boat in '59. At that time, I lived in my home town of Ocala, 6 miles from Silver Springs.

[asianflava]

Is Cypress Gardens still open? I heard rumblings a while back where they were sold or closed or something like that.

[critter]

hey cracker,
yeah your right,brain fog creepin in again but i waz at both places then!
i guess im just showin my age agin.